Note
To change version schemes, do not manually modify the XML file; instead, use the steps to load an updated XML file described in Setting Up a File-based or State-based Versioning Scheme in the PTC Windchill Specialized Administration Guide.
For information on setting up the state-based versioning scheme that corresponds with the Version Series drop-down list that is available for each state, see Administering the Versioning of Parts, Documents, and CAD Documents on page 105 .
Transition Rules
The Transitions tab available when creating or editing a life cycle template allows you to define transition paths from the selected state to any other state within the life cycle template.
Life cycle transition rules provide capabilities for defining some behaviors of an object. These rules apply to the following actions in Windchill PDMLink:
•Change - Enables you to execute a change order for a product development object. In particular, the Change transition identifies the state to which an object is released from a given state.
•Lock - Enables you to identify a temporary state in which an object resides only while the promotion process is being executed: at the end of the process, the object either promoted to a specified state or returned to its original state. Typically, the state identified by a Lock transition specifies restricted access for modification. Lock transitions are always optional.
•Promote - Enables you to set the state of one or more objects to a new life cycle state as part of a review process. Transition rules can be used to control when in the life cycle this operation is available.
•Revise - Enables you to specify the initial life cycle state of a new version of the object. Transition rules can be set up to control the life cycle state of the new version based on the state of the version being revised. Additionally, rules can be set up for a life cycle state to use a new version sequence when the Revise action occurs.
•Set State - Enables you to informally set the life cycle state of an object. Set state is an extension of the administrative set state function to users without administrative privilege. The user must have create permission for the promotion request in the context in question.
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Note
To perform a set state operation, a participant must have the Set State permission and there must be a valid state transition defined between the current state and the desired state. If there is no transition defined, the participant must have the Administrative permission to perform the operation.
For information about the Set State action and the permissions required, see Planning Object State Change Policies in the PTC Windchill Help Center.
•Refine - Enables you to set the state of objects undergoing rework or being refined. This transition is not used out-of-the-box, but may be used in a custom workflow.
•Review - Enables you to set the state of objects progressing through a review process. This transition is not used out-of-the-box, but may be used in a custom workflow.
Using a set of transition rules, you can define appropriate sets of business processes for the stage of development for an object. For example, the processes for developing a part can be informal in the early stages of development, but will require more formal processes if the part is introduced into production.
Using transition rules, you can set up a variety of business processes to be available for each type of object in a Windchill PDMLink system.
The following diagram is an example of how these rules can be applied to a life cycle.
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Some business practices require more formal processes, such as review and approval cycles. The Promotion and Change transition rules have associated workflows for that purpose. By default, the promotion transition rule has two workflow processes defined. Depending on your business practices, zero or more workflow processes can be configured for use with a specific promotion process.
For some promotion review processes, it is important to freeze or lock the promotion objects, so that no changes are made during the review process. For the example life cycle above, the lock transition can be added to set the objects to the Under Review state during a promotion process.
For change management processes, the new life cycle state for approved change notice is now defined by the Change transition and is no longer fixed to one specific life cycle state.
These transition rules are defined for each life cycle.
Transition rules may also identify whether the objects are locked during Promotion reviews. The object resides temporarily in the locked state while the promotion process executes. If a lock transition is defined for a particular state and an object using the life cycle is designated for promotion on a promotion request, the workflow of the promotion request sets the state of the object into the state identified with the lock transition.
Suppose your life cycle model looked like this:
You determine that you want to establish transition rules:
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Example of Defined Transitions
A transition is a named path from a source phase to a destination phase in a given life cycle. In this figure, In Work is the source phase. The table of check boxes indicates to which destination states there are particular transitions.
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For example, the check in the first column of the third row means that there is a Promote transition from In Work to In Work. This is an example of a reflexive transition, where the source and destination phases are the same.
Similarly, the check in the third column of the first row means that there is a Change transition from In Work to Released.
The defined transitions shown in this figure are:
In Work – Change to Released
In Work – Promote to In Work
In Work – Promote to Under Review
In Work – Promote to Released
In Work – Revise to In Work
These are not all the transitions for the entire life cycle, but only for those with In Work as a source phases. Other transitions are viewed by activating the Transitions tab when other source phases are selected.
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