Policing Properties in Productstream

Autodesk Productstream provides a utility to mandate property field population in the Item Master. This addresses the old adage ‘Garbage In, Garbage out.’ Properly set, you can prevent inadvertent releasing of Items unless the Properties are filled out correctly. Go to Tools>Administration>Items tab. Select Properties. Two persistent properties are listed: Description and Title. Note the Data Source column. Here you can set the ownership of the Property – File (the CAD file is responsible) or Item (the Item is responsible). Click Add to define a new Property. The Display on Item column has three settings: Yes (makes it a mandatory field), No (do not display), and Optional (display, but can be empty). If you set a field to Yes, it must be filled in before the Item is Released. This helps to ensure accuracy for downstream users. The Default Value column is for common values found in that particular property. You can also set a Minimum and Maximum for the value of the Property and set an optional Case Sensitivity. So how does this all work? First, there is a visual clue if the Items are Property Noncompliant. This appears in the Item Master with a red circle and line through it. Second, in the Item record you will see a red circle and exclamation mark, indication of Property Noncompliance. Finally, if you try to change the Lifecycle state from Work In Progress, you will be warned that the state cannot be changed due to Policies on Properties.