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Sequences: Identifier
Purpose
Defines the format and next assigned number for new documents, parts and changes.
Where used
Documents, parts, changes
Data fields
General tab
- Name
- This is the complete name for the identifier sequence.
- Description
- This describes the identifier sequence and how it should be used.
- Prefix characters
- These are an unchanging set of characters that are copied to the beginning of every Next assignment value.
- Example: If you've specified "DWG-" as the current sequence's prefix characters and the Next assignment value is "100123", then the value assigned to a new item would be "DWG-100123". The subsequent assignment would be "DWG-100124".
- Next assignment
- The currently-displayed Next assignment value will be assigned to a new item's number attribute, and the sequence value will be incremented after the assignment. You specify both the sequence's format and the actual next-assigned value. The format is determined by the location and type of character (letter, number or symbol) that you enter. If you enter a numeric digit at a specific location, then all subsequent values will only use a numeric digit at that location. Likewise, a letter at a particular location ensures that only letters will be used when the identifier is incremented. Non-alphanumeric characters (e.g., "/" or "-") will be skipped when the value is incremented.
- Example: If you've specified "123AZ-99" as the Next assignment value, then the value would be incremented to "123BA-00".
- Use only numeric characters (0..9) in your sequences. Avoid using a sequence longer than 8 characters.
- Suffix characters
- These are an unchanging set of characters that are added to the end of every Next assignment value.
- Example: If you've specified "-000" as the current sequence's suffix characters and the Next assignment value is "100123", then the value assigned to a new item would be "100123-000". The subsequent assignment would be "100124-000".
- Skip characters
- You can also specify which characters are not considered when a Next assignment value is incremented. Since these characters are only examined when the sequence increments, you can (for instance) use a skip character as the initial value for an identifier and it will never be used in a subsequent assignment.
- Example: If the letters "IOZ" are invalid, then the Next assignment value of "CH9Y9" will be incremented to "CJ0A0".
- If your company mixes letters and numbers in the same identifier (not a best practice), then the letters BIOQSZ are good candidates to be skipped since, in some typefaces, they are difficult to distinguish from numbers.
- Active: users can select
- Default member of collection
- Permanent member of collection
- For a description of these checkboxes, see the Collections reference > Common properties & attributes help topic.
Where Used tab
This list enumerates all of the item types that are using the current identifier sequence.
Setup suggestions
Item identification is not just assigning a number to a part or document, but typically includes defining the owning organization and possibly the item class and item type.
To avoid duplicate identifiers, your System Rules window specifies which data elements are tested for uniqueness. As you configure your identification system, you should also refer to the System Rules reference > Item uniqueness definition help topic for more information.
In the configuration management community, item identification is a source of many difficult problems. Most problems stem from well-meaning users' desires to embed item properties into the identification scheme (sort of like trying to include your car's color, engine size and number of doors in the license plate number). These "significant numbering" schemes actually made perfect sense in the last century, when searching was difficult and most items were accessed using manual processes.
Unfortunately, there are substantial and unavoidable costs in initially designing a significant numbering scheme, entering and checking the longer character strings, repairing the scheme when it breaks (as it inevitably does), and merging it with other companies' conflicting schemes after an acquisition. Practically, users can keep a 6-character identifier in their short-term memory; they must almost always write down a 12-character significant identifier. Likewise, every computer keyboard in the world shares the same numeric keypad, but not every keyboard can quickly accept the English alphabet. Complex item numbers drives costly item handling.
However, with computerized product management and virtually unlimited standard and custom attributes available, an item identifier need not encode common attributes such as document type, part category or product family. The ideal numbering system can be astonishingly simple, requiring only a single sequence (or perhaps a separate sequence for documents, parts, and changes) of 5 to 8 characters, providing a unique identifier for up to 100 million items.
Although you can modify a sequence after it's been in use, you should exercise caution as it will affect all new and existing items that rely on that sequence.
2041
Help topics describe the most current PDXpert PLM software release, and may differ from earlier releases.
