Concepts

Items and revisions

An item is a part, assembly, document, software component, simulation or as-built record (one physical unit or lot, see As-built records) with a unique number – generated from the numbering scheme of its project group (built in: PRT-000042, ASM-…, DOC-…, SW-…, SIM-…, AB-…) or typed in by hand. Its state of development is kept in revisions A, B, …, Y, AA, … (I, O, Q, S, X and Z are skipped, as in ASME Y14.35). A revision carries the attributes (name, description, material, mass, unit cost), the files and the bill of materials.

Next to the number on the revision page, Copy number puts the item number on the clipboard (the item list has a small copy button per row), and Label opens a printable label with a QR code. The code holds the short link <public URL>/i/<number>, which opens the item’s latest revision after sign-in – for parts, fixtures and prototypes on the shelf. The QR code is also available as SVG (/items/{id}/qr.svg) for label printers.

Lifecycle

 WIP ──submit──▶ In Review ──all reviewers approve──▶ Released ──▶ Obsolete
  ▲                 │
  └──reject/withdraw┘

Transition	How	Who
WIP → In Review	submit a change order containing the revision	the change’s author (CAD editor of the item’s project group) or an admin
In Review → Released	automatically when every reviewer approved – all revisions of the change together	the assigned reviewers, never the author or someone who changed the data
In Review → WIP	a reviewer rejects with a reason, or the author withdraws	reviewers; author or admin
Released → Obsolete	Mark obsolete (final), or an obsolete / supersede line of a change order, applied when it is released	CAD editors of the project group, admins – or, when the group requires a change order, the reviewers of the change

Only WIP revisions change, and only while they are checked out. Released data never changes – further work happens in a new revision (Revise).

Project groups and roles

Every item belongs to a project group – a product or product line, a machine, a customer project, a building, a vehicle or a rover. CAD editors start their own groups and become their managers: managers edit the group and add or remove members. A group can also be bound to a group of the identity provider (administrators only); its members are then synchronised at every single sign-on.

A group is internal (everybody reads it) or restricted: then only its members – viewers included – and administrators see the group, its items, files and the changes about them; for everybody else it does not exist. Links from other groups show a Restricted item placeholder. Managers switch this on the group’s page; see Read permissions and restricted groups.

Item numbers

Each project group has a numbering scheme for the numbers TeamCraft generates when the number field is left empty – in the web UI, the REST API, the BOM import and Save as. Managers set it on the group’s page, where Preview shows the next number per item type before anything is saved.

Placeholder	Becomes
`{PROJECT}`	the project code, e.g. `ROVER`
`{TYPE}`	`PRT`, `ASM`, `DOC`, `SW`, `SIM` or `AB`
`{YYYY}`	the year of creation (UTC); `{YY}` its last two digits, `{MM}` the month
`{SEQ:n}`	the sequence, zero-padded to n digits (1–12); exactly once

Everything else is literal text from A–Z 0–9 . _ -. The built-in scheme is {TYPE}-{SEQ:6}; {PROJECT}-{TYPE}-{YYYY}-{SEQ:4} gives ROVER-PRT-2026-0007. Every distinct expansion counts on its own: a scheme with {YYYY} starts at 1 each year, one without {TYPE} shares the sequence between all item types, and groups with the built-in scheme share its counters. Changing the padding width keeps counting. When the next number is already taken (typed in by hand or imported), the counter continues after the highest existing number of the same pattern – so a new scheme can take over an existing numbering convention – and existing items never change their numbers.

Attributes and classification

Besides name, description, material, mass and unit cost, a revision can carry custom attributes that administrators define under Admin → Attributes: a label, a key for the API (vendor, length_mm), a type – text, number, yes/no or a choice list – an optional unit, the item types it applies to and its position in the forms. Values are edited with the other attributes while the revision is in work, frozen on release and copied by Revise and Save as. Key and type are fixed once created; deactivating an attribute stops offering it, stored values stay visible.

Every item also has a classification in its master data: in-house (the default), purchased or standard part – it can change at any time, like the project group.

The item list filters by classification and by one attribute: text and choices match a part of the value, yes/no attributes yes or no, numbers 12, >=10, <=20 or 10..20; an empty value finds every item that has the attribute. The search box also finds attribute values.

The BOM import fills both for the items it creates: a BOM structure or procurement column sets the classification (Normal, Phantom → in-house; Purchased, Kaufteil → purchased; Content Center, Normteil → standard part), and a column whose header is the label or key of an active attribute (Vendor, length_mm) fills that attribute. A value that does not fit – text in a number column, a choice that does not exist, an attribute that does not apply to the item type – is left out with a warning. The preview lists which columns become attributes and which are not imported; existing items are not changed.

Audit log

Every modification is recorded with user, time and details – shown on every revision page and, for admins, under Audit log.

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