Customizing Fields on the Cost Guide
aPriori Professional Release 2018 R1 introduces several new options that allow System Administrators to customize the organization of the first tab (“Production Scenario”) of the Cost Guide. In previous releases, you could specify only the relative order of User-Defined Attribute (UDA) fields within the section “1.2 Company-Defined Attributes”.
This enables you to design a more efficient and user-friendly panel that meets company-specific practices and workflows. For example, if your company:
• has a User Defined Attribute that is directly related to the Process Group, then that UDA can be moved directly below the Process Group input.
• has many related inputs, then they can be put into their own group, with any name of your choosing.
• does not use target costs or target mass, then those inputs can be removed from the screen.
• always uses the material from the CAD model, then the material selection field could be removed.
The configuration capabilities include:
• Rename the Out-of-Box group headers (“1.1 Basic Options”, “1.2 Company-Defined Attributes”, and “1.3 Targets”).
• Remove group headers.
• Define new group headers.
• Remove any fields (other than “Process Group” and “VPE”).
• Move fields to any location
Note: aPriori enforces that “Process Group” and “VPE” appear above their dependent inputs (“Material”, “Process Routing”, “Volume”, and “Batch Size”). The order of other dependent fields is not enforced. It is important to consider these dependencies when configuring the view to make the behavior as clear as possible to users.
Also note that changes made to the Cost Guide may cause changes to organization of the items on tabs in the Cost Object Info window. Fields will not change tabs in the Cost Object Info window: any attribute that exists by default in Cost Guide sections 1.1 (Basic Options) or 1.3 (Targets) out of the box will always appear on the Cost Object Info Production Info tab, and anything that appears by default in section Cost Guide 1.2 (Company-Defined Attributes) will continue to appear on the Cost Object Info Administrative Info tab. However, if you hide a field in the Cost Guide, it will also no longer display in the Cost Object Info window. And if you move a field up or down in the Cost Guide, its relative position to its neighbors will also change in the Cost Object Info window.
To customize fields on the first tab of the Cost Guide
1 On the Dialog Views window, select Cost Guide from the drop-down list. (Prior to Release 2018 R1, this option was labeled “Administrative Info” and provided limited functionality.)
2 To rename a field or group header, select it in the Displayed Fields column and edit the Display Name field in the Column Properties section at the bottom of the window.
Note: You should NOT change the display name of UDAs here, since the change will not be reflected elsewhere (such as in the BOM Loader, Bulk Costing, Part Details, etc.) You should only change UDA display names in the UDA definition. See Managing User Defined Attributes (UDAs) for details.
3 To delete a group header, select it in the Displayed Fields column and click the red “x” icon ( 
) in the Column Group Controls section near the bottom of the window. Note that the deleted group’s members still remain. You should manually move them to other groups.
) in the Column Group Controls section near the bottom of the window. Note that the deleted group’s members still remain. You should manually move them to other groups.4 To hide fields or groups of fields, select one or more fields and/or group headers in the Displayed Fields column (use the Shift and Ctrl keys to expand your selection). Note that you cannot select “Process Group: or “VPE”. Click the left arrow ( 
) in the center of the window to move the item(s) out of the Displayed Fields column. Note that if you hide a group header, all of its members also are hidden.
) in the center of the window to move the item(s) out of the Displayed Fields column. Note that if you hide a group header, all of its members also are hidden.5 To define a new group header, click the green “+” icon ( 
) in the Column Group Controls section near the bottom of the window. Enter a name in the resulting Add Group dialog box, then click OK.
) in the Column Group Controls section near the bottom of the window. Enter a name in the resulting Add Group dialog box, then click OK.6 To move fields or groups within the Cost Guide, select one or more fields and/or group headers in the Displayed Fields column (use the Shift and Ctrl keys to expand your selection). Click the up and down arrows (
,
) at the right of the column to move the item(s). Group headers (and their members) will move above or below the adjacent group. Individual fields will move up or down within their current group. To move a field to a different group, select the target group from the Parent Group drop-down menu at the bottom of the window.
,) at the right of the column to move the item(s). Group headers (and their members) will move above or below the adjacent group. Individual fields will move up or down within their current group. To move a field to a different group, select the target group from the Parent Group drop-down menu at the bottom of the window.7 When done, select File > Publish Changes from the System Administrator menu bar or click 
in the tool bar to save your changes. You do not need to restart aPriori to see your changes.
in the tool bar to save your changes. You do not need to restart aPriori to see your changes.