You can explore the Component ID Format settings in the Control Panel to define the component ID format for all types of products in SI.
The component ID uniquely identifies each product, wire, labor item, and package in a project. It is mainly used for drawings and Installation reports.
To access the Component ID Format settings, click the following icon.
This will open the following form.
The Component ID Format settings for products, wires, labor items, and packages are seen in eight different sections.
Product - Applies to all non-wire products within a project.
Labor - Applies to all labor items within a project.
Finish Wire - Applies to all non-bulk wire products within a project.
Bulk Wire - Applies to all bulk wire products within a project.
Package - Applies to all packages within a project.
Allowance - Applies to all allowances within a project.
Bundled Cable - Applies to all bundled cables within a project.
Solution - Applies to all solutions within a project.
Defining the component ID format for products, wires, labor items, and packages involves:
Adding one or more naming blocks
Specifying the separator and number settings
With both these done, the component ID numbers will be assigned to items by appending the naming blocks from left to right based on the order of the blocks (top to bottom), with the separator added between the blocks and the numbering sequence added at the end of the format.
Check out this example before you start defining the number format.
Add Component ID Naming Blocks
You can add as many naming blocks as you like. This procedure shows screenshots for defining the component ID format for products. The procedure for defining formats for wires, labor items, and packages is similar.
To add a naming block:
1/ Click the first row and define the following:
a/ Type - Choose Field or Text for the Block Type.
Field allows you to select an SI field in the Value column.
Text allows you to type your own value in the Value column.
b/ Value - Choose from a list of SI fields when your Block Type is Field.
You can select from a wide range of SI fields such as Category, Part Number, Manufacturer, and even Item and Project Custom.
The list varies depending on whether you are creating the component ID format for products, wires, labor items, or packages.
c/ Length - Type in the length of the string you want to pull from the "Value" column.
d/ Select a separator. Check out Supported Separators for more details.
2/ Repeat Step 1 as many times as the number of blocks you want in the number format.
Remember that the number format can be defined using only one block. You don't have to define multiple blocks if you don't want to.
Notice that SI will preview the format you have defined below the naming blocks.
3/To reorder the blocks, use the Move Up button and the Move Down button.
4/ In the Number of Digits and Start Number fields, enter the required numbers.
You will see the preview of the format change accordingly.
5/ Click Save if you don't want to use the additional settings on this form.
Additional Settings
The following are the additional settings to define the component ID format.
These settings should be defined individually in the eight different sections for products, wires, labor items, or packages.
Setting | Description |
Increment Component ID (do not fill missing sequences) | By default, this option is not checked.
When checked, this would not backfill missing numbers in your component ID numbering.
Example: You have the following component IDs in your Project: AUD-001, AUD-002, and AUD-005.
|
Prefix Component ID of accessory items with Component ID of parent item with separator | By default, this option is not checked.
You can choose your separator from the list of supported operators. |
Prefix Component ID of alternate items with Component ID of parent item with separator | By default, this option is not checked.
You can choose your separator from the list of supported operators. |
Prefix Component ID of package items with Component ID of package | By default, this option is not checked.
You can choose your separator from the list of supported operators.
For package, allowance, or bundled cable component IDs, this option will be "Prefix Component ID of [Entity Name] in solutions with Component ID of solution with separator."
Example: This example will use the accessory setting above. With this setting checked, and the product and wire component ID Formats set to pull the first three characters of the Category fields, this is the result.
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6/ Click Save if you have changed any of the additional settings.
Copy Value Option
If you want to use similar ID formats across products, wires, labor items, or packages, use the Copy value from option and select the item type from which you want to copy the settings.
In the following example, the settings for "Product" are being copied over to the settings for "Finish Wire."
Supported Separators
The following is the list of separators you can use when defining the component ID format.
Separator | Description |
None | No symbol or space |
Space | Blank space |
- | Minus or hyphen |
/ | Forward slash |
\ | Backslash |
: | Colon |
. | Period, or full stop |
( | Open parenthesis |
) | Close parenthesis |
> | Greater than |
< | Less than |
| | Pipe |
+ | Plus |
[ | Open bracket |
] | Close bracket |
, | Comma |
; | Semi-colon |
{ | Open brace |
} | Close brace |
‘ | Apostrophe or single quote |
` | Back quote |
“ | Open quote |
” | Close quote |
_ | Underscore |
# | Pound or hash |
@ | At |
= | Equal |
* | Asterisk |
^ | Carat |
~ | Tilde |
& | Ampersand |
% | Percent |
x | The letter X |
You can also type in any character you want, up to four digits in length.
Component ID Format in Project Editor
When you add products, wires, labor items, or packages to the Project, SI assigns them component IDs based on the individual component ID formats you have defined.
In the Project Editor, you can see the component IDs in the Component ID column.
You can change the component ID formats via the Settings button.
Here, suppose you are using multiple levels of sub-locations under locations. In that case, you can define formats that use the sublocations' Abbreviations, Names, or Numbers as the values of the naming blocks.
In the following example, the first naming block uses "Location4Abbreviation," and the second uses "CategoryAbbreviation."
Once you have regenerated the component IDs, you can see how the abbreviations of the fourth level of the sub-locations are used.
Regenerate Component IDs
Once you have redefined the component ID formats in the project, you will need to regenerate the component IDs. You can do this for all items within the project or just uninstalled items.
Click the Regenerate button in the Manage Component ID Format modal.
Use the Regenerate Component ID feature in the Project Editor to regenerate the component IDs for a selection of items rather than all items.
Save and Restore Component ID Formats
When you change your component ID format within the Project Editor, those changes apply only to that project.
Click Save as Default to save your changes in the default component ID format (which will be used by all future projects).
Click the Restore Default button to restore the default component ID format from the catalog to the project.
Component ID Format Example
The following are the settings.
Row 1 | Field, Location1Abbreviation, 3, - |
Row 2 | Field, CategoryAbbreviation, 3, - |
Number of Digits | 3 |
Start Number | 1 |
The component IDs will be as follows.
Location | Category | Component IDs |
Conference Room | Security Systems | CON-SEC-001, CON-SEC-002, and so on |
Server Room | Networking | SER-NET-001, SER-NET-002, and so on. |