2024 April Release

Comprehensive Example: Handling Documents and CollaboratingPermanent link for this heading

This comprehensive example summarizes the most important customization options within one extensive scenario to provide an insight into how to solve an application-specific problem.

Objective

Starting Situation

A plant construction and engineering company is divided into following scenario-relevant departments:

  • Development
  • Construction
  • Sales

The main objective is to provide an efficient way to handle technical documents and to simplify the collaboration within the organization and with suppliers/customers.

  • The “Development” department depends on specification documents from suppliers, and authors custom specification documents.
  • The “Construction” department depends on the documents of the “Development” department.
  • The “Sales” department provides contracts for customers.

Specification Documents

  • A product file summarizes all specification documents of a product.
  • Standard product files are provided as templates.
  • Standard specification documents are provided as templates.
  • The product file metadata is used in the specification document templates as fields.
  • The detail view with defined columns for the most important product metadata is used to provide a quick overview.
  • Processes are used to inform other departments of approved specification documents.

Collaboration With Customers

  • A contract is modelled as a Word document with additional metadata provided by a form.
  • Standard contracts are provided as templates.
  • Text modules are used to provide standard text blocks that can be added to individual contracts.
  • The contracts are published as PDF documents with QR codes and sent to the customer to be signed.
  • Contracts received as e-mail attachments can be automatically imported to the Fabasoft Cloud using the Microsoft Outlook integration. An inbox is used to extract the attachments and automatically replace the unsigned contracts with the signed ones.

CommonPermanent link for this heading

Model-based customizations are only accessible to users who are defined as team members in the customizing rooms. For usability reasons, do only provide customizations to the users that need them. In addition, the customizations have to be released for usage.

Specification DocumentsPermanent link for this heading

The following model-based customizations are carried out to manage specification documents.

Task 1

  • A product file summarizes all specification documents of a product.
  • Standard product files are provided as templates.

Product File Form

  1. Navigate to “Templates and Presettings” > “Form and Category Collections” > “desired form collection”.
  2. Create a form with two pages. The “Product” page should not be visible in explore mode while the “Documents” page should only be visible in explore mode.
    • Base Class: “Container With User Data”
    • Use as File: “Yes”
    • “Product” page
      Expression for Computing the Visibility: ::context != #COODESK@1.1:ExploreObject;
      • Product ID
        “Input Field”, Type: “String”, Programming Name: “prodid”
      • Product Description
        “Input Field”, Type: “String”, Programming Name: “proddesc”
      • Responsible User
        “Input Field”, Type: “Object”, “Standard Objects“, Allowed Standard Objects: “User”, Programming Name: “responsible user”
      • Any additional fields that might be needed.
    • “Documents” page
      Expression for Computing the Visibility: ::context == #COODESK@1.1:ExploreObject;
      • Documents
        “Input Field”, Type: “Object”, “Commonly Usable Objects”, Allowed Commonly Usable Objects: “Object With Object List” and “Document”, Programming Name: “proddocuments”

Product File Template

  1. Navigate to “Templates and Presettings” > “Template Collections” > “desired template collection”.
  2. Create a template (based on the “Product” form that you created before).
  3. Create a template category named “Products” and assign it to the template (“Template” tab > Template Categories), so that the template is displayed in a separate group in the creation dialog.
  4. You can further edit the template in order to create a predefined folder hierarchy in the Documents field, for instance.

Testing

  1. Navigate into a Teamroom and create a new object (“Add Entry” > “New”). The product file is provided in the “Products” group.
  2. A specification document can be added to the product file, for instance.

Task 2

  • Standard specification documents are provided as templates.
  • The product metadata is used in the specification document templates as fields.

Specification Document Template

  1. Navigate to “Templates and Presettings” > “Template Collections” > “desired template collection”.
  2. Create a template (based on a “Microsoft Word Document”).
  3. Create a template category named “Specifications” and assign it to the template (“Template” tab > Template Categories), so that the template is displayed in a separate group in the creation dialog.
  4. For the product file metadata to be used as fields in the Word document, assign the product file category to the template (“Template” tab > Files).
  5. Edit the Word document and add the standard text of the specification. Product file metadata can be inserted as needed (e.g. “Fabasoft Cloud” tab > “Insert Field” > “Product” > “Product ID”).

Testing

  1. Create a Word document in a product file.
  2. Edit the document and verify that the standard text is present, and that the fields are replaced with product file metadata accordingly.

Task 3

The detail view with defined columns for the most important product metadata is used to provide a fast overview.

Display Settings

  1. Navigate to “Templates and Presettings” > “Presetting Collections” > “desired presetting collection”.
  2. Create a “Display Setting” and define the desired columns.

Testing

  1. Navigate into a Teamroom that contains product files.
  2. Click on the entries count on the top right and select the previously defined display setting.

Task 4

Processes are used to inform other departments of approved specification documents.

BPMN Process

  1. Navigate to “Templates and Presettings” > “Process Collections” > “desired process collection”.
  2. Create a BPMN process.
  3. Add a “Pool” and set Is Executable to “Yes” (properties of the pool).
  4. Edit Applicable for in the properties of the pool. Define the category of the user-defined form “Product” in the Object Class/Category of the File field. This way, the properties of the form are available in order to model the process.
  5. Define one lane for “Development”. As Abstract Participant select “Role by Property of the File of the Object”. For Property, select the Responsible User property as defined by the product file form. For Position, select “Head”. This way, the “Development” department will be evaluated because the responsible user is a member of this department. “Head” is defined as the head of the “Development” department who will receive the activity.
  6. Define one lane for “Construction”. As Organizational Unit select the “Construction” department. This way, all members of the “Construction” department receive the “Take Note” activity.
  7. Add a “Start Event”, then a task, then an exclusive gateway (not approved: the process ends; approved: “Construction” receives the “Take Note” activity).
  8. Select the “Approve” activity for the first task. The participant is taken from the lane.
    • Exclusive gateway:
      • “Not Approved” sequence flow
        Define the Condition Type “Default Flow”.
      • “Approved” sequence flow
        Open the condition editor and select “Approve” in the Last Signature Type field (“Signatures” tab).
    • Select the “Take Note” activity for the second task (“Approved” sequence flow). The participant is taken from the lane.

Testing

  1. Navigate to a specification document stored in a product file.
  2. Start the defined process (“Tools” > “Start New Process” context menu command).
  3. The activities are shown in the worklist of the respective users.

Collaboration with CustomersPermanent link for this heading

Following model-based customizations are carried out to ease the collaboration with customers.

Task 1

  • A contract is modelled as a Word document with additional metadata provided by a form.
  • Standard contracts are provided as templates.

Contract Form

  1. Navigate to “Templates and Presettings” > “Form and Category Collections” > “desired form collection”.
  2. Create a form:
    • Base Class: “Object With User Data”
    • Suppress Template Creation: “Yes”
    • Fields
      • Contracting Party
        “Input Field”, Type: “Object”, “Standard Objects”, Allowed Standard Objects: “Contact Person” and “Organization”, Programming Name: “contractingparty”
      • Contract Value
        “Input Field”, Type: “Currency”, Programming Name: “contractvalue”
      • Any additionally needed fields.

Contract Word Template

  1. Navigate to “Templates and Presettings” > “Template Collections” > “desired template collection”.
  2. Create a template (“Microsoft Word Document”).
  3. Assign the Category (Published) of the previously defined form to the template (“Template” tab > Category).
  4. Create a template category named “Contracts” and assign it to the template (“Template” tab > Template Categories), so that the template is displayed in a separate group in the creation dialog.
  5. Edit the Word document and enter the contract text.

Testing

  1. Navigate into a Teamroom and create a new object (“Add Entry” > “New”). The contract is provided in the “Contracts” group.
  2. In the properties of the newly created contract, the contracting party can be selected (organizations and contact persons are managed in the “Contact Management”).

Task 2

Text modules are used to provide standard text blocks that can be added to individual contracts.

Text Module

  1. Navigate to “Templates and Presettings” > “Text Module Collections” > “desired text module collection”.
  2. Create a text module and enter the desired standard text.
  3. Create a text module category named “Cancellations Policies” and assign it to the text module (“Template” tab > Template Categories), so that the text module is displayed in a separate group in the selection dialog.

Testing

  1. Edit the contract and insert a text module at the cursor position (“Fabasoft Cloud” tab > “Insert Text” > “Formatted Text Module”).
  2. Select the desired text module.

Task 3

  • The contracts are published as PDF documents with QR codes and sent to the customer to be signed.
  • Contracts received as e-mail attachments can be automatically imported to the Fabasoft Cloud using the Microsoft Outlook integration. An inbox is used to extract the attachments and automatically replace the unsigned contracts with the signed ones.

Inbox

  1. Navigate to your personal folder.
  2. Create an inbox (background context menu command “New”).
  3. Define a rule with two actions.
    • “Extract E-Mail Attachments (Asynchronous)”
      Post-Processing: “Delete E-Mail After Extracting Attachments”
    • “Assign (Asynchronous)”
      Assignment Based on: “QR Code”

Microsoft Outlook Integration

  1. In Microsoft Outlook, create a new folder and define an Outlook rule which states that e-mails with attached contracts are moved to this folder (e.g. based on the subject).
  2. Execute the “Connect to Fabasoft Cloud” context menu command on the Outlook folder to establish the connection. Select the previously created inbox as target.

Testing

  1. Print the contract as PDF with QR code (“Tools” > “Print With QR Code” context menu command).
  2. Compose an e-mail in Microsoft Outlook and attach the PDF document with QR code (simulates a customer e-mail).
  3. Move the e-mail to the connected Outlook folder.
  4. The e-mail will be imported to the inbox. The inbox actions are executed asynchronously, resulting in the Word contract being replaced by the signed PDF contract automatically.