Defining enumerables, mandatory specifications and specification columns in Manager

Specification columns is a method to define which specifications shall be shown in a presentation, and which specifications are shown in edit extended specifications. This config controls

  • which specifications (type) that can be added as table rows in repository and that can be exported to XLS in the repository

  • which specifications (type) that are mandatory during validation

  • which specifications (type) that are shown (empty or filled in) when using edit presentation

Specification columns can be defined for presentation type Parts.



Version 4.4

This functionality is available in version 4.4 and later.

From version 4.5 specification columns may be defined for all presentation types.

From version 5.0 it is also possible to define specification type enumerable and enumerableSingle.



Usage

In repository each column in the config file may also be shown as a column in the repository by selecting the column in the column selector drop down. Note that selecting multiple specifications as columns consumes memory and CPU.

The config file also controls which specifications will be exported as columns when exporting repository as XLS.

Refining information in Excel

If large set of information is to be refined, exporting to Excel and edit in Excel may be an efficient process. In such case ensure to define columns in specification-columns.config and columns in import.config so that they match. Then e.g. parts can be exported to XLS and then reimported again.

 

Validation may be configured to check for mandatory specifications on information. Validation will then use specifications-columns.config to determine if specifications of defined type must exist on presentation for validation to pass. Also see Technical documentation - Validation of information.

Enumerable and EnumerableSingle

The specification types enumerable and enumerableSingle allows to define a set of possible values for a specification and the values will appear as a drop down with check boxes in Manager.

 

The allowed values of an Enumerable or EnumerableSingle specification type is defined in specification-columns.config, see below.

Configuration

Configuration is defined by specification-columns.config located in C:\ProgramData\Signifikant\Assert

specification-columns.config
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?> <ExtendedSpecificationColumnConfiguration xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"> <Enabled>true</Enabled> <MaxItems>0</MaxItems> <!-- The value separtor is the sign which is used to separate specifications of the same type from each other at export and import. E.g. if a part has two specifications of the same type, as Region EMEA and Region AMER, both will get exported in the same cell in XLS and will be separated by this sign. EMEA|AMER. Default sign is | This config exist in version 5.0 and later. --> <ValueSeparator>|</ValueSepartor> <!-- The named string separtor is the sign which is used to separate the text from the string when NamedString is exported to or imported from XLS. E.g. string DE and text Germany will result in DE:Germany being exported to the cell in XLS. Default sign is : This config exist in version 5.0 and later. --> <NamedStringSepartor>:</NamedStringSeparator> <Items> <ExtendedSpecificationColumn> <!--Is this column active --> <Enabled>true</Enabled> <!--Persistent id of the specification type --> <PersistentIdentity>Dimension</PersistentIdentity> <!--In validation, is it mandatory to have a specification of this type --> <Mandatory>true</Mandatory> <!--May user add a new specification in Edit, or can user only select from existing specifications --> <SelectFromListOnly>true</SelectFromListOnly> <!-- This specification is not allowed to be copied. So if a copy of a presentation is made, specifications of this type will not be copied. This option exist in version 5.1 and later. --> <AllowCopy>false</AllowCopy> <!-- Set a default value which will be added to the specification when a new presentation is created. This option exist in version 5.1.6 and later .--> <InitialValue>Defaultvalue</InitialValue> <!-- Presentation of these base types shall have this specification --> <EnabledBaseTypes>Part, Catalogue</EnabledBaseTypes> <!-- Presentations with this code will have this specification --> <EnabledPresentationTypeCodes>Kit</EnabledPresentationTypeCodes> <!-- If configuration is used to edit parts in preview web viewer connected to editor site, permissions may be used to limit which uses may edit which specifications --> <Permissions>EditSpecificationGeneral</Permissions> </ExtendedSpecificationColumn> <ExtendedSpecificationColumn> <Enabled>true</Enabled> <PersistentIdentity>Colour</PersistentIdentity> <Mandatory>true</Mandatory> <SelectFromListOnly>true</SelectFromListOnly> </ExtendedSpecificationColumn> </Items> </ExtendedSpecificationColumnConfiguration>



Configuration of Enumerable and EnumerableSingle is also done in specification-columns.config.

Enumerable and EnumerableSingle
<ExtendedSpecificationColumn> <Enabled>true</Enabled> <PersistentIdentity>Region</PersistentIdentity> <Code>EnumerableSingle</Code> <EnumerationSet> <string>EMEA</string> <string>APAC</string> <string>AMER</string> </EnumerationSet> </ExtendedSpecificationColumn>