Managing Projects
After logging into the Designer, you will arrive on the dashboard, which is the starting point for all activities in the Designer.
Know the environment in which you are working
The environment in which you are working is determined via the functions in the Designer header:
CHOOSING YOUR TEAM
Definition: A team is a logical grouping of users working on the same projects, called a team assignment. Within a team, each user has one or multiple roles, enabling them to have certain steps inside each project.
The team assignment will define the projects you have access to. As such, when you change the team in which you are working, it is highly possible that the projects that are displayed on the dashboard will change.
The team you last used to access the application will be the default team when you log in to the application again.
Create a workgroup
In order to create a Workgroup:
How to:
- Click on the “New” button in the top of the the Workgroup list
- In the user dialog, enter a name (Workgroups do not have descriptions)
- If you want to open the project immediately, check the associated checkbox, if not, uncheck it.
- Click on the “Create” button.
The newly created Workgroup is added to the dashboard in the corresponding menu.
Accessing workgroup administration
In order to gain access to Workgroup Administration:
How to:
- Click on the “Edit” button in the Workgroup list, and select the Workgroup that should be edited.
CHOOSING YOUR WORKSPACE
Although the team will define on which projects you can work, these projects may be stored in different workspaces.
Definition: A workspace is a virtual environment holding all modeling projects.
In order to keep the dashboard as clean as possible, the projects shown on the dashboard are “filtered” by the workspace chosen in the menu toolbar.
The workspace you were last working on will be the default workspace when you log in to the application again.
Create a workspace
In order to create a Workspace:
How to:
- Click on the “New” button in the top of the Workspace list
- In the user dialog, enter a name (Workspaces do not have descriptions)
- If you want to open the project immediately, check the associated checkbox, if not, uncheck it.
- If you want the newly created workspace to be set as the current workspace, check the associated checkbox. If the workspace is opened immediately, it will be automatically set as the current workspace.
- Click on the “Create” button
The newly created Workspace is added to the ist of Workspaces.
Accessing workspace administration
In order to access to Workspace Administration:
How to:
- Click on the “Edit this workspace” button in the Workspace list
CHOOSING YOUR VERSION
One of the important features of the Designer is the ability to validate multiple projects, a specific project or a subset of a project, and to version it.
Definition: A released version corresponds to a stable state of the Designer repository. Released versions are typically the only versions sent to a production environment.
Definition: A working version corresponds to a temporary state of the Designer repository, based on the last released version.
In order to work on the next “to be released” version, you have to select “working version” in the combobox. However, if you want to work on a previously “released” version to fix it, you can select that specific version in the combobox.
By default, the selected version is the working version.
CHOOSING YOUR LANGUAGE
Definition: The language displayed in the Designer header is the working language. Any description entered will be saved in this language.
By default, the language in which you are working will be the language in your user profile. However, you are able to change the working language (= the language of your models) by using the Language function.
Designing projects
USING THE PROJECT LIST
The project list – a list of all projects which are managed by your team and which are part of the currently selected workspace – is represented by the section Design.
This section organizes the projects based on the process to which they correspond.
Definition:A process is a predefined modeling approach, composed of a number of steps. Each step will define a certain number of activities, aiming to accomplish a single goal.
The following processes are represented on the project list:
Configuration Workflows
- This process is used to build Configuration Processes for selling complex & customizable products and services.
Catalogs
- This process is used to build ecommerce catalogs and to manage products, as well as related pricing, rich media and so on.
Manufacturing Workflows
- This process is used to design Configurable Bills of Materials in order to manufacture configured products.
Bundles
- This process is used to build Configurable Bundles for selling sets of products and services with simple rules.
Guided Selling Workflows
- This process is used to set up Guided Selling Processes used for requirement collection purposes inside an ecommerce catalog.
Cart Models
- This process is used to set up Quotation Processes used to build quote models that can be used in an ecommerce environment.
Business Property Sets
- This process is an internal process used to help Product Managers categorize the item
references and manage their characteristics.
In the project lists, projects can be created, opened or deleted. The following paragraphs will explain how.
OPENING A PROJECT
In order to open a project, click on the icon corresponding to its process. This will will display the list of processes of this kind.
You can then open a project by clicking on its name.
If a certain project is a part of the team assignment but is not in your project list, it means that you do not have the necessary role assignment to work on it. In this case, please contact the Designer administrator.
Reference:For more information about roles, please refer to Administer Workgroups, Defining the roles.
CREATING A NEW PROJECT
Click on the corresponding New button on the top right of the project list.
Click on the New Content button on the top right of the Dashboard, and select the kind of process to be created.
Whenever a user clicks on a function in this group, the application will ask for some additional information; in most circumstances it will ask for the name and description.
Project details
The following table lists the different project types and how to create them:
| PROJECT | HOW TO |
|---|---|
| Configuration Workflow | In order to create a Configuration Workflow: Click on the “New” button in the Configuration Workflows list, or use the “New Content” button In the user dialog, enter a name and description If you want to open the project immediately, check the associated checkbox, if not, uncheck it. Click on the “Create” button The newly created Configuration Workflow is added to the dashboard in the corresponding project group. |
| Catalog | In order to create a Catalog: Click on the “New” button in the Catalogs list, or use the “New Content” button In the user dialog, enter a name and description If you want to open the project immediately, check the associated checkbox, if not, uncheck it. Click on the “Create” button The newly created Catalog is added to the dashboard in the corresponding project group. |
| Manufacturing Workflow | In order to create a Manufacturing Workflow: Click on the “New” button in the Manufacturing Workflows list, or use the “New Content” button In the user dialog, enter a name and description If you want to open the project immediately, check the associated checkbox, if not, uncheck it. Click on the “Create” button The newly created Manufacturing Workflow is added to the dashboard in the corresponding project group. |
| Bundle | In order to create a Bundle: Click on the “New” button in the Bundles list, or use the “New Content” button In the user dialog, enter a name and description If you want to open the project immediately, check the associated checkbox, if not, uncheck it. Click on the “Create” button The newly created Bundle is added to the dashboard in the corresponding project group. |
| PROJECT | HOW TO |
|---|---|
| Guided Selling Workflow | In order to create a Guided Selling Workflow Click on the “New” button in the Guided Selling Workflows list, or use the “New Content” button In the user dialog, enter a name and description If you want to open the project immediately, check the associated checkbox, if not, uncheck it. Click on the “Create” button The newly created Guided Selling Workflow is added to the dashboard in the corresponding project group. |
| Business Property Set | In order to create a Business Property Set: Click on the “New” button in the Business Property Sets list, or use the “New Content” button In the user dialog, enter a name and description If you want to open the project immediately, check the associated checkbox, if not, uncheck it. Click on the “Create” button The newly created Business Property Set is added to the dashboard in the corresponding project group. |
Project/object name details
A Name is an identifier in Designer. The characters which can be used for names are limited to characters 32 through 126 of the standard ASCII character set (ASCII 7), excluding the double quote (character 34: “). The following table lists the characters which can be used to create objects:
However, some names involve special restrictions, notably those which are used inside the CPQ Macro Language. These names concern workspaces, macros and alias names:
The first character has to be a lower case or upper case alphabetical character (a..z or A..Z)
All subsequent characters have to be either alphabetical characters (a..z or A..Z) or numerical characters (0..9) or an underscore. (Workspaces can exceptionally involve a dash).
Testing projects
USING THE TEST CAMPAIGNS LIST
The test campaigns list – the list of test scripts that can be ran to control projects validity – is represented by the section Test.
Definition: A test campaign is a made of a set of test cases.
Reference: Please refer to the dedicated chapter for more information about Test Campaigns and Test Cases.
OPENING A TEST CAMPAIGN
In order to open a project, click on its name in the test campaigns list.
If a certain test campaogn is a part of the team assignment but is not in your project list, it means that you do not have the necessary role assignment to work on it. In this case, please contact the Designer administrator.
Reference: For more information about roles, please refer to Administer Workgroups, Defining the roles.
CREATING A NEW TEST CAMPAIGN
To create a new test campaign:
How to:
- Click on the “New Test Campaign” button
- In the user dialog, enter a name and description
- If you want to open the project immediately, check the associated checkbox, if not, uncheck it.
- Click on the “Create” button
The newly created Campaign is added to the list of test camapigns.
UPDATING A TEST CAMPAIGN
To update a test campaign and its content, the designer user can follow the various steps:
Reference: For more information about the steps, please check the Test Campaign chapter.
DELETING A TEST CAMPAIGN
Deleting a test campaign is considered an administrative function and requires specific privileges.
Reference: For more information about deleting projects, please refer to Managing the workspace dictionary.
RUNNING TEST CAMPAIGNS
Test campaigns can be played directly from the dashboard as described below.
To know more about test campaign runs, and their results, please refer to the Test Campaign dedicated chapter.
How to: Run a test campaign
- Click on the "Run" button at the top right of the test campaigns list.
- All tests will be played and results are displayed below each test campaign description
How to: Run all test campaigns:
- Click on the “Run All” button at the top right of the test campaigns list
- All tests will be played and results are displayed below each test campaign description
Working with versions
USING THE VERSION OVERVIEW
The version overview – the current changes pending for versioning/fixing – is represented by the section Deploy. This section represents a short overview of the current version changes.
Changes identified here are those made on the current version on the latest fix level.
Numbers and Types of New, Edited and Deleted elements for each main object type will be shown in this section.
USING THE QUICK VERSIONING CAPABILITY
The Deploy section of the Dashboard contains a “Start Deploying Button”. Depending on the currently selected version, the button will:
- Open a Quick version pop-up if the selected version is the Working version
- Open a Quick fix pop-up if the selected version is not the Working version
Please refer to the Versioning dedicated chapter to learn more about Quick Fix and Quick Version capabilities.
USING THE VERSION LIST
The version list – a list of all released versions that have been created – is represented by the section Deployed Versions. This section represents a short overview of the last versions, displayed in a history.
For each version, the following information is displayed:
- The date of the version creation
- The label of the version
The list of versions can also be reached using a RSS-feed, using the following URL:
http://<server>:<port>/CPQDesigner/rss?SYNDICATED_INFO=Versioning
The following URL points to the RSS-feed for the working version changes with respect to the last
version:
http://:/CPQDesigner/rss?SYNDICATED_INFO=VersioningChanges&wks
=<workspace>&version=Working_Version
MANAGING VERSIONS
Versions cannot be managed from within the dashboard. You will learn to create, view and delete versions later on in this manual.
Version administration is available by using the “Manage Versions” button.
Reference: For more information about versions, please refer to Managing & Distributing Versions.
Using Import, Export and Manage Files Functions
USING THE IMPORT FUNCTION
An Import functionality is available in the Dashboard.
Please refer to the dedicated chapter to learn more about Importing data.
USING THE EXPORT FUNCTION
An Export functionality is available in the Dashboard.
To Open an existing Export, click on the chosen Export name in the list.
Click on the “New Export” button in the Export button list
In the user dialog, enter a name and description
If you want to open the project immediately, check the associated checkbox, if not, uncheck it.
Click on the “Create” button
Please refer to the dedicated chapter to learn more about Exporting data.
USING THE MANAGE FILES FUNCTION
The Manage Files menu is available via a shortcut on the Dasboard. Clicking on this shortcut will open the Manage Files menu in a separated popup window.
Please refer to Managing Files for more details on how to manage files via this menu.