General (document)

The General page provides the basic information about the document: its unique identity (owner, number, name), a selected technical content identifier (revision), and how that technical content may be used (lifecycle).

Owner §

This is the organization that gives the document number, controls the document's contents and approves its release. Typically, your organization owns documents that define its designs and procedures. Other partner organizations can also own documents, such as (a) regulatory agencies that publish industry requirements, (b) manufacturers that publish product datasheets, or (c) customers that issue product requirements to your designers.

The value is locked on first release.

Document type §

The type defines the document's attributes and behaviors (like numbering, revision format, custom attributes, etc.), which are controlled by its Document Types collection member. The class icon shows the most recent iteration's release status:

Pending
Released
Canceled

The type defines the document's attributes and behaviors (like numbering, revision format, custom attributes, etc.), which are controlled by its Document Types collection member.

The Type cannot be edited. If you want to apply a different document type, you must convert the document and let PDXpert copy whatever it can from the old document using the new Document Type's rules. You can then remove the unwanted document from your system or, if it's been released, cancel the released iteration. If the new item must use the same Number, then search the web for this application note: PDXpert Switching an existing item to a different type.

Number §

The document Owner and Type determine the document number rules:

Documents designed and controlled by your home organization are given a number based on the document type:
- Manually: You can enter your own number or click the button to give a new number, and further edit the given value. The Number textbox and the button are both enabled.
- Automatically: The Number field, as well as the button on the right-most end of the textbox, is locked and the document number is present.
Documents designed and controlled by partner organizations are given document numbers by those organizations. The Number field is editable and the button disabled.

The auto-number format and value are specified in a Sequences: Identifier collection member.

The value is locked on first release.

Document name (title) §

The document title provides an indexed, searchable description of the document's contents or purpose.

The starting value is copied from the document type's Text template value. See the Document types: Document title template help topic.

The Name{a} button inserts the values on the Custom page into the document type's Text template. The button is visible only when custom attributes have been specified on the document type. To make a new document title, first enter the custom attribute values, and then click the Name{a} button to make the title. The new name completely replaces the previous name. You can edit the new name after the custom attributes have been inserted.

The search engine finds and indexes search tokens, which are alphanumeric strings separated by space characters. When a document title like Spec, Screw, Metric is indexed, individual tokens Spec Screw Metric are found (the commas , are removed). The item's complete set of tokens includes the description, owner, number, custom attributes, notes, and other data fields. Search results are ranked based on how many tokens are matched: when searching for metric screw specifications, metric screw spec ranks higher than screw spec. The item's list of tokens gives search flexibility: you won't care that other users use SCREW, SPEC, METRIC or Spec, metric screw for the title. You may also look for spec* to find titles with specification. The token list also lets you omit items that include an unwanted token: spec metric -screw. See the Search for items and Search commands help topics.

While descriptions with Unicode characters (like cm² and kΩ) might look better, they're often hard to use. For example, searches are more difficult if some keyboards don't show the character, and older manufacturing applications may not know how to import or display these characters.

The value is locked on first release.

Trustee §

This is the person who has overall responsibility for the document's contents. The trustee can edit various fields, add references, attach files, and add the document to a change form's Affected list. The trustee, as well as analyst, can give the document to a different user, who becomes the new trustee.

Product families §

Permissions defined within a Product Families collection member change how other users can view or edit this item. Add a product family by dragging it from the Product Families collection in the Collection Explorer.

Double-click a product family in the list to show the Product Families collection member.

The User settings tool can define a list of Product Families collection members that are copied to each new item.

Administrators can use the Batch Importer tool to add Product Families collection members to this list, or reset the list.

— Iteration: Revision at Lifecycle —

This area shows the selected iteration's current status – Pending Released Canceled – with supporting details.

Revision §

A document revision identifies each step in the evolution of a document's technical content.

Depending upon the rules adopted by your company, a document revision can specify a major non-interchangeable change, or a minor ("clerical") difference. Normally, technical content that has major changes is given a new document number. Changes that simply add minor content, clarify technical information, or correct clerical errors usually retain the same document number, but require a new revision.

The revision's Increment button sets the revision to the starting value of the current revision sequence, based on the selected Lifecycle phase.