Glossary for the CF package

	Glossary for the CF package active If this check box is cleared, you do not want to use the feature, option, resource again. Inactive features, options, resources can be inherited to other classes but remain deactivated when inherited. application class An object oriented representation of a relational table A Session in LN where data is stored assigned to classes and which is used in the Configurator package. application class object A specification of the specific object (instance) of a class. The application class object can be compared with a specific record (occurrence) in a table. application class property When a class is related to a LN application class, all LN table fields are called properties. Each property is related to a feature. BAAN application class An object-oriented representation of a relational table. A LN application class gives you easy access from Configurator to information that is stored in the LN database. LN application classes serve as intermediary between relational LN tables and object-oriented configuration classes. BAAN application class property The relational LN table column (or property) to which a feature is mapped in a LN application class. change order A means to limit or extend the validity. It applies to the following entities: Class features. Class feature options. Class feature option packages. Class constraints. Configuration constraint versions. Class resource values. A change order can be option based or date based. When a change order is date based, the expiry and/or effective date in combination with the reference date determine whether a change order is valid. Option based change orders are used to express a condition in terms of option values. For example, a change order becomes effective when a certain serial number is reached or a change order is effective for certain serial numbers. change order Change orders are used to limit or extend the validity. Change orders are used to limit or extend the validity of Features Options Constraints Etc Etc A change order can be option based or date based. When the change order is date based, the expiry and/or effective date, in combination with a reference date, determine the validity of the change order. class configuration class class method A configuration constraint expression containing a piece of application logic that is related to a configuration class. combined feature A feature that consists of a sequence of two or more other features. Example The feature address, which serves as an identification for a house, is identified by the combination of features zip code and house number. Comb(address,<zip-code, house-number>) In this example the features zip code and house number are combined feature parts. combined feature part A feature that consists of a sequence of two or more other features. Example Consider the feature address which serves as an identification for a house. A house is identified by the combination of zip code and house number. configuration class A group of objects with similar characteristics. For example, the class Person can consist of the objects Mr. Smith, Mrs. Smith and Dr Smith. A class can have data linked to it, for example Name and Date of Birth. A class can also have associated application logic linked to it. For example, Age can be calculated from today's date and Date of Birth. Configuration class event An event is a piece of application logic (for instance Calculate age) which take place when for instance clicking a button. A configuration event is identified with an configuration event identification. Configuration class method type Determines to which objects of a class, constraints are applicable. configuration constraint Expresses application logic that controls or performs an operation. One application is the translation of the customer requirements into the product structure of the variant. The configuration constraints indicate which components and operations will be used in a specific product variant. configuration constraint expression A block of source code in visual basic to perform 'complex' operations. configuration constraint group An identification that the selected configuration constraint belongs to a group of configuration constraints that share certain characteristics. configuration constraint rule A simple if-then statement. By this if-then statement you can include, exclude or select options depending on a condition. Explanation of each part its function: Condition part A condition part is a Boolean expression that expresses under which circumstances options have to be included, excluded or selected. The condition part checks a feature against a certain option value. Inclusion part The inclusion part is that part of a configuration constraint rule that expresses which options should have been selected. If this is not true, the configuration constraint is said to be violated. Exclusion part The exclusion part is that part of a configuration constraint rule that expresses which options should not have been selected. If this is not true, the configuration constraint is said to be violated. Selection part The selection part is that part of a configuration constraint rule that expresses which options will be selected. This configuration constraint can not be violated because option selection will be enforced. In other words, the options will be set as defined. The general format of the if-then statement is: IF <condition part> THEN INCLUDE <inclusion part> EXCLUDE <exclusion part> SELECT <selection part> configuration constraint section Defines when (if applicable) the configuration constraint) must be evaluated. configuration constraint type Defines where and how the configuration constraint is used. configuration constraint validation message A message defined in one or more languages that can be used in a configuration constraint expression and which is shown to the user during the configuration process. configuration constraint version The version of the configuration constraint. The configuration constraint rule and configuration constraint expression are linked to the configuration constraint version. In Configurator version control must be enabled to work with configuration constraint versions. Only one version of the constraint may be active at the time. configuration environment The configuration environment defines the relationships between application servers and database servers. The database is outside the environment, the application (model) servers are inside the environment. The configuration environment defines the following parameters: the mapping (that is, description of associations) between the conceptual model of classes and the execution environment on which computer in a network each class is defined and the location of the objects of each class how a single conceptual model is split up into multiple models on several servers on one network. One model server contains a set of classes that are stored on one machine. configuration event identification Constraints are used as event methods. One occurrence of an event method is the Button press event. To relate an event method with event type Button press to a user interface component, a class event must be defined. Each class event is identified by a Configuration Event Identification. configuration model A set of configuration classes. A class is a group of objects with similar characteristics. configuration resource A user-definable variable that is linked to a feature that can change in value. Generally, you have to define the configuration resource first before assigning it to a feature. This makes re-use of resources possible. Note The value of the feature linked to the configuration resource can be restricted by a resource constraint. This constraint specifies a minimum and maximum value for the feature. configuration user Any user of Configurator. A user is identified by its name as recorded in the LN environment. Configurator users are always a subset of LN users. configuration user role A role played by a configurator user, such as a marketing or engineering role. Users that play the role of an engineer within an organization choose the engineering role to access the desired information in the desired format. Assigned to the role are the authorizations of the LN user within the configuration model. Each user can have multiple roles, and each role can relate to multiple users. However, a user can be active (logged-on) in only one role at the time. Note A configuration role is linked to a normal LN user in the Authorization Management System Module in LN Tools. Super Users have all configuration user roles. Configuration validation message System messages which show the constraint rules during configuration. These rules are part of constraint texts, in the form of either codes or text. Constraint validation messages only refer to constraint sections of the type Validation. configuration view A user interface definition that consists of a menu structure and dialogs, displayed in the object browser. The menu is made up out of configuration view components. The hierarchy between these configuration view components is defined by the configuration view component relationships. The dialog consist of user interface components. The hierarchy between these user interface components is defined by the user interface component relationships. Note The configuration view has a reference to the first (root) configuration view component. configuration view component This is a component that is used in the hierarchy of a configuration view. There are two types of configuration view components: view category (represents a menu icon) configuration class (represents a dialog icon). A configuration view component of type configuration class has two important references: The configuration class that contains information on the data that can be displayed or modified via user interface components The root (first) component of the user interface. Example configuration view component relationship This is a parent child relationship by which the configuration view components are arranged and eventually form an user interface menu in the object browser. As an example see the figure below. The components Demonstration, Line Structure, and Parameters are children of the parent Main Menu. The component Demonstration Dialog is a child of the parent Demonstration. Because this is a configuration view component of type configuration class which represents an application this is also the lowest level of the menu structure. Constraints by generic item Constraints per generic item are constraint rules regarding the use of product features of product feature options for composing product variants. dependent A model server is dependent on another model server, if it refers to another model server in the same conceptual model. Example The conceptual model is split into two model servers (A and B), on two separate computers. Model server A consists of classes 1, 2 and 3, model server B consists of classes 4, 5 and 6. Model server A refers to class 4 (in model server B). Because each model server is compiled separately, model server B must be compiled before model server A. That is, model server A depends on model server B. Dependent class The life of an object that originates from a dependent class depends on the existence of another object. An example is the BOM-relation which cannot exist on its own. The life of a BOM-relation depends on the life of an item to which it is related. If the item is deleted all the BOM-relations are deleted as well. effective date The date when the validity period of an entity starts. In the case of effectivity control the reference date is checked against the effective date. If the reference date is greater than or equal to the effective date the configuration entity is valid. effectivity control A means to check whether entities modeled in Configurator are valid. Almost every entity modeled in the Configurator has an effective date and an expiry date that defines the entity's validity period. If a reference date is specified, you can check whether the entity is valid. If the effective date is B and the reference date is C, the entity in Configurator is not valid. If the expiry date is B and the reference date is C, the entity in Configurator is valid in the interval (C <-> B). Example If the effective date is A and the reference date is C, the entity in Configurator is valid. event method A configuration constraint rule or configuration constraint expression that is used to include, exclude and select options. Event method expressions can be used to perform any kind of calculation or update when certain events like create, get, save and so on occur. expiry date The date when the validity period of an entity ends. In the case of effectivity control the reference date is checked against the expiry date. If the reference date is greater than or equal to the expiry date the configuration entity is not valid anymore. feature A characteristic of a configuration class. It can be any kind of property that can hold a certain value. An example of a feature is color. Class features can be: Mandatory Persistent (can be saved) Private (cannot be used outside the configuration model) Active (is in use) Explicit (derived from) Note You can link as many features as you like to a class. You can link only one option to a feature. feature category A user-definable group that contains features that are classified based on their similar characteristics. A feature category is used to simplify the retrieval of features. generic BOM Set of components, per generic item, from which product variants can be composed. The generic bill of material forms the basis for the variant bill of material which arises during the configuration/generation of a product variant. For each BOM line (component) a constraint rule may apply. generic decision table A two dimensional representation of data. On the two axes of the table a different feature can be used as input. These input values result in a single output value which is determined by the searching method defined for both axes. The generic decision table is able to represent data of the following types: Alphanumeric Integer Fraction Boolean Price Generic item data Generic item data form the basis for the item data per variant which arise during the configuration/generation of a product variant. For each generic item data element a constraint rule may apply. generic price lists Generic price lists form the basis for calculating the prices for particular product variants. For each generic item from the bill of material a price is computed separately. For each operation line a constraint rule may apply. Generic routing Forms the basis for the variant routing which arises during the configuration/generation of a product variant. For each operation line a constraint rule may apply. Inheritance filter Inheritance is controlled by means of inheritance filters. Filters limit the inheritance of available features and options to derived classes. For instance an engineering view uses features which are not used in the marketing view. To limit the number of features and options that can be inherited from the engineering view to the marketing view you must specify an inheritance filter. Inheritance relation An inheritance relation exists between two classes. The relation exists to make reuse possible of data-structure and application logic of objects of the involved classes. Application of inheritance relationships between classes result into super-classes and sub-classes. The derived class is the sub-class. The original class is known a super-class. instantiable class Can be instantiated by one or more objects. language The code for the language in which the description is written. line number A number that determines the sequence in which records are displayed in an overview session. model A set of configuration classes. A class is a group of objects with similar characteristics. model server A set of classes stored on one computer in a network. Several model servers can exist on one computer. The data store for a class in a model server does not have to be on the same computer. One model server can contain classes from more than one conceptual model. multi language support A tool in Configurator to define and handle descriptions of entities in multiple languages. object An individual instance (or occurrence) of a class. object browser The user-interface of the Configurator. In the object browser you can view and maintain the Configurator data and the converted LN data in an explorer-like way. In the Configurator framework you can define the way in which the object browser reflects the data. object browser icon A bitmap used to represent in the object browser. For example: an open folder or closed folder an application a bitmap on a Form Tab user interface component or a Button user interface component. An open folder and closed folder icon can be used by a configuration view component of type view category. An application can be used by a configuration view component of type configuration class. object filter A configuration constraint rule or configuration constraint expression that is used to select a single object (when applied to an object) or set of objects (when applied to a collection of objects). In case of a configuration constraint rule the configuration constraint only contains a condition part, while in case of a configuration constraint expression the environment variable SelectObject must be set after evaluating a (complex) calculation. option A predefined value of a feature. Feature: Basis Color Feature Options: Red, Green, or Blue Note Only features that have the domain list can have options. All features that have another type of domain have option values. Option description by product feature Descriptions of aspects of product features. option package An option package defines an implication between an option value and more option values of another feature. As an example of an option package consider the feature "edition". This feature has two predefined options standard and luxury. In addition to these two features, the features sunroof and air-conditioning exist. Both features have two predefined values: yes and no. An option package can now be defined to state that a luxury edition implies the inclusion of both sunroof and air-conditioning. On the other hand, another option package can be used to define that a standard edition has no sunroof and no air-conditioning. Formally this can be expressed by two option packages X and Y. X: (edition, luxury) -> {(sunroof, yes), (air-conditioning, yes)} Y: (edition, standard) -> {(sunroof, no), (air-conditioning, no)} Option packages come in two different types: Commercial, Technical. These types only influence the way option packages are used. Commercial packages are visible to the user because they carry commercial semantics. Technical option packages only have technical use, and therefore, these options are not presented on the user interface. option package A means to define a connection between one or more option values of another feature. An option package can now be defined to state that a luxury edition implies the inclusion of both sunroof and air-conditioning. On the other hand, another option package can be used to define that a standard edition has no sunroof and no air-conditioning. Formally, this can be expressed by the two option packages X and Y. X: (edition, luxury) -> {(sunroof, yes), (air-conditioning, yes)} Y: (edition, standard) -> {(sunroof, no), (air-conditioning, no)} Option packages come in two different types: Commercial, and Technical. These types only influence the way option packages are used. Commercial packages are visible to the user because they carry commercial semantics. Technical option packages only have technical use, and, therefore, these options are not presented on the user interface. Example Consider a feature edition with two predefined options: standard and luxury. In addition to these two features, the features sunroof and air-conditioning exist. Both features have two predefined values: yes and no. option value The value you can assign to an option or a feature. Only features that have the domain list can have options. All features that have another type of domain have option values. Note In the Feature Options (cfcmd1110m000) session an option value is a specification of an option. In the Option Value field you can fill in any data to further distinguish an option. Example In order to distinguish between different options of the color red, you give each color red its own number. In order to know the prices of options and combinations of options, you can fill in a price in the option value field and calculate the different prices in the configurator. option value domain A specification of the possible values a feature can hold. owner The LN user who has created or modified the Configurator entity. ownership A specification of the configuration model to which the selected item belongs. The item can represent: A configuration constraint A feature And so on. packaged feature A feature assigned to an option of another feature. Example packaged option value An option selected from a list, or a user definable option value that has been assigned to a packaged feature. parent change order The condition that is specified on the root of the tree when you create a bill-of-change-orders. This way, the change order can be synchronized, because all change orders become effective if the condition defined at the root note evaluates to true. Price list matrix Tables with prices which are based on the values of a physical quantity on the X axis and the values of a physical quantity on the Y-axis. Price list matrix ID Codes presenting a set of values which are based on two physical quantities. These values are the X- and Y-axis values from price list matrices. The maximum number of values per physical quantity is 24. Product feature by generic item Product features per generic item are item-dependent characteristics allowing product variants to be composed. Product feature descriptions Language-dependent descriptions of product features. Product feature options No Help topic is associated with this item. Product feature options Options per product feature that specify the product feature. Product variant ID Product variant codes identify the separate product variants. Product variant structure The configuration path that is followed in order to create a product variant from a generic product structure and the chosen product variant options. reference date A user definable date that is used to check the validity of change orders and configuration entities such as: User roles Features Configuration resources In the case of effectivity control the reference date is checked against the effective date and expiry date. If the reference date is greater than or equal to the effective date the configuration entity is valid. If the reference date is greater than or equal to the expiry date the configuration entity is not valid anymore. relation type Class relation types describe relations between classes and are assigned at class-level to state that objects of the involved classes are related. Relation types facilitate the inheritance of data between classes. For instance, the class Volvo has a relation with three other classes namely the dependent classes Volvo truck, Volvo van and Volvo family car. The relation type between Volvo and the types could be for instance "One of the car types of Volvo". You can inherit classes related to the class Volvo (for instance the class Color) to the classes Volvo truck and Volvo family car. As a result, these both classes have a relationship type called for instance 'Color options'. So the objects within the class family car do have a relation with the objects in the class color for instance Red, Blue. Resource Are used to assign additional values to a feature. For instance, when you select air-conditioning as an extra feature, the resources Price of the car and the Weight of the car increase. So, the value of a resource depends on the chosen features. resource constraint A constraint that limits the value of a configuration resource by specifying a maximum and minimum value for the selected feature. Resource type The resource type specifies if the class feature to which the resource is linked functions as a supplier or a consumer of the resource involved. A supplying feature increases the resource value while a consuming feature decreases a resource value. If the resource value is limited to a certain interval by means of minimum and maximum features, LN checks if a supplying feature does not exceed the maximum resource value and a consuming feature does not exceed the minimum value. resource value During configuration of a product, changes can occur in the value (for instance weight or price) of a product due to changes of the features and options you choose. Resource values display the differences. The value of the resource can be expressed in: Amount Percentage Sub total Total Text sequence number A number that determines the sequence. A number that determines the sequence in which: records are displayed in an overview session or list box components such as features are shown in the user menu (user dialog). user interface component A component of the user interface dialog. Each component has its own characteristics. There are components that only influence the layout of the user interface dialog (For example form, tabbed dialog, form tab and frame) and components that are able to handle data (text box, drop down list box and option button). In the figure above you see the user interface components and their relations (called user interface component relationships). A component of the user interface dialog. Each component has its own characteristics. There are components that only influence the layout of the user interface dialog (For example form, tabbed dialog, form tab and frame) and components that are able to handle data (text box, drop down list box and option button). user interface component relationship This is a parent child relationship by which the user interface components are arranged and eventually form an user interface dialog in the object browser. As an example see the figure below. The components Form Tab 1, Form Tab 2, and Form Tab 3 are children of the parent Form. The components Frame 1 and Frame 2 are children of the parent Form Tab 1. And so on. In the example above you see the user interface components and their relations (called user interface component relationships). User role Role played by a user. Examples of user roles are marketing and engineering. Users that play the role of an engineer within an organization choose the engineering role to access the desired information in the desired format. version Used to identify entities that slightly differ from a previous created base entity.