AllChange – Using Parts

What is a part?

A part represents a configuration item and is the equivalent to a file or a directory.

A subsystem is analogous to a directory and a component is analogous to a file. There will in fact be a corresponding directory/file for each part defined to AllChange.

How do I import existing files into AllChange?

In order to import existing files into AllChange simply:

Copy the files into a workspace (or define a workspace that has a directory containing the files)
Attach to the workspace
Select File | Browse or open Explorer if you have installed the Explorer interface
Select the files or directory to be imported in the browser. If you select a directory then the entire directory tree will be imported.
Right click and select CheckIn (CheckIn is on the AllChange menu in Explorer)
You will be presented with a dialog requesting the class to be given to each new part added. files, the workfiles will be removed as they will have been stored under AllChange ‘s control.

How do I change the format of the date produced by ACDate in the Word Document Stamping?

The format of the date produced is determined by the report format ‘pawdstmp.rep’. Your administrator could change this to produce an alternative format if this is required.

When I try to check out an old version for edit I get an error:

“Cannot take new version because a higher version already exists”
This error occurs because the next version along the line of development that you are checking out on already exists i.e. if you are checking out version 002 and version 003 already exists.
You will need to create a new branch for your new version, simply specify the name of the branch on the CheckOut Dialog and the new version that will be created will be version 001 on that branch e.g. MyBranch.001.

I get an error “There are no CRs valid for editing this part” when I attempt to check out a part for edit or add a new part.

The class of the part concerned is of a class that has been classified as requiring a CR to authorize a change. This means that you will have to select CR that authorizes the change you are attempting to make.

However, there are no CRs that are in a state that is valid for purpose. You will need a CR that is:

In a status that has been classified as ‘Valid for Change’ in the life-cycle definition, e.g ‘fixing’ in the out-of-the-box cycle for CRs of class ‘cr’. You can check with your AllChange administrator which status this is.
The CR may need to be assigned to you depending on site requirements – again check this with your AllChange administrator.
The CR must not be Locked if you have a Locked field: i.e. the Locked field must be set to ‘No’.

I have some parts issued to a workspace which no longer exists – how do I check them back in?

For AllChange version 8.1 or later you can select the check-out records in the Check-outs browser and select Workspace | Delete Check-out.

For AllChange versions prior to 8.1, if you have deleted the definition of the workspace then the only way to check in the parts is to redefine the workspace to a temporary location, check in and then remove the temporary workspace definition.

How do I stop check out checking out parts that are marked as ‘obsolete’?

If ‘Show Obsolete Items’ (on the Misc Menu) is NOT selected then obsolete items will not be checked out unless specifically selected.

How do I change the case of a part name?

In order to change the case of a part name (e.g. from fred.c to Fred.c) you will need to first rename it to a temporary name and then rename it again to the desired name.

So in our example:
First rename fred.c to fred1.c
Then rename fred1.c to Fred.c

Is there a limit on part name length?

The maximum length of a part name is 80 characters and the maximum length of the full path of the parent of a part is 239 characters. This gives a total maximum part path of 318 characters.

There may be other limitations imposed by the operating system filename length limits unless the location field is used to specify a shorter file/directory name than the part name.