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Flex4: Status Options

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Overview

Status Options are used for many things, but they are primarily a core factor in determining availability.

With that in mind, there are two settings that directly pertain to availability: Creates Conflicts and Locks Availability. We'll focus on those for most of this article.

The attributes associated with a Status Option include the following:

  • Name: The name of the status (PO - Tentative, PO - Confirmed, PO - Received, etc.).
  • Creates Conflicts: Determines whether or not an element in this status creates conflicts.
  • Closed Status: Determines whether or not an element in this status will be closed, which means the element cannot be edited, and will not show up in searches unless "show closed" settings are applied.
  • Locked Status: Determines whether or not an element in this status is locked, which means the element cannot be edited. The element will still show up in searches, and it not considered closed.
  • Locks Availability: Determines whether or not an element in this status will control availability. For example: A Pull Sheet (as a child to a Quote) might be in a status that locks availability, and it will control availability as opposed to the Quote.
  • Probability: A percentage value representing the likelihood that a job will happen when it is in this status.
  • Background Color: Determines the default background color that will be used when an element enters this status.
  • Text Color: Determines the default text color that will be used when an element enters this status.
  • Border Color: Determines the default border color that will be used when an element enters this status.
  • Bold: Determines whether or not the status text is bold when an element enters this status.
  • Italic: Determines whether or not the status text is italicized when an element enters this status.

Creates Conflicts

This option specifies if a given Status Option has any bearing on availability whatsoever. If set to No, any Element using the Status Option will not affect availability in the system as a whole. However, if the Element still allows you to see Conflicts, you will be presented with a "what if" scenario. For example, viewing a Quote in Inquiry Status (where it does not create conflicts), you can see availability for that Quote as it would appear in the rest of the system if the Quote were Confirmed (where it does create conflicts).

This allows you create a Quote without committing resources or disrupting the other jobs in your system until you are ready to deal with the consequences. Once an Element uses a Status Option that creates conflicts, the rest of the Elements in the system, regardless of Status, will be able to "see" that Element when checking conflicts.

Locks Availability

This is a special option that applies only to child Elements. An example being Pull Sheets as children to Quotes.

When a child Element has a Status that creates conflicts and locks availability, the availability engine defers to it as outline in Availability Explained.

It is imperative that Status Options that Lock Availability also Create Conflicts. A Status Option that Locks Availability, but does not Create Conflicts will result in an Element that "swallows" the job and prevents it from being seen by the availability engine.

Closed Status

A Closed Status is one in which changes are not allowed and any Elements with such a Status are hidden by default from the various Projects grid screens (i.e., Projects > Quotes). A closed Status is typically used for jobs that are complete.

Locked Status

A Locked Status is one in which changes are not allowed. A locked Status is typically a transient option used to prevent accidental changes.

Probability

For Financial Elements, the Probability determines the likliness that the job will take place. The value associated with its current Status is used in reports like Quotes Forecasting.

Color, etc.

Background Color, Text Color, and Border Color determine how the Status Option's label appears in the Calendar. Bold and Italic determine if the text in the lable is bold or italicized.

Note that changes made to an existing Status Option do not overwrite the settings that Project Elements currently hold for those Statues. The only way to update them is to toggle to another Status and back.

Precedence

Deprecated feature.

Historical Record

Deprecated feature.

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