Unable to add entries to the BOM

[fhmurray]

Hi, 

I feel as though I am going backwards - it is probably just my user error...but I'm hoping you can help.

I have 3 workspaces (WS) that I have set up all of which need to use the BOM in order to link them together.  

- WS 1 will add various entries from WS 2 to its BOM and 

- in turn, WS 2 will have entries added to its BOM from WS 3.

- So that, from the top, Project (WS1), you can expand the BOM to see all the Areas (WS2) and Items (WS3) within that Project.  WS 3 will then further link to Materials entries (WS 4) so you can see the full list of Materials used in a Project.

I have set up WS 1 just fine and can add, edit and delete items from the BOM.

WS 2 and WS 3 have had relationships set so that you can add to the BOM of each from the relevant WSs and I have the correct permissions assigned to me in the Afmin Group.

However, despite then creating (and recreating!) new records in WS 2 and WS3, none of these records in either worspace shows the Add button when I go onto the BOM tab.

So what am I doing wrong ?

Help appreciated - I'm trying to create some test data for a 1pm meeting (BST)....

Thanks,

Fiona

[fhmurray · Accepted solution]

I seem to have inadvertently fixed this problem while following advice to get the delete option on a record back (see http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/Autodesk-PLM-360/Missing-the-delete-option-red-cross-for-records-in-2-... )

Adding a 2nd workflow state so there is an option to transition out of State 1 seems to have restored both bits of functionality.  No real idea why, but these 2 posts can successfully be marked as resolved.

Thanks,

Fiona

[dvirh]

Fiona,

I'm glad to hear that your issue has been resolved, but wanted to close the loop and explain what is going on here. PLM 360 is using a system of implied Item Locking, for items in a Workspace with Workflow, when the user can no longer transition the item. In other words, if they user has no available transitions in the workflow tab, he is not able to edit details on the item that are subject to workflow locking.

This behavior is by design, but may cause some unexpected results if the workflow was not designed with that in mind. There are several things you can do to avoid the problem:

1. Change the workflow such that any user that needs to edit the BOM will have a valid workflow transition to perform
2. Give users the permission 'Override workflow locks' such that items will no longer be subject to workflow locking (implicit or explicit!)
3. Don't use a workspace with workflow if you are not utilizing the workflow

Hope that help demystify the implicit workflow feature!

Hagay.

[fhmurray]

Many thanks for the explanation, Hagay.  That gives me a better understanding on how to avoid / solve this problem in the future.  And has hopefully helped a few others out along the way.

Cheers,

Fiona

[dwilliams_luxbp]

Hi Hagay,

I am hoping you could help me with a few questions I have as I think the issue I have is related to this.

I have users that have completed their tasks necessary for a state of the workflow and have therefore completed their transition to indicate this. However as they are waiting for other team members to push the workflow to the next state they currently do not have a transition available to them and therefore are not able to edit the BOM. This is something they want to do to work ahead (which is absolutely fine with me).

This is a locking workflow, however it does not lock until much later in the workflow so why would this affect this here? The user is still able to edit the item details so it seems strange that they can not edit the BOM. I also want to mention that they have the "Add" button for the BOM but once they select an item to add there is no "Next" button, only "cancel". This makes me wonder if it is actually the same issue?

I just want to make sure I understand correctly. Unfortunately none of the three options you gave to resolve the issue will work for us. 😞

Any help you can give would be appreciated.

Regards, 

Denise.

[dvirh]

Hi Denise,

It sounds like you are having exactly the same issue. Since the user cannot transition the item, it is implicitly locked for him. This is by design and makes a lot of sense if you think of specific use cases (but may not make much sense in your use case). If you don't want that behavior, it is easy to work around it by giving all users another transition to perform like 'Cancel' or 'Resubmit' or even something like 'Comment'. This could be a simple looping transition from the state to the same state.

Hagay.