C Configuring Variant Management

This appendix provides information about Agile PLM Administrator settings for Variant Management.

C.1 Administrative Settings for Variant Management

Note: The information in this section is referring to the Java client Administrator only.

C.1.1 Privileges for Variant Management User

Note: You require the 'Administrator' privilege to configure the necessary privileges.

To change the preference for the internal or external Configurator for Variant Management, you must have a Modify privilege mask with the criteria My User and which includes users.Preferences.BOM Variant Configuration Preference in the Applied To property.

Additionally, to be able to create the Instance BOM, you require the same privileges that are needed to create a BOM, and the Save As privilege for Parts (Models).

To be able to modify a Model Option BOM, the fields Parts.BOM.Max Qty, Parts.BOM.Min Qty, Part.BOM.Mut Excl, and Parts.BOM.Optional also must be included in the Modify privilege mask Applied To property.

To create Instances on the Instances tab, the field Items.Instances.Item Name must be included in the Modify privilege mask Applied To property.

To launch the Instance Manager, the Configure Instance privilege is required, and the Read privilege mask must include the field Items.Instances.Item Name in the Applied To property.

In case the Title Block tab of Models or Instances contains a description, to create the Instance BOM, the Modify privilege mask must include Items.TitleBlock.Description in the Applied To property.

The privileges that enable the Propagate button on the Instances tab are the same privileges that enable the use the Add and Remove buttons. To use the Propagate button, you require the same privileges.

Important: You must have Read privileges for BOM attributes that are used in the Instance Manager. Contact your Agile administrator if you have questions about your assigned roles and privileges.

C.2 Activating 'Internal Configurator' - Instance Manager

Important: To change the preferences of the client, you require the privileges to modify this setting on a user.

Note: To work with the Internal Configurator, each user must have the correct preference configured. This is set to Disabled by default.

To activate the 'Internal Configurator':

1. Login to the Web client.

2. Click the My Settings button, or open the user profile you want to configure.

3. Select the Preferences tab.

4. In the System Preferences section ensure that the BOM Variant Configuration Preference is set to Internal Configurator.

C.3 External Configurator - Oracle Generic Configurator User Interface

Some basic information about how to use the Oracle Generic Configurator User Interface can also be found in this guide.

Note: When creating a Model Option BOM, ensure that when a BOM item has the same minimum and maximum quantity value, the Quantity must have the same value as well. If Min Qty = Max Qty <> Qty value, then the Change Order (ECO), through which this BOM is released, it causes an error in the Application Integration Architecture (AIA) queue and will not be sent to Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS).

C.3.1 Activating 'External Configurator' - Generic Configurator User Interface

Important: To change the preferences of the client, you require the rights to modify this setting on a user.

Note: To work with the External Configurator, each user must have the correct preference configured. This is set to Disabled by default.

To activate the 'External Configurator':

1. Login to the Web client.

2. Click the My Settings button, or open the user which has to be configured.

3. Select the Preferences tab.

4. In the System Preferences section make sure the BOM Variant Configuration Preference is set to External Configurator.

C.3.2 Admin Settings for the External Configurator

Note: This information is referring to the Java client only. To be able to perform these settings you need to have administrative rights.

To provide Agile 9 Model Option BOM data in the external Configurator, settings have to be made in the Java client. For detailed information regarding these settings, see Agile PLM Integration Pack for Oracle E-Business Suite - Design to Release 2.5 - Implementation Guide (http://aia.oraclecorp.com/products/agileplm2billPIP.html).

C.4 Event Management in Variant Management

To support a higher flexibility in Variant Management, and also because not all customer use cases are covered by the defined validation rules, the user can define its own validation rules for a Model Option BOM.

Note: Once the Variant Management event types are enabled, they replace the corresponding default behavior for the affected objects and do not extend it.

C.4.1 Variant Management Event Types

The Variant Management Event Types are triggered for Models only:

The six Variant Management Event Types:

• "Create Variant Instance"

• "Derive Variant Model Option BOM"

• "Update Variant Configuration"

• "Validate Variant Configuration"

• "Validate Variant Instance Selections"

• "Validate Variant Model Option BOM"

C.4.2 Examples of Variant Management Events

This section provides brief information on how the administrator might tailor Event Subscriptions to benefit users in Variant Management. You must read the chapter "Event Management" in Agile PLM Administrator Guide. Developers of the (Java and Script) process extensions used by the Events framework must read appropriate chapters in Agile PLM SDK Developer's Guide.

C.4.2.1 Create Variant Instance

• Purpose

  This event type retrieves the Instance BOM object from the storage and creates the Instance BOM in Agile 9. The entry state of the created Instance on the Instances tab is a Part without a BOM. This Instance becomes the root element for the Instance BOM when clicking the Create Instance button in the Instance Manager.

  The event handler code traverses the logical structure. With this event:

  • Parts get created that will replace Models

  • All BOM relations get created

  
  

  Note: Items of the logical structure and their relations between each other contain only BOM attributes that are necessary for Variant Management, for example, minimum/maximum quantity, optional, mutually exclusive. Any additional attributes have to be processed and copied in this code.

  
  

• Triggered

  This event type is triggered once for a specific Instance after the successful processing of the Validate Variant Instance Selections and the Derive Variant Model Option BOM event types.

• Errors

  Errors are displayed in a pop-up window.

C.4.2.2 Derive Variant Model Option BOM

• Purpose

  This event type creates an Instance BOM object in the storage. This Instance BOM object already contains the configurations for the final Instance BOM, without actually creating new items or changing the BOM table of an item. The derivation adds the selected parts to the BOM, replaces all models by parts (except for the top level model), Option Classes will get replaced by their options, and the quantities will be calculated for all parts.

• Triggered

  This event type is triggered once for a specific Instance when pressing the Create Instance button in the Instance Manager, after the successful validation of the Validate Variant Instance Selection event type.

• Errors

  Because the Model Option BOM should be already validated, there should be no errors displayed at this stage. In case errors need to be displayed, they are displayed in a pop-up window.

C.4.2.3 Update Variant Configuration

• Purpose

  This event type checks every line item of the Model Option BOM when launching the Instance Manager and in the Instance Manager, for example, check boxes for mandatory items are already set, certain quantity fields become read only.

  The input data containing the quantity and the status of the check boxes (selected/deselected) is passed to the event handler.

  With this event:

  • Configuration options are added or removed

  • Propagation is processed

    Checks for the correct dependencies between child and parent for updated options.

• Triggered

  This event type is triggered once for every modification of the Configuration Graph for a specific Instance, and for preselections (for example, mandatory items) when starting the Instance Manager. It is also triggered when pressing the Copy Configuration or Reset Configuration button.

• Errors

  Errors are displayed for each line item in the Instance Manager, at the beginning of each line.

C.4.2.4 Validate Variant Configuration

• Purpose

  This event type checks if the already created Configuration Graph is still consistent with the current Model Option BOM. In case of inconsistencies, the Configuration Graph will be updated.

• Triggered

  This event type is triggered once for a specific Instance when opening the Instance Manager for an Instance with Configuration Graph and after the successful processing of the Validate Variant Model Option BOM event type. This event type is not triggered for preselections (for example, mandatory items) or if no Configuration Graph is available.

  This event type is also triggered when pressing the Copy Configuration button.

• Errors

  Errors are displayed in a pop-up window.

C.4.2.5 Validate Variant Instance Selections

• Purpose

  This event type validates the Configuration Graph, for example, to check for min/max violations, or if an Option Class has sufficient selected child options.

• Triggered(This event type is triggered once for a specific Instance when):

  • Clicking Launch Configurator on the Instances tab.

  • Modifying a line item (select, deselect, edit quantities) in the Instance Manager.

  • Clicking the Validate button in the Instance Manager.

  • Clicking the Create Instance button in the Instance Manager.

  • Clicking the Reset Configuration button in the Instance Manager.

  • Clicking the Copy Configuration button in the Instance Manager.

• Errors

  Errors are displayed as guide icons for each line item, or when clicking the Validate button in a pop-up window.

C.4.2.6 Validate Variant Model Option BOM

• Purpose

  This event type validates the Model Option BOM, for example, to check for min/max violations, or if an Option Class has sufficient child options.

• Triggered

  This event type is triggered once for the top level Model of the Model Option BOM, when selecting the Check Model Option BOM menu of the BOM tab of a Model, or when clicking the Launch Configurator button on the Instances tab.

• Errors

  Errors are displayed in a pop-up window, and prevent the Instance Manager to open.