The client shows one breakdown element, also called node, at a time in the breakdown structure view of the left pane; the name of the current breakdown element is the blue text on the top of the pane (see Figure 18). The view below that blue name displays the set of children breakdown elements and the documents that belong to the current breakdown element, as described below.

Figure 18. Breakdown Structure
The above picture shows a breakdown structure for a bike. The breakdown structure consists of three main sections (see red numbers 1, 2 and 3 on Figure 18):

1. Parent node name and information: Contains the name of the parent node, the version of the parent node and additional icons such as the subdomain icon.
2. Parent node context menu: Through this menu the user can access different breakdown element and document functionality.
3. Children nodes: All children nodes, that is, breakdown elements and data files, are located in this section. Depending on the type of node the user will have access to breakdown element or data file functionality through the child node context menu to the right of the child name or data file name.

Notification of changes by other clients

In case other users than the current one has changed the breakdown structure, breakdown elements or documents, the system will provide the notification shown in Figure 19 in the client of the current user. You may select to receive the updates done by others to what you currently see on your screen ("Update"), or you may want to continue with your view undisturbed ("Ignore"). In case of the latter, be aware that your view does not any more reflect the status in the database.

Figure 19. Change notification

Breakdown element functionality

The functionality for managing breakdown elements is distributed over two context menus depending on the role that a breakdown element is playing. For a parent breakdown element, that is, for the root of a breakdown branch, a wider range of functions is available than when a breakdown element plays the role of a child node.

Breakdown versioning

Each change within the breakdown structure results in a new version of this structure, except for updates to documents. For each new version the breakdown version number is incremented by one and is assigned to the root of the breakdown structure; see Figure 20, below.

Figure 20. Breakdown structure versions
Any version may be set current by selecting it from the drop-down list. This version of the past may then be browsed with all its breakdown elements, documents, and property values. This may be repeated for any version from version 1 to the latest version. However, only the latest version may be changed; all other versions have read-only access. The read-only access is marked by the yellow lock sign to the right of all parent breakdown names that is also used for baselines, as described in Table 1.
When breakdown elements are created, the version number of the breakdown that their creation resulted in is added in parentheses to the end of the breakdown element name; see, for example, in Figure 26.

Child node functionalities

The child node context menu can be accessed by clicking on the   icon to the right of the child nodes; see Figure 21. The individual functions are explained below.

Figure 21. Child node context menu

Rename element

Allows the user to rename the child node (see Figure 22).

Figure 22. Rename element

Rename by attribute

This function replaces – temporarily – the name of the breakdown element where this function was invoked and its children by the value of a specified property. If the current breakdown element or some of its children do not have that property, that is, if a user-defined property is specified and this does not exist in all the involved breakdown element types, their names do not change.
The name of the attribute / property needs to be spelled exactly as listed in the breakdown properties panes; it is case sensitive. You may copy it from there and paste it into the input field; see Figure 23.
This change occurs only in the current client; it will be undone by an update of the client with server data, for example, by reloading the client webpage.

Figure 23. Rename by attribute

Edit element

Allows the user to change the description or the element type of the node (see Figure 24).

Figure 24. Edit element

Delete element

Allows the user to delete a breakdown element (see Figure 25). 
Note: Remember that this function creates a new version of the breakdown structure in which the selected element has been removed. The removed element is still available, but only for reading, in the previous version of the breakdown.

Figure 25. Delete element

Cut element

This function together with "Paste" can be used to move a breakdown element to a different location.

Copy element

This function works together with different Paste-functions within the parent node menu; see chapter 3.4.2.3 . Use this command to copy and paste the selected element with all its child elements and documents, that is, a complete branch, to another location. 
Note: A branch can be pasted into the same parent breakdown element. In this case you will get two breakdown elements with the same names, but with a sequence number to distinguish them in parentheses (see Figure 26).

Figure 26. Two copies in the same parent

Parent node functionalities

The name of the current breakdown element, also called "Parent node" is listed below the breadcrumb. In the example in Figure 27 it is "BIKE SYSTEM". When a breakdown element is initially selected, its properties are displayed in the pane named "BREAKDOWN PROPERTIES". When one of the child elements of the current breakdown element are selected by single click, the "BREAKDOWN PROPERTIES" pane displays the properties of this child breakdown element. A second click on the same child name will make this child the current breakdown element.
Functions for the current breakdown element are available from the context menu right underneath its name (see Figure 27).

Figure 27. Parent node context
When the three-dot icon has been selected, the following menu in Figure 28 appears.

Figure 28. Parent node context menu

Create element

To add a breakdown element to the breakdown structure, right-click on the main breakdown node and choose "Create element" from the context menu. The input form in Figure 29 appears.

Figure 29. Create element

• Name: The name of the node.
• Description: Description of the node.
• Type: The type of the node. The values in the dropdown list are defined as breakdown element types in the reference data section.
• Template: A breakdown template that may be selected from a list of available templates to copy it to become the new breakdown element; children elements and documents of the template will also be copied.

Note: Breakdown elements have a system property called "Phase". The value of Phase is set by the project root menu item "Current project phase" (see chapter 3.7.1.9).
To create a requirement, use the Create element function with "Requirement" as type. The description of the element is used as requirement text (Figure 30). Any resources that are associated to this requirement can later be added to the element.

Figure 30. Requirement element
The parent node functionality of a requirement node are different than other breakdown elements (see Figure 31).

Figure 31. Requirement node menu
When using "Create requirement" only breakdown elements of type requirement or its subtypes will be available (refer Figure 32).

Figure 32. Requirement types

Paste element

This function is used after a Copy element or Cut element function; see "Child node functionalities" in chapter 3.4.2.1 . It copies or moves the element as child into the current breakdown element.

Paste element as relating

This function relates the pasted element as "relating" to the current breakdown element. The current breakdown element is then considered to be "related" to the pasted element. The difference between "related" and "relating" is that if one element of the relationship is dependent upon the other, it is the "related" element; see definition in ISO 10303-41. The matter of dependency is given by the semantics of the "Role" attribute.
Select "Copy element" from a child node context menu. Go to another element and click on "Paste as a relating" and fill the form. The selection of "Role" values is defined in the reference data section. The attribute "Remark" may be left empty.
The new relationship is viewed by clicking on the hyperlink of the "Links" breakdown element system property, as shown below. "Relating" relationships are always marked as "direct" links; "related" relationships are marked as "backward" links.



Figure 33. Establishing a backward/related relationship

Paste element as related

This function relates the pasted element as "related" to the current breakdown element. The current breakdown element is then considered to be "relating" to the pasted element. The difference between "related" and "relating" is that if one element of the relationship is dependent upon the other, it is the "related" element; see definition in ISO 10303-41. The matter of dependency is given by the semantics of the "Role" attribute.
Select "Copy element" from a child node context menu. Go to another element and click on "Paste as a related" and fill the form. The selection of "Role" values is defined in the reference data section. The attribute "Remark" may be left empty.
The new relationship is viewed by clicking on the hyperlink of the "Links" breakdown element system property, as shown below. This "related" relationship is marked as "backward" link in the copied and pasted element; the corresponding "relating" relationship is marked as "direct" in the target element.



Figure 34. Establishing a direct/relating relationship

Add Organisation

Organizations that were created using the Catalogues icon can be added to the current breakdown element by this menu item. The role that the organization plays in this breakdown element is specified by selecting from the drop-down list of the input form; see Figure 35, below. The contents of the drop-down list is defined in the reference data section.

Figure 35. Add organization to a breakdown element
None, one or several organisations may be added. Details may be reviewed by the hyperlink to the right of the "Organisations" system property; see Figure 36. The second screenshot of the figure shows the pop-up window with details of the organisations.


Figure 36. Organisation system property with details

Put Product

EDMtruePLM distinguishes products and breakdowns. Types of products are defined in the Catalogue area and may be linked to breakdown elements.
Products that were created using the Catalogues icon can be added to the current breakdown element by this menu item.


Figure 37. Product details
The product is pasted into the breakdown pane as shown on the left side in Figure 37. The product properties appear in a pane by itself, aside breakdown and document properties.

Generate document

This functionality is used to generate a document based on a template in Excel format. The following requirements apply for creating a template:

1. The first sheet is just the data representation page. The sheet may have any name.
2. The second sheet will be filled with the property values of the current node. The sheet may have any name.
3. The third and other sheets will be filled with data from the direct children nodes of the current node; there is no recursion below the second level. The name of each sheet must be the children node type; this type name will be used for filtering the children nodes.

Each cell of the first row of the template must include a name of the user-defined property of the current breakdown element. Additionally, the following system properties may be added:
'Name' - filled from the node name,
'Description' - filled from the node description,
'Node_ID' - filled from the node ID (GUID).
In case, not all fields were filled from by properties of the current node and the node has direct relations, related nodes will be used for filling the empty fields.

Add data file

Data files / documents can be added to all nodes within the breakdown structure except for the root node. Documents are listed together with child breakdown elements. To add a data file, open the parent node menu and click on the Add data file item (see Figure 38).

Figure 38. Add data file
To add a data file either use the browser button or just drop the file in the pop-up form. The following is a brief description of each input field.

1. File tab

• Title: The name of the document. This name will appear as document name in the breakdown structure. This field is filled automatically by the name of the selected file, but may be changed.
• Description: A short description of the document. The field is mandatory.

1. Props tab

The user may select the below information from drop-down lists. The contents of these lists are defined in the reference data section.

• Source: where does the file come from; for example, is it an internal resource or has an external origin. 
• Content type: type of information in a document, e.g., CAD, Design, Requirement specification ... .
• Discipline: type of engineering, e.g., Electrical, Instrumentation, Mechanical ... .
• Project phase: project phase that the document applies to; the default value is changed by the project root menu item "Current project phase" (see chapter 3.7.1.9).
• Status: the level of progression of a document in its lifecycle workflow, e.g., Draft, Approved, Completed, Ready to review, Sent for approval ... .

1. Users tab

The user may select the below information from drop-down lists that show the users available for the current project.

• Editor: The person who has edited the file.
• Responsible: The person who is responsible for the file.
• Reviewer: The person who is assigned to review the data file.
• Approver: The person who is assigned to approve the release of the data file.
• Release manager: The person who is responsible for the release process of the data file.

Note: The default "Responsible" user is selected based on the availability of a subdomain. If the user is adding a data file to an element that is not part of a subdomain, the default "Responsible" user is the user adding the data file. However, if the data file is added to a subdomain the "Responsible" user is the subdomain leader. In both cases, the user can use the "Responsible" dropdown control to select another user as the data file "Responsible" user. 

Paste data file

This function pastes the latest data file that was subject to "Copy file" or "Cut file" into the current breakdown element. After "Cut file" the data file is moved into this new location and removed from its old location. After "Copy file" a link to the original data file location is added to the current breakdown element.
Thus, a single document is visible in multiple locations. Any modifications to the data file from any of the locations in the breakdown structure will be visible in all other locations.

Show element in context

This function displays the position of the current breakdown element with all its parents and with its direct children; that is, possibly many levels up, but only one level down (Figure 39).

Figure 39. Show element in context

Show BOM

This function displays the branch of the current breakdown element (Figure 40). The root of the branch is the selected parent node. Its direct children are presented; further levels of child breakdown elements may be opened interactively.

Figure 40. Show BOM

View Change log

User changes to the properties of a breakdown element are recorded. This function displays a list of such changes to the current breakdown element; see Figure 41 for an example.

Figure 41. Breakdown element change log

Create baseline

A baseline is a version of the breakdown structure with a user-given name. To create a baseline, fill in the input form shown in Figure 42.

Figure 42. Create baseline

Subdomain info

This menu item is only visible if the current breakdown element is defined to be a subdomain. If so, details about the subdomain are displayed as shown below in Figure 43.

Figure 43. Subdomain info

Subdomain management

A subdomain is a part of a breakdown structure; it may be a branch or just an element. To create a subdomain the project manager or project administrator must select the breakdown element and click on the "Create subdomain" sub-menu to this menu item.
Notes:

• To create a subdomain the project must have a user with Subdomain leader as its user type. While the project manager and the project admin have higher privileges within the project, only a subdomain leader can be responsible for a subdomain.
• Project members have only access to the project's subdomains. Without a subdomain the project is only accessible to the project manager and project admin.
• The root of the breakdown structure cannot be a subdomain root.

Before a subdomain is created, the Subdomain management menu item has only the Create subdomain item (see Figure 44).

Figure 44. Subdomain management
After the subdomain is created the menu item will show three other items as shown below in Figure 45.

Figure 45. Subdomain options

1. Create subdomain

Click on the Create subdomain to create a subdomain (see Figure 46).

Figure 46. Create subdomain

1. Subdomain leader: the user responsible for the new subdomain. The user must have the type Subdomain leader associated with it.
2. Limit to project phase: the phase of the project that the subdomain is valid for.

Note: After the subdomain is created the corresponding breakdown element is assigned a icon to the right of its name; for an example, see Figure 27.

1. Delete subdomain

Will delete the subdomain (see Figure 47). Project members and subdomain leader will no longer have access to the breakdown structure if they are not part of any other subdomain.

Figure 47. Delete subdomain

1. Subdomain roles

Allows roles to be assigned to the subdomain and permissions to be attached to these roles.
Note: Roles are not permissions; a role can be assigned multiple permissions, one or none. If a role does not have any permissions assigned to it, the users that are assigned to that role will not have access to the subdomain.
As subdomain leader, select a role, defined in the reference data section, and assign permissions to the role (Figure 48).


Figure 48. Subdomain roles
Each subdomain role can be given the following access rights:

• Read
• Write
• Delete

By giving the Delete access right the system will also give write and read accesses to the role. These access rights are only for documents and their properties within the subdomain. Subdomain roles can be granted different access rights within different subdomains.

1. Subdomain members

Allows to add, remove, and configure the users within the subdomain (see Figure 49). Before adding users, you must have added subdomain roles to the reference data through the reference data section. To assign the defined roles to the subdomain use the Subdomain roles menu item.

Figure 49. Subdomain members
Use the ADD button to add project members to the subdomain. Select the user and assign a role to the user as shown in Figure 50 below.


Figure 50. Add subdomain members
Description of the icons in the above form

1. Accept the values 
2. Clear the values
3. Delete the user as member of this subdomain.

Multiple users can be assigned to the subdomain with different roles; see Figure 51, below.

Figure 51. Subdomain members details

Import from STEP PDM file

The user can extend the breakdown structure by importing a PDM file (compliant to ISO 10303-242 MIM P21 or predecessors) (refer Figure 52). The system will use the data from the PDM-file to create a breakdown structure below the parent node.

Figure 52. Import from STEP PDM

Import from AP242 BO model

This menu item allows to import an AP242 BO model in XML format (ISO 10303-3001, .stpx file type) to the breakdown structure (see Figure 53 and Figure 54).

Figure 53. Import from AP242 BO model

Figure 54. Import AP242 BO model example

Import from Req-IF file

This menu item allows to import a requirement file of type Req-IF (see Figure 55). Req-IF (Requirements Interchange Format) is an XML file format controlled by the Object Management Group (OMG) that can be used to exchange requirements, along with its associated metadata, between software tools from different vendors.

Figure 55. Import from Req-IF

Export to zipped folder

This command exports the current breakdown element with its child nodes and documents to a zip-file that can be unpacked into a MS Windows folder structure. The folder structure within the zip file will mirror the breakdown structure underneath the selected node.

Data file functionalities

EDMtruePLM is a product data management system, which collects product data into a breakdown structure that consists of breakdown elements. Each breakdown element may include sub-elements and documents. Documents are stored under each element. This allows the system to keep track of all files and their relevance for breakdown elements.
See Figure 56, below, for the menu with document / data file related functions.

Figure 56. Data file menu

Checkout file

EDMtruePLM supports exclusive document editing that only allows one user to edit a document at a single time. To have exclusive rights to edit a specified document the user needs to check out the document, which is done through the data file context menu "Checkout file" command. To store the updated content of the document to the server use the "Checkin" command in the document's context menu. After checkout, the lock icon will be placed in front of the data file as shown below in Figure 57.

Figure 57. Checkout of a file
To unlock the file, use the Undo checkout command or check in the file.

Undo checkout

This feature enables the user to undo a checkout, if mistakenly the data file was checkout.

Checkin file

To save your updates on a previously checked out file you must check in the file (see Figure 58). During checkin the following process happens:

1. The file is copied to the database.
2. The version of the file is updated.
3. The lock on the file is removed.

Figure 58. Checkin of a file
Status: change the status tag to one of the items in the drop-down list; status values are defined in the reference data section.
Create new revision: to track document changes, EDMtruePLM distinguishes revisions (major changes) and versions of a document. The version tag will increase automatically after each checkin. The revision tag increases when the user ticks off the box in Figure 58.

Set file read only / Clear file read only

This command changes access rights to the selected file to read only. The file name changes colour from black to grey; see Figure 59, below. The file cannot be changed until the menu item "Clear file read only" is selected.

Figure 59. Read only file

Download

Downloads the current file to the client machine without any further user interaction.

Open

Opens the data file using the open file command of the web-browser. Depending on the type of web-browser the contents will become visible in a new browser tab (Firefox), or the file is downloaded (Chrome).

View history

Shows all the versions of the selected document in a pop-up window; see Figure 60, below.

Figure 60. View History
The user can download a specific version of the document by clicking on the Save icon; there is no further user interaction involved.

Delete

Creates a new version of the breakdown and deletes the selected file from that new version. The document is still available in the previous version of the breakdown and is there still assigned to the current breakdown element.

Copy file

Copies the file identifier into memory for later use by different paste commands. This function does not create an actual copy of the file but creates a link to the file.
Warning: If a file is copied from one subdomain to another, security issues must be taken into account. To avoid that different users in different subdomains have access to and potentially edit the same document, the document needs to be added individually to the different subdomains; that is, the "Add data file" menu item needs to be applied with the same file for each subdomain in question.

Cut file

The selected file is marked for removal. It will be first removed when the "Paste data file" menu item of the parent node context menu is applied.

Paste file as affected

This function attaches a copied file to another, current file as an affected data file. This means that the pasted file is dependent on the current file. After a change to an affecting file, the affected file is marked by a red flag; see chapter 3.4.3.14 Dependencies, below.
The function does not require any other user input. The result of the paste-operation can be reviewed by the "Dependencies" menu item.

Paste file as affecting

This function attaches the copied file to another, current file as an affecting data file. This means that the current file is dependent on the pasted file. After a change to an affecting file, the affected file is marked by a red flag; see chapter 3.4.3.14 Dependencies, below.
The function does not require any other user input. The result of the paste-operation can be reviewed by the "Dependencies" menu item.

Sticky notes

Sticky notes are reminder notes for documents. The input form in Figure 61 will pop up to allow the attachment of notes to data files.

Figure 61. Sticky Notes
Use the "New"-button and then the "Submit"-button to add a note (see Figure 62).

Figure 62. Create new note
All notes of the data file are collected in a single sticky note form. A yellow line icon with a number identifies documents that already have sticky notes (see Figure 63).


Figure 63. Sticky note form

Dependencies

"Dependencies" is a type of relationship between two files as shown below in Figure 64. An "affecting" file is the master file, an "affected" one a dependent file. When an affecting file has been edited, the user will be reminded by red flags to check all affected files whether they need to be updated, too.

Figure 64. Dependencies
By clicking on the menu item, the dependency form will appear and will allow the user to view the dependencies of the file or to remove them.

Note: A document version changes when a document dependency relationship is created/deleted.

• Paste file as affected: Attaches the latest copied file as an affected data file. This means that the pasted file is dependent on the current document.
• Paste file as affecting: Attaches the latest copied file as an affecting data file. This means that the current file is dependent on the pasted file.
• Red Flags: Red flags are notifications to the user to check a file that may be impacted by a change done to an affecting file. When a file that is affecting other files is checked in, the dependent files are assigned red flags (see Figure 65). Subsequent changes to the affecting file will result for each affected file in one red flag per version or release that was checked in.

Figure 65. Red Flag
Removing red flags: To remove the red flag, open the Dependency form of the affected file; see below, Figure 66.

Figure 66. Removed red flags
Click on an affecting file with a red flag; this will open the red flag drop list as shown in Figure 67.

Figure 67. Dependencies tab menu
To remove a red flag, click on the tick mark of the red flag item in the drop list.

Icons used for breakdown elements and data files

The overview in Table 1, below, summarizes the meaning of icons used with breakdown elements and data files in the breakdown structure pane.
Table 1. Icons for breakdown elements and data files

Navigation

There are three methods for navigating within the breakdown structure:

1. Browsing by clicking on breakdown element nodes.
2. Searching for node or data files.
3. Following hyperlinks of the breadcrumb path.

Warning: You cannot use the browser navigation buttons to move within the breakdown structure. EDMtruePLM is a single page application and using the browser navigation buttons will take you out of the application.