Auto-Create Projects or Shells

The system provides a type of business process that will create projects/shells from the upper form of the BP or from BP line items. The data necessary to create projects/shells is provided by this BP. In addition to creating a new shell, this type of business process can also be designed so that you can choose the managers and employees who should be automatically assigned to the shell when it is created.

Note: In order for auto-creation to occur correctly, be sure you understand the hierarchy of the shells in your company. This is important for placing the shell in the correct position in the hierarchy as well as choosing the correct template with which to build it. If the template is not the correct one, the creation will not succeed.

You can use the Project/Shell Creation business process to create projects/shells from the project/shell templates set up for this purpose. Templates provide projects/shells with the name, number, location, and status for each new project/shell, as well as any included images and phase definitions. If the template includes links, the new shell landing page will display these links. If designed and configured to do so, the template will automatically assign a manager and employees to the project/shell.

Working with Planning Items

If a Planning Item Picker has been included on this business process, you can link new projects/shells with planning items. Instead of linking a planning item to a project in the Planning Manager, this BP will automatically create the link when the project/shell is created, and data will begin to roll up to the Planning Sheet from the business processes in this project.

To auto-create a single project/shell:

Auto-creation of a single shell or a project, only requires that you complete an upper form.

  1. Navigate to the level (such as Company Workspace or a shell) where the auto-creation business process resides.
  2. In the Navigator, select the business process then on the right pane, click New. The business process opens.
  3. Enter a name and number for the new shell and select an administrator for the shell.
  4. Specify where the shell should reside in the hierarchy by choosing a shell location as follows:
    1. Click the Select button. A shell picker opens, showing the tabs of all the current anchor shells.
    2. On the shell picker, click the anchor shell under which the new shell should reside. If the new shell should reside under a sub-shell, double-click the sub-shell.

    The sub-shell may contain other sub-shells. You can navigate to them by clicking the View drop-down (located in right corner) and selecting the sub-shell from the list.

  5. Specify the template that should be used to create the shell as follows:
    1. Click the Select button. The Shell Template picker opens, showing a list of the templates that have been designed for the shell type this BP will create.
    2. Select the template and click the Select button. The name of the template appears in the field on the form.

      Note: If the selected source cost sheet has duplicate columns that the system cannot auto-correct, an alert is displayed to the user to take further action.

  6. Specify the shell status, such as Active or On-Hold.

    When the shell is created, this is the status it will be assigned.

  7. Specify the BP status.

    When this status reaches this BP's designated "terminal" status, it will automatically create the new project/shell and assign it the status you specified in step 6.

    Note: If you do not specify a status, the system will assign a status of Inactive to the shell and you will have to manually change the status to make the shell active.

  8. Complete any other fields that have been included on the form.
  9. Click Finish Editing.

When the business process reaches its terminal status, it will create a new project/shell using the template you specified on the BP form, and the new project/shell should appear in the hierarchy in its appropriate place.

To auto-create multiple projects/shells:

To auto-create multiple projects/shells, you need to fill out an upper form, and create line items for each project/shell you want to create. The system will use each line item to create a separate project/shell.

  1. Navigate to the level (such as Company Workspace or a shell) where the auto-creation business process resides.
  2. In the Navigator, select the business process and on the right pane, click New. The business process opens.
  3. Complete the upper form fields, including the status of the business process.
  4. Click the Add button at the bottom of the window and choose Detail Line Item. A Line Item window opens.
  5. Enter a name, number, and description for the new shell and select an administrator for the shell.
  6. Specify where the shell should reside in the hierarchy by choosing a shell location as follows:
    1. Click the Select button. A shell picker opens, showing the tabs of all the current anchor shells. For example:
    2. On the shell picker, click the anchor shell under which the new shell should reside. If the new shell should reside under a sub-shell, double-click the sub-shell.

    The sub-shell may contain other sub-shells. You can navigate to them by clicking the View button and selecting the sub-shell from the list.

  7. Specify the template that should be used to create the shell as follows:
    1. Click the Select button. The Shell Template picker opens, showing a list of the templates that have been designed for the shell type this BP will create.
    2. Select the template and click the Select button. The name of the template appears in the field on the form.
  8. Specify the shell status, such as Active or On-Hold.

    When the shell is created, this is the status it will be assigned.

    Note: If you give the shell a status of Inactive, child shells cannot be created.

  9. Specify the line item status.

    This is the status at which the line item should be to create a new project/shell. When the line item reaches the status you specify here, the application will automatically create the new project/shell and assign it the status you specified in step 8.

  10. Complete any other fields that have been included on the form.
  11. Click Finish Editing.

When the business process reaches its terminal status, and the line item status reaches the status you specified in step 9, the application will create a new project/shell using the template you specified, and the new project/shell should appear in the hierarchy in its appropriate place.


Last Published Friday, October 4, 2024