How You Create Connectors

You create connectors in a way that's mostly similar to creating other supplemental structure. But before you create a connector you must import the item class and item that a connector depends on.

Import Items Associated with an Item Class

Because a connector has an item class as a target, you must import the items from the intended target item class before you can create the connector to that target. If your item class includes an item class hierarchy for your related items, then you can import all the items in the hierarchy as well, to enable connections to them.

To import items associated with an item class:

1. Identify the item class associated with the items that you want to connect to your model.

2. On the Manage Snapshots page of the Configurator Models work area, select Import Items Associated with an Item Class from the Actions menu.

3. In the Import Item Snapshots dialog box, select the Organization that the items belong to and the Item Class of the related items that you want to connect to.

   Note: To be connectable, an item must have the attribute Order Management Indivisible set to Yes.

4. By default, only the items in the selected item class itself will be imported. If you also want to connect to all of the items associated with all of the child item classes of the selected item class, select Include items associated with child item classes. You can also select a particular child item class to import by itself.

5. Click Submit. A scheduled process is submitted. Make note of the scheduled process request ID.

6. In the Scheduled Processes work area, examine the log file for the Import Items Associated with an Item Class process. The log file contains the names of the items imported from the item class you chose. If they haven't been previously imported, then the process imports:

   • The specified item class itself

   • All standard items that are associated with the specified item class

   • If Include items associated with child item classes is selected, then all of the child item classes, and all of their associated items

   After the import, you can query the imported items and item classes on the Manage Snapshots page.

   Note: Each import is limited to a batch of 5000 item snapshots. If that batch size is exceeded, the import process status is set to Warning. Continue to run the Import Items Associated with an Item Class action, with the same parameters, until all your items are imported. Check the list of imported items in the log file of the scheduled process to determine when you're finished. A list less with than 5000 items means there are no more items left to import.

7. You can refresh the item class snapshots in the usual way, to reflect item changes to existing items, or addition of new items associated to the item class, in the Product Information Management work area.

Create Connectors on Models

You add connectors to model structure, similar to the way that you add other supplemental structure. To enable the addition of related items to a mode at runtime, you add connectors to model structure.

1. If you haven't already done so, import all the items associated with the intended target item class.

2. In a workspace that you have locked, open a model for editing.

3. On the Edit Configurator Model page, select the root node of the model. Select Create > Connector. You can only create connectors on the root node.

4. In the Create Connector dialog box, you select a value for the Target of the specified Target Type. Search for and select the target item class. The search list contains all the item class snapshots that have been imported into the Configurator Models work area.

   After a connector is defined, all imported items associated with the target item class become items that are connectable to the model at runtime.

   Caution: Targeting an item class or item class hierarchy containing a very large number of items can result in significant impacts to performance. If you target the Root Item Class, you can't select Include items associated with child item classes.

5. Enter values for Minimum Connections and Maximum Connections, to determine the number of instances of this connection that may be added at runtime. These fields represent the minimum and maximum number of actual related items which can be added to a configuration.

6. Enter values for Minimum Quantity and Maximum Quantity, to determine the sum quantity of connected items that may be added at runtime through this connector. These fields represent the minimum and maximum sum quantity of all the related items added at runtime to a configuration.

7. After you create a connector, you can modify the minimum and maximum connections and quantities, but you can't change the target.

8. There's currently no representation of connectors in a user interface. The UI Presentation setting is reserved for future use.

9. After you create the connector, it appears in the model tree, at root level. The connections that can now be made in a runtime configuration session are between related items and the model as a whole.