Product configuration

Overview

Next Design allows you to determine the variability of each product by defining the target product for product line development and selecting valid features for each product. This series of operations is called Configuration.

The procedure for configuring the target product for product line development is explained below in the following order.

• Add products to configure target products
• Select features for each product
• Check feature selection consistency

Configure the product

Switch to configuration editor

To start product configuration, follow the procedure below from the project screen.

Operating procedure

1. Switch to the Configuration Editor by doing one of the following:

   • Click [Product Line]> [Configuration] displayed in the product line of the project screen.
   • From the ribbon, click Product Line> View> Configuration Editor.
   • Select [Product line navigator] in the selector at the top of the navigation, and select [Configuration] directly under the project in the product line navigator.

Add product

Immediately after starting product line development, the target product is empty. To add a target product for product line development, follow the procedure below from the product line navigator.

Operating procedure

1. In the Product Line Navigator, select Add> Product from the Configuration context menu The new product will be added under Configuration and will appear on the far right of the Configuration Editor.
2. To swap the order of products, drag and drop column titles.
3. The procedure for changing the product name is described in the subsequent steps.

Edit product details

To edit the product name and details:

Operating procedure

1. Select a product in the Product Line Navigator.
2. View and edit the product detail view.

Duplicate product

To duplicate the same configuration settings as an existing product as another product, use the following procedure from the product line navigator.

Operating procedure

1. In the product line navigator, select the existing product to be copied from the products directly under [Configuration].
2. From the ribbon, click Product Line> Configuration> Duplicate to add the duplicated product after the existing product.
3. From the ribbon, click Product Line> View> Configuration Editor to return to the Configuration Editor, where you will see the duplicated product on the far right.
4. Edit the duplicated product's name, etc. according to "Editing the product details" above.

Delete product

To delete an existing product, follow the steps below from the Product Line Navigator.

Operating procedure

1. In the product line navigator, select the product to be deleted from the products directly under [Configuration].
2. Do one of the following to delete the product.
   • Click Product Line> Configuration> Delete on the ribbon.
   • Click Delete from the context menu.

Select features for each product

Select features

To select valid features for each product, do the following:

Operating procedure

1. Select [Configuration] directly under the project in the Product Line Navigator to switch to the configuration editor.
2. Check and select the valid ones for each feature in your product.

Note

• In the initial state of the product, the following features are in the selected state.
  • Required features
  • Features whose property [Whether to make initial selection] is checked

Reference

• For the confirmation and change of the property [Whether to make initial selection state] of the feature, refer to the following description.

Product Line Development> Definition of Feature Model> Define Structure of Feature Model> Set Initial Selection State of Features

Caution

• If you deselect the parent feature and select it again, the selected features of the descendant features will be reset to the initial state.
• When the parent feature is in the selected state, review the selected state of the descendant features.
• Please note that even if it is a required feature, you can change the selection status.

Narrow down the products to display

Use the following procedure to narrow down the products displayed in the configuration editor to only a part.

Operating procedure

1. Hide some products by doing one of the following:

   • Right-click on the product column title and execute the "Hide this Column" command from the context menu.
   • Uncheck the products you want to hide in the [Product Selector] under the Product Line Navigator.

2. To redisplay hidden products, check the products to be redisplayed in [Product Selector].

To pin the product column to the left so that it is always visible, do the following:

Operating procedure

1. Drag and drop the product column titles to change the order so that the products you want to display always line up on the left.
2. Right-click on the product column title and execute the "Fix to this Column" command from the context menu.
3. To unpin a column, right-click the column title of the name and execute the "Fix to this Column" command from the context menu.

Check the consistency of feature selection status

Check integrity

To check the integrity of feature selections, do the following:

Operating procedure

1. Click [Display]> [Pane]> [Error List] on the ribbon to display the error list.
2. Click Product Line> Configuration> Check Consistency on the ribbon.
3. If there is an error, it will be displayed in the error list and will also be displayed in the configuration editor.
4. Correct the feature selection status referring to the error message.
5. After making corrections, perform a consistency check again to confirm that the error has been resolved.

Cancel error display

To cancel the error display, follow the procedure below.

Operating procedure

1. Do one of the following:
   • From the ribbon, click [▼] at the bottom of [Product Line]> [Configuration]> [Check Consistency], and click [Clear Error].
   • Click the [Clear error] button on the toolbar of the error list.