Setting Pre-defined Column Context

[sdeshpande]

We have a lot of document domains that have a lot of associated metadata which is required to understand the context of the document.

This requires the document view to show very specific columns for each domain, with the view also changing between an authoring vs. an approval vs. a tracing task.

IE. A system requirement domain should have 5 specific columns when authoring, an additional trace status column for tracing, and 3 additional approval related columns when approving.

These columns change from domain to domain as I mentioned earlier. The given example is a simple one, some domains have upto 12-15 fields that are necessary to understand the document. In the beginning, it's impossible for our users to know which fields matter, how they have been configured and what those fields are called in Integrity, so I don't want to depend on users to be able to choose the columns themselves.

I understand that I can pre-configure column contexts, but is it possible to go into the level of detail I mentioned? (ie. multiple column context styles for a specific domain within a viewset)

More importantly, I could not find any documentation that helps an administrator set up pre-defined column contexts for all users.

I'd really appreciate some instructions on this if possible, and ideas for alternative best practices if there are any.

[KaelLizak]

Hello Sourabh Deshpande,

You can customize what is seen from a ViewSet, including the columns displayed.  When creating the ViewSet, close the views to commit the column configuration to your ViewSet, then re-open the ones you want to have open by default.  Users importing the ViewSet should have those same columns in that ViewSet.

The default columns for queries is just the general defaults, which is useful, but ViewSet configuration takes precedence over column configuration.

I hope that helps.

Regards,

Kael

[sdeshpande]

I think I didn't word my question properly.

I want to be able to set column context for document types within the document view, not for queries in a viewset.

This might give you a better idea of what I mean.

I can see this was done by our consultant for contexts such as Authoring, Tracing and Approvals but I want to be able to edit those and/or make new ones.

There is no documentation available on how to do this, and the functionality isn't particularly intuitive.

In addition, I was also asking whether those column contexts can differ for different document domains.

Ie. I have 5 document domain types. Can each of those domain types have a different set of columns shown in the "Tracing" column context?

Requirement should have decomposes to and from, while specifications should have satisfies and satisfied, for example.

Any help is really appreciated, I've been struggling to find any information on creating/editing column contexts in the documentation.

[KaelLizak]

Hello Sourabh,

In that case, please contact PTC Integrity Lifecycle Management Support‌‌ referencing this thread.

It looks like there is internal documentation which covers this, and it should be released under RFC 273817.  In the meantime, the TSE in question should be able to provide that information for you, and determine if we can publish an article which provides that information.

Regards,
Kael

[KaelLizak · Accepted solution]

Just a follow-up:

I tried this myself, and column contexts can be modified or set with the same method as described for queries above, at least with existing column contexts:  modifying the column context while editing the ViewSet in the ViewSet node of the Admin GUI, then closing the document viewed, then closing the ViewSet should set the column context to the selected context.  Any column modifications made within a column context should also remain set in this way.

Regards,
Kael

[sdeshpande]

That's great! Thank you Kael, I really appreciate it.

This solves at least a part of the problem.

Any idea when we can expect the update so we know how to create new contexts?

Thanks again, saved me a lot of time!

[KaelLizak]

The RFC isn't scheduled, and the article won't get reliably updated until someone opens a case to get themselves filed to it.  If I had the time I'd just update it myself, but I'm a little behind at the moment.

-Kael