Templates are used for configuration control and are the basis for the creation of all serial structures.
The templates contain the generic structure for a specific template part and the valid alternates to be used within the template. A template structure consists of a breakdown of parts to be serialized and may hold at any terminating sub level one or more non-serialized parts.
A unique template structure is built up by defining the following keys: template part number, template part revision, and structure position. The system can generate structure positions automatically.
A new template structure can be created by importing an existing product structure, copying an existing template structure, or manually creating the template structure. When a product structure is imported, the system makes a copy of the product structure and the two structures are held independent of each other.
The active structure template may be changed using various options. For example, you can expand or reduce the template configuration by adding or removing structure positions. The minimum configuration setting for a structure part can be reversed or a prime part can be replaced with a valid alternative. Structure parts that attend to maintain the desired level of safety or maneuverability should be defined as part of the minimum configuration.
When working with your structures, the Compare Template and Serial Structures window may be helpful (For more information, refer to the Compare Structures activity). Here you can compare a serial structure with a template structure and sort out similarities and/or differences. The Serial Structure Template report is used to compare two template structures and display their differences.
You can create serial structures only from an active serial structure template. By setting the template's status to obsolete, you can prevent any further use of the template, but existing serial structures are still valid for use.
A serial structure template can have one of the following statuses:
Serial structure templates will not have access control. All the users can view the part information for the serial structure template. Serial structure templates will only be used to help define access rights for serials. The access rights will be stored for the parts after the access rights are spread to all the parts in the template. Note: Access rights are stored on parts, but the parts themselves are not access controlled.
With the access control feature, it is possible to control the user's access rights to selected serial records in IFS/VIM. To establish access control, access groups must be defined, and the users must be connected to the access group. These access groups will be used to define the access to the template structures and its parts. Access rights should be given primarily to the top templates, in other words, for template parts defined as a product and model. However, you can define access rights for all the template parts as well.
When access rights are defined for a top template part, you can specify whether the access applies to all the parent serials or only the selected top serials that are connected to the template part. The defined access will be spread to the serials on all the levels for all the specified top serials belonging to the top template part. If you do not specify any serials, the access groups will be spread to the defined template part and all the parts and alternates on the levels below, in the templates part structure.
When the access for a top template part is updated, the part access for all the parts and serials in the selected serial structure template will be updated accordingly.
Existing template structures can be used within new template structures. If a new template part defined in a structure is to be a new separate template instead of a child to the current parent, the Configured In Separate Template check box must be selected in the Consist Of tab. This check box is selected by default and cannot be changed after the new template part is saved. A template part that is defined as a child in an existing template structure can be configured into a new template.
There are two type of alternates defined for a template part: template and position. Template alternates are valid for all levels in the current template and all braches below in the structure. Position alternates are defined for a specific part in a specific structure position within the template structure. Position alternates can be defined only at the lowest level within each template. Both types of alternates are defined with an interchangeability code that dictates their rules of usage.
Note: Separate templates have to be defined for all of the alternates, except when the alternates are on the lowest level in the structure and they do not have their own structure.
Dependency rules defined for a template in which combinations of parts are valid between the different structure positions. Installations in one structure position may create dependency requirements, such as an inclusion or an exclusion, for another structure position.