Create Template from Sub Structure

Explanation

This activity is used to create a new template structure by converting an existing structure branch of another template structure. Refer the following list to help you decide how your new template structure is to be created.

• What should the status of the new template structure be? If the structure branch from which the new template is created is in the Active status, it is highly possible that serial structures exist based on the template, which again will require that the new template structure must have the Active status. If the structure branch from which the new template is created is in either the Preliminary or Obsolete status, you are free to choose the status of the new template.

• Should the existing structure branch use the new template to control the configuration or not? When you create the new template you can decide to just create the new template or to also let the new template control the configuration of the structure branch used to create the template. If you decide to let the new template control the configuration of the structure branch used to create the template, the structure branch will be removed since this is no longer used. If you decide not to do this at this time you can choose to do it at a later stage.

• Should new values be generated in the Structure Position field for the new template structure? You can decide to create the new template by using the existing structure positions of the selected structure branch or by generating new structure positions. The second step of the assistant is made available when you choose to generate new structure positions. Note: If you have serial structures based on the template, it is recommended to keep the structure positions and not generate new ones.

Furthermore, you should decide what kind of detailed data should be copied to the new template structure. When you create a new template from a structure branch the detailed data, i.e., position alternates, dependencies and functions, can be copied to the new template structure. If you decide not to copy you will have to manually enter this detailed data later for the new template structure.

If you choose to generate new structure positions for the new template structure you can, for instance, specify how the new structure positions should be created:

• A prefix and/or suffix can be added to all structure positions.
• You can specify a start value for the structure positions.
• You can specify a fixed length for the structure positions.

The different options can be combined to conform with the structure you require. Note: If details are not entered in the second step of the Create Template from Sub Structure assistant, structure positions are generated automatically starting with the value 100.

When this activity is performed, the existing template may be modified with a new structure position or the removal of an existing structure position. When this occurs the serial structures associated with the existing template will be updated with the new template, i.e., the modified template. If a new structure position was added to the new template, an empty structure position will be added automatically to all the serial structures using the new template. If a structure position was removed during the process of creating the new template, all empty structure positions for the removed structure position will be removed automatically from the serial structures using the new template. Empty structure positions refer to the structure positions where expected serials or parts are missing from the serial structure.

Prerequisites

An existing structure branch that does not have have its own template must exist.

System Effects

• The new template structure is copied from the existing structure branch.
• Detailed information (i.e., position alternates, dependencies and functions) will be copied according as per the defined requirements.
• If a new structure position is added when creating a template from a sub structure, an empty structure position will be added to all serial structures using the new template.
• If a structure position was removed when creating a template from a sub structure, all empty structure positions corresponding to the removed structure position will be removed from all serial structures using the new template.
• If the selected structure branch is to have its configuration controlled by the new template, the old structure branch (including detailed data) will be removed. As a result, the serial structures associated with the current template will be updated with the new template structure.

Window

Serial Structure Template
Template Structure Navigator

Related Window Descriptions

Create Template from Sub Structure
Serial Structure Template/Consist Of
Serial Structure Template/Multilevel
Template Structure Navigator/Consist Of

Procedure

1. In the Consist Of or the Multilevel tab, query (F3) the template part that consist of the subpart you want to create the template for.
2. Mark the part number you want to create the template for in the structure and click the menu option Create Template from Sub Structure.
3. Select the Structure Status for the new template structure.
4. Select the check box Control Configuration by New Template if the existing structure branch should use the new template to control the configuration.
5. Select the check box Generate New Structure Positions if you do not want to keep the existing structure positions.
6. Select the check box Allow Non Unique Catalog Numbers if non-unique catalog numbers are allowed for the new template structure.
7. Select the check boxes Position Alternates, Dependencies and Functions if you want these data to be copied to the new template structure.
8. If you decide to generate new structure positions for the new template structure, you may (it is optional) click the Next button to specify how the new structure positions should be created.
9. Specify a Prefix and/or a Suffix to the new structure positions.
10. Specify a start value for the structure positions in Start Position field.
11. Specify a fixed length for the structure positions in Position Length field.