Component Navigators

Component Navigators

The Component Navigator is used as the base for a variety of different controls. Different controls that are derived from the component navigator control share common features and functionality. This section describes the main types of component navigator, and also details the common features that are shared between them.

Component navigators consist of a tree list view in the middle left of the window and a collection of tabbed information pages on the right.

Component Navigator Types

There are three main types of component navigators; the Component Library Navigator, Bill of Materials Navigator and Wish List Navigator.

While they are all similar in appearance and share some common functionality, they differ in their features and purpose, and care should be taken to ensure that you recognise the differences between them and understand what they are used for.

The Component Library Navigator enables the management of all base, manufacturer and supplier components contained in the component library. It is a persistent window that is added to the tabbed document control when the application is started. It is persistent because it cannot be closed.

It is identified by the title “Component Library”. It shows the latest versions of all components, and allows the user to make changes to component properties. It defines the relationships between all base, manufacturer and supplier components.

The BOM Navigator enables the management of all components that are used within an individual BOM. A BOM navigator shows all components which form part of a BOM, which are always a subset of components that are contained in the component library.

One very important thing to remember is that a BOM does not necessarily contain the latest version of a component as it is in the component library. It is often undesirable that when a change is made to a component in the component library, that the change is automatically propagated into all BOMs which contain that component.

A BOM is therefore a snapshot of the component library at a point in time. It may contain a combination of latest and historical revisions of components. When a change is made to the component library, no BOM is affected. BOMs can be updated to use the latest versions of components using the Update command.

While component properties can be viewed from a BOM navigator, they cannot be directly modified; the user must first jump to the component in the component library navigator and modify the component properties there before updating the BOM to use the latest version of the component. To jump from a component in a BOM navigator to the component library navigator, right-click on the component and select the Jump to Library Component option.

The Wish List Navigator enables the management of all manufacturer components that form part of a wish list. Manufacturer component properties can be viewed from a wish list, but they cannot be directly modified; the user must first jump to the component in the component library navigator and modify the component properties there.

Wish lists always contain the latest version of manufacturer components. Supplier components which are linked to the manufacturer components in the component library are also shown in the wish list navigator.

Manufacturer component objects in a wish list have two extended properties which can be modified through the properties page; Quantity and Comment.

Filters

Filters can be used to filter the components that are shown in component navigator controls. Filters are applied as soon as text is entered into the filter text boxes, which are shown in the headers of the columns in the main tree list view window.

Only filtering of base, manufacturer and supplier components is currently supported. Hence, filtering on component class or designator is not possible at present.

If a filter cannot be applied, e.g. because the selected item in the tree list view does not support filtering, then the background of the text box will be changed to the Filter not found back colour as specified in Settings > General > Filtering. Similarly, if the filter is successfully applied, it will be set to the Filter active back colour.

Multiple column filters can be applied in combination, and are applied with a logical AND operator. Filters can be easily removed by clicking the Clear Filters button in the toolbar.

Views

In some cases it may not be desirable to view components in the three tiered component structure. You can therefore change what types of components are made visible in the component navigator by using the Views toolbar option.

Properties

The Properties page allows you to manage the attributes of a specific component and the documents that are linked to that component.

The content of this page will be automatically populated based on the type of component (base, manufacturer or supplier) that is selected in the tree list view. Any custom attributes that have been defined for the selected component type will be shown on the properties page.

When an attribute value is modified from its current value, the back colour of the associated control will change to a pastel red colour.

Component properties can only be changed from the component library navigator. They cannot be changed in the BOM navigator or the wish list navigator.

To save changes to modified component attributes, click the Update button. This will create a new version of the component, and historicise the previous version. The component library navigator shows the latest versions of all components, so these changes will be immediately reflected in the tree list view. To discard any changes before they have been saved, click the Cancel button.

Any BOMs which contain components which have been modified and saved will not be automatically updated. Instead, they will reference the version of the component that existed at the time the BOM was created or last updated.

Wish lists reference the latest versions of all manufacturer and supplier components, so changes made to component that are part of a wish list will be immediately reflected in the wish list.

Relationships

The Relationships page displays a graphical representation of the relationships between base, manufacturer and supplier components, and products and product versions. It can be used to easily identify, for a given component, where it is used.

The relationship tab contains various configuration parameters at the bottom of the control. The Show Product Versions option will cause the relationship map to display the various product versions that a component is used on. When this option is checked, the Show End of Life Versions option will become available, and will control whether product versions which are end of life are shown on the map.

The Show Component Quantities will display the quantities of each component for each product version, product and base component inside the associated entities.

The colours that are used on the relationship map can be configured in Settings > Relationship Map > Map Colours. Similarly, the default values for the map options can be configure in Settings > Relationship Map > Map Settings.

Real Time

The real-time page shows real-time information that is provided by the Ciiva Cloud service. This includes real-time pricing, stock, availability and lifecycle information. Selecting a manufacturer or supplier component in the tree list view will cause this page to instantly update with the latest information.

The real-time page is the same as the page that is used in the Online Component Search control. Please refer to this section for more information on the real-time page.

Historical

The historical page shows historical information that is provided by the Ciiva Cloud service. Selecting a manufacturer or supplier component in the tree list view will cause this page to instantly update with available historical information, including a historical lifecycle indicator for manufacturer components, and historical pricing and stock information for supplier components.

Compare

The compare page enables the comparison of multiple base, manufacturer or supplier components. By selecting two or more components of the same type in the tree list view, the compare page is automatically updated with attribute and price comparison information. The display currency can be normalised, and either static, that is, from the component properties pricing information, or real-time pricing can be selected with the Use real-time pricing option.

Show Component History

The change history of any component can be easily viewed by right-clicking on the component in the component navigator and clicking the Show Base/Manufacturer/Supplier Component History option.

A new History Navigator window is created and added to the tabbed document control, and the Change History section populated with the different versions of the component.

Selecting a specific version in the change history section will cause the Component Compare section to be updated with a comparison of the selected component version with the latest version of the component.

Differences in component attributes between the versions are indicated using a yellow exclamation icon. Attributes with no differences between the versions are indicated using a green checkmark icon.