Skip to main content

Properties (on objects and on products definition)

How to Create and Manage Configurable Properties on Objects or Product Definitions

Written by Alexandre GASQUET

In this article, you will learn how to:

  • Distinguish between properties on objects and properties on product definitions,

  • Master the different property types,

  • Create a new property in the administration,

  • Edit / delete an existing property in the administration.

Properties allow you to enrich your objects (products, documents, parts, projects, etc.) and product definitions with customized, structured information.

Why use Properties?

Properties allow you to:

  • Structure your data

  • Filter and search efficiently

  • Standardize information across teams

  • Adapt Aletiq to your organization

👉 A well-configured set of properties makes it easier to leverage data in Aletiq.

Available Property Types

  • Single selection: only one choice possible (e.g. status, category)

  • Multiple selection: multiple choices possible (e.g. tags, skills)

  • Text: free-form information

  • Number: numeric value (cost, quantity, weight…)

  • Person: assignment to a user

  • Date: deadline or milestone

  • Object link: connects two objects with a bidirectional relationship

👉 Always favor the most structured type possible: properly typed data makes searching, filtering, and creating views much easier.

Who Can Create or Edit Properties?

Only users with administration rights (Admin role) can:

  • Create a property

  • Edit an existing property

  • Delete a property

👉 If you do not have access to these options, contact an Admin.

Properties on Objects

Create a New Property

  1. Select Properties

  2. Select the object (Documents, Parts, Products, etc.)

  3. Click + New property

  4. Configure the property:

    • Type (format suited to the data you want to store),

    • Name,

    • "Editable by users" checkbox,

    • Scope,

    • Values.

  5. Click Create

👉 Choose the most structured type possible to ensure data quality.

Making a property mandatory

When creating a customizable property, the Require a value option (under the Applications tab) makes this property mandatory: the user won't be able to save the object until a value has been entered. In forms, these mandatory properties are marked with an asterisk (*) next to their name, to distinguish them from the others.

👉 You can also enable this option retroactively, on a customizable property that already exists. It's only available for customizable properties shared across the entire organization (not for those limited to one or more sites).

Colour-coded property values

On Single selection or Multiple selection properties, each value can be assigned a colour. Shown in tables and views, it lets you spot a value at a glance, without having to read the text. 8 standard color types available only. Not customizable.

This color coding also applies to the native Class property (available on Documents, CAD, and Products), which drives automatic coding rules: a great way to quickly visualize an element's class, in addition to its role in the coding process.

👉 The colour is chosen when creating or editing the value, in the property's administration settings.

Restricting a property to specific classes

The Restrict to class values option lets you limit a property to objects whose class matches one or more selected values.

👉 Left empty, the restriction doesn't apply: the property remains available on all objects of that type. As soon as one or more classes are selected, the property is only visible and usable on objects belonging to those classes, which lets you tailor forms to the business context (for example, a property that only appears on objects of class "Mechanical part").

Edit a property

The Admin role can edit:

  • The name, description, or the "editable by users" checkbox, and scope (organization or multi-site).

  • The values:

    • Add new ones,

    • Edit their label.

👉 Native properties created by Aletiq cannot be edited.

👉 A property's type cannot be changed once it has been created.

Making a property class-specific

You can now restrict a property to one or more object classes. The property will then only be displayed on objects of the selected class. If left blank, the restriction applies to all objects of the relevant type.

👉 In the property’s Information tab, edit the ‘Restrict to class values’ section.

👉 This option requires that class values already exist for the relevant object type: if none are defined, the option will have nothing to offer.

Delete a Property

The Admin role can delete:

  • Values (a value must be applied to 0 objects before it can be deleted),

  • The property itself (it cannot be reactivated without contacting customer support).

Product Definition Properties

Why Use Them?

Product definition properties apply to the Product object and are attached to a specific definition revision.

They vary from one definition to another for the same root product, and are locked once the definition is validated.

👉 This makes it possible to clearly distinguish what is global to the product (shared across all definitions) from what is strictly tied to a specific design version.

Who Can Create Them?

Like object properties, only users with the Admin role can create / edit / delete product definition properties. The Manager role can only edit them at the product level within the PLM.

👉 To make a product property linked to the product definition, make sure to enable it using the Make this property definition bound toggle.

Editing Product Definition Properties

From the product home page

👉 The properties displayed automatically are those of the last validated definition.

From the eBOM

👉 For each definition revision of the product, definition properties can be edited directly from the eBOM as long as the definition has not been validated.

In short, once a Product Definition Is Validated:

  • Properties become non-editable,

  • Values are locked,

  • The definition is frozen.

👉 This lock ensures data integrity throughout the product lifecycle.

Did this answer your question?