Define and assign areas

In the Administration Console, you can create areas and assign them to items in a project or stream.

In this topic:

Create an area

In the Areas & Deployment section of the Administration Console, you can create a work, deployment, or library cache area.

To create areas, you need the privileges for the relevant type of area: Create Work Areas, Create Deployment Areas, or Create Library Cache Areas.

To create an area:

1. In the Administration Console, go to Distributed Development > Areas & Deployment > Area definitions.

2. In the Area Definitions window, click the New button on the toolbar, and select the type of area to create: Work Area, Deployment Area, or Library Cache Area.

3. In the New Area dialog box, enter the following details:

   Field	Description
   ID	Enter a name for the area, up to 25 characters long.
   Description	(Optional) Enter a description for the area.
   Network node	Select the name of the network node on which to create the area. This is the logical network node defined in Administration Console > Network Administration. For details, see Administration.
   Directory	Specify the folder path for the area. Note: You cannot assign the same network node and folder to more than one area.
   Node user ID Node password	Enter the O/S username and password to access the area on the node. These credentials need to have been registered using the dmpasswd utility. You can also enter a credential set. In this case, the password is not required. For details, see Administration.
   Area owner	Specify the Dimensions CM user who can edit area details. By default, it's the current user.
   Available users / groups Users / Groups granted permission to access this area	Work areas only: Assign users to have permissions for accessing the area. From Available users / groups, select the users to whom you want to give access, and move them to Users / Groups granted permission. To remove access, select one or more users or groups in the Users / Groups granted permission list and move them back to Available users / groups.
   Is this area currently offline (files will not be transferred to this area if checked)?	Deployment or library cache areas: Select this option to exclude the area from any file transfer operations.

4. For deployment areas, specify the deployment details:

   Field	Description
   Stage ID	Specify the lifecycle stage to which to transition the files when the item revisions are actioned to the corresponding state.
   Area filter	(Optional) Specify the filter to control the file types that are copied to the deployment area. Make sure to use area filters, not audit filters. For details, see Use area filters.
   Pre-event transfer script	(Optional) Specify a file with a script to run before a transfer takes place.
   Post-event transfer script	(Optional) Specify a file with a script to run after a transfer takes place.
   Fail-event transfer script	(Optional) Specify a file with a script to run if a transfer fails to complete successfully.

5. Click OK.

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Modify or delete areas

You can edit the details of a work, deployment, or library cache area, and delete those areas you no longer need.

Required privileges:

• To modify areas, if you are not the area owner, you need the privilege Update Work Area Properties for work areas, Update Deployment Area Properties for deployment areas, or Update Library Cache Area Properties for library cache areas.

• To delete areas, if you are not the area owner, you need the privilege Delete Work Areas for work areas, Delete Deployment Areas for deployment areas, or Delete Library Cache Areas for library cache areas.

To edit an area:

1. In the Administration Console, go to Distributed Development > Areas & Deployment > Area definitions.

2. In the Area Definitions navigation pane, select an area.

3. To delete the area, click the Delete button on the toolbar, and confirm.

4. To edit the area, in the File Area Details section of the content pane, click the Edit button.

5. In the Edit Area dialog box, change the details, as needed.

6. Click OK.

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Take areas offline

Take areas offline to temporarily make them unavailable. You can bring them back online anytime.

To bring areas offline or online, if you are not the area owner, you need the privilege Update Work Area Properties for work areas, Update Deployment Area Properties for deployment areas, or Update Library Cache Area Properties for library cache areas.

To take areas offline:

1. In the Administration Console, go to Distributed Development > Areas & Deployment > Area definitions.

2. In the Area Definitions navigation pane, select the relevant node to display a list of areas in the content pane.

3. In the content pane, select one or more areas, click the Take offline button, and confirm.

   Offline areas are displayed dimmed.

4. To bring areas online, in the content pane, select the offline areas, click the Place offline button, and confirm.

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Assign deployment areas

In the Administration Console, you can assign a deployment area to item files for a project or stream.

To assign a deployment area, you need the Assign Deployment Areas to Project privilege.

To assign an area to a project/stream:

1. In the Administration Console, go to Distributed Development > Areas & Deployment > Area definitions.

2. In the Area Definitions navigation pane, drill down in the Deployment Areas tree and select a deployment area.

3. In the Projects section of the content pane, click the Assign to Project button.

4. In the Assign Area to Project/Stream dialog box, enter the following details:

   Field	Description
   Area	(Display only) Displays the name of the selected deployment area.
   Project	Enter the project or stream's specification, or search for a project or stream. For details, see Select Project/Stream wizard (page 1 of 2).
   File path relative to area directory	To use a folder that is offset or located in another folder relative to the area's folder, enter its relative path. Files are placed in a folder structure corresponding to their folders in the project/stream.
   Deploy by default	Use this option to automatically deploy files to this area when the item revisions are promoted or demoted to this stage.
   Audit filter	Select an audit filter from the list, or use the default filter for the area. Caution: Make sure not to confuse audit filters with area filters. For details, see Use area filters.
   Sequence order	To run deployments to this area in a particular order when there are other deployment areas for this project/stream, enter a sequence order. For details on how to set sequences, see Set deployment sequence.
   Populate area with project/stream contents	Select this option to copy item files to the area as soon as you assign this area.

5. Click OK.

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Modify area assignment

You can modify the assignment of a deployment area to a project or stream.

To change deployment area assignments, you need the Assign Deployment Areas to Project privilege.

To edit an area assignment:

1. In the Administration Console, go to Distributed Development > Areas & Deployment > Area definitions.

2. In the Area Definitions navigation pane, drill down in the Deployment Areas tree and select a deployment area.

3. In the Projects section of the content pane, select a project and click the Edit button.

4. In the Edit Assignment dialog box, modify the following details, as needed:

   Field	Description
   File path relative to area directory	Change the folder path used to offset the folder defined for the area. Files are placed in a folder structure corresponding to their folders in the project/stream.
   Populate area with project/stream contents	Select this option to copy item files to the area as soon as you relate the project/stream.
   Do not delete files from old relative path if relative path changes	Select this option to keep the item files where they are if the relative path changes.

5. Click OK.

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Unassign areas from project or streams

You can remove the assignment of a deployment area from a project or stream.

To unassign a deployment area, you need the Assign Deployment Areas to Project privilege.

To unassign an area from a project/stream:

1. In the Administration Console, go to Distributed Development > Areas & Deployment > Area definitions.

2. In the Area Definitions navigation pane, drill down in the Deployment Areas tree and select a deployment area.

3. In the Projects section of the content pane, select a project/stream and click the De-assign button.

4. In the De-assign Area from Project/Stream dialog box, select Remove files deployed from this project.

5. Click Yes.

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See also:

• Area Definitions window
• Create area filters
• Area management