Edit Lifecycle Definitions | Altium Designer 21 Technical Documentation

Created: December 1, 2021 | Updated: December 1, 2021

This document is no longer available beyond version 21. Information can now be found here: Managing Lifecycle Definitions for version 23

Applies to Altium Designer version: 21

Contents

Summary
Access
Options/Controls
Notes
- - Pre-Defined Lifecycle Definition

All Contents

The Design Lifecycle tab of the Edit Lifecycle Definitions dialog

Summary

The Edit Lifecycle Definitions dialog allows you to view and edit the lifecycle definitions of Workspace content.

For more information about lifecycle management, see Defining Lifecycle Definitions for a Workspace.

When connected to an Altium 365 Workspace, note that configuration and use of lifecycle definitions is not supported with the Standard Subscription Plan. As such, the Edit Lifecycle Definitions dialog will not be available with this level of access to Altium 365.

Access

The dialog can be accessed in the following ways:

From the Data Management – Servers page of the Preferences dialog, click the Properties button in the Servers region then select Naming schemas from the drop-down menu.
From the Item Properties dialog, click the button at the right of the Lifecycle Definition field.

Options/Controls

Lifecycle Definition

Content Types – click to open the Content Types dialog in which you can select and enable the desired content type(s).
Apply Changes – click to save and apply any changes made in the active lifecycle definition. The active lifecycle definition is the lifecycle definition tab you are currently on.
Reset – click to reset all fields in the active revision naming scheme to their defaults. The active lifecycle definition is the lifecycle definition tab you are currently on.
Clone – click to copy the current lifecycle definition.
Export – click to open a dialog to determine where and under what name the file is to be saved.
Definition Name – the name assigned to the definition.
Lifecycle Management
- Simple – only States and State Transitions are involved.
- Advanced – allows definition of Stages into which the states are clustered. If the Advanced style of lifecycle management is chosen:
  - Controls for adding and defining the required stages become available.
  - A single stage, named Design, provided by default, with the possibility to add a further two stages. To add an additional stage, click the Add Stage link.

States and Transitions

Initial State of Revisions – use to determine the starting state for an Item Revision, i.e. the state for the revision in which it contains no released data – the 'pre-release state'. By default, this state is named Planned. To change it, click the link to open the State Properties dialog to determine its name and a description, as well as text and background colors.
Stage Name – lists the current state if the Advanced view mode is selected. Use the to delete the listed stage. A dialog appears asking for confirmation before the deletion occurs.
State Before and Transitions – use to the paths between the different states. Click to select a state, then use the controls to add, edit or delete a state.
State After – the state after the listed state.

Click on a state in the Stage Name region then use the

controls at the bottom of the region to add, move up, move down, push to the stage on the left, or push to the stage on the right.

Additional Controls

Lifecycle definitions are stored in your Workspace. When you activate/create a new Workspace, the default definitions are written into it and any edits you perform on the default lifecycles or any new lifecycle definitions you create, are stored in that Workspace as well.

Add New Definition – to create a new Lifecycle Definition, click the Add New Definition button at the bottom of the dialog. A New Lifecycle Definition tab will appear in the dialog, ready to be configured.
Import Definition – click the Import Definition button at the bottom of the dialog to open a dialog in which you can browse to and open the required Lifecycle Definition file. The lifecycle definition will be added to the list of existing lifecycle definitions available to the Workspace.
Linking Stages to Levels of the Revision Naming Scheme – to create a relationship between the Lifecycle State and the Revision level, click on the option at the bottom of the dialog. When an item Revision's Lifecycle is incremented to move from a state in one stage to a state in another stage, the available Revision modification type commands – on the right-click menu – will also change.

Notes

Pre-Defined Lifecycle Definition

A Workspace provides eight default lifecycle definitions (as well as the ability to define your own). Click on the tabs to view/edit information for each lifecycle:

Component Lifecycle
Design Lifecycle
Extension Lifecycle
Generic Lifecycle
Sample - Basic Lifecycle
Sample - Simple Lifecycle
Sample - Simple Lifecycle With Approvals
Sample - Structured Lifecycle With Approvals

The lifecycle definition applied is chosen at the individual Item level when creating an Item. Different Items can therefore have different lifecycle definitions employed for them.

Once a defined lifecycle definition is in use by an Item in the Workspace, that definition can not be deleted. You can however modify the definition to some extent, including renaming it, modifying its state attributes (color, transitions, applicability, visibility), adding new states to the definition, removing any unused states, and linking stages to revision levels (where applicable). Once an Item is created and an initial release into a planned revision of that Item is made, that Item can not have its lifecycle definition changed to a different one.

The default definitions can be used 'as is' or modified to suit your requirements. New, custom definitions can also be added and configured, as required.