Every process group has an associated set of materials. By using the VPE Manager, you can add and remove materials, as well as view and modify the attributes of a process group’s materials (see the VPE Administration Guide). Every process group also has an associated material type, which specifies material metadata. It specifies what type of information is stored about the process group’s materials, including the names and default values of material attributes. You manage material metadata with the CMWB.

CSL modules can access material attributes with the CSL standard input material. This input has one field for each material attribute. Here is an example from the Injection Molding process in the Plastic Molding process group. It accesses the canIM_SFM attribute of the current material:

See CSL Language Overview for more information on CSL.

CSL field names, such as canIM_SFM, are specified in the Field Name field of the Material Type table (see Viewing and Modifying Material Types). The corresponding attribute name displayed in the VPE Manager and the aPriori Material Selection dialog is controlled by the CMWB column properties dialog. This dialog also controls the formatting, column grouping, and column properties displayed to the end user—see Working with Column Groups and Column Properties.