Some process groups have an associated set of material stocks. By using the VPE Manager, you can add and remove material stocks, as well as view and modify the attributes of a process group’s material stocks (see the VPE Administration Guide). If a process group has material stocks, it also has an associated set of material stock types, which specify material stock metadata. Each material stock is an instance of a material stock type. Multiple material stocks can be instances of the same material stock type. Each material stock type specifies what kind of information is stored about its instances, including the names and default values of its instances’ attributes. You manage material stock metadata with the CMWB.

CSL modules can access material stock attributes with the CSL standard input stock. This input has one field for each material stock attribute. Here is an example from the Tube Laser process in the Bar & Tue Fab process group. It accesses the stockForm attribute of the current material stock:

See CSL Language Overview for more information on CSL.

CSL field names, such as stockForm, are specified in the Field Name field of the Material Stock Type tables (see Viewing and Modifying Material Stock 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.