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Items

Items capture a complete product definition. They collect CAD assembly designs, software, packaging, documentation, and other components into a single comprehensive view of the product.

In Enterprise PDM, an item consists entirely of metadata that lives in the vault database. Although items can link to files, they do not contain files themselves and therefore do not exist in the vault archive and do not appear on your local disk. (Item metadata is cached locally; see Item and File Caching.)

An item has a unique identifier (item ID), a display name, and other properties. Items can contain links to files, CAD configurations, and other items (child items). An item with child items is called an item structure. The list of child items is called the item bill of materials (BOM).

Items are similar to files in that they:
  • Are edited using check-out and check-in operations to create new versions
  • Have data cards and properties
  • Can be organized into folders
  • Can participate in workflows

Contents

  • Items and Product Development

    Enterprise PDM items support both item-based and file-based product development.

  • Example Item

    The wheelchair product shows several characteristics of items.

  • Creating Items

    You can create an empty item that is not generated from a file, then add links to files and other items later.

  • Creating Items from Files

    You can create items from one or more vault files. For CAD assemblies, you can create entire item structures for the subassemblies and parts.

  • Searching for Items

    Use the Search tool to search for items and item folders in the vault.

  • Renaming Items

    You can give an item a new item ID, such as one generated by your ERP system.

  • Deleting Items

    You can remove obsolete items from the vault.

  • Editing Item Properties

    You can view and optionally edit item data card properties.



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