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Dimensions CM roles
Dimensions CM includes a set of predefined roles with privileges that determine the tasks and operations users can perform. Also, you can assign role capabilities to enable users to share responsibility for a role.
Role definitions
Each Dimensions CM role has a set of privileges, enabling users to perform the functions for various positions within the organization, such as Developer or Team Leader.
Example: The CHANGE-MANAGER role gives a user special permissions for requests, such as viewing other users’ inboxes, and actioning requests to any state in their lifecycle.
To adjust the model to your company’s processes, you can change the rules that determine the privileges for these roles, or add new roles.
You can assign any number of roles to a single user. This way, users can perform many different roles for multiple projects/streams and segments of the product structure.
To create a role or change the privileges for an existing one, go to Administration Console > Users and Roles > Role Definitions. For details, see Define roles.
A role can be assigned to one or more users or groups, and can apply to the following:
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Product
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Design part
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Design part variant
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Project/stream
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Lifecycle transition
Role capabilities
Users can share responsibility for a role, even within the same product segment and project/stream. When multiple users have the same role, you can assign a role capability to determine different levels of responsibility for those users.
When users share a role on a design part, all users receive email notifications and inbox entries when appropriate.
To enforce levels of responsibility, you can assign the following capabilities to each user:
| Capability | Description |
|---|---|
| Primary |
A user with the primary capability has the main responsibility for that role on the design part or object. You can assign this role capability only to one user. Note: Primary and leader capabilities are mutually exclusive. If a user has the leader capability, you cannot assign the primary capability to the same user. |
| Secondary |
Users with the secondary capability act as backup to the user with the primary capability. They have the same privileges as the Primary. For example, Secondaries can add action comments and, unless the Leader capability has been assigned, update an object's attributes and action the object. |
| Leader |
An alternative to assigning primary and secondary capabilities. The leader capability mainly applies to Dimensions CM requests, where multiple users may need to contribute comments (action descriptions) without being able to action the request. This does not apply to items. Note: Leader and primary capabilities are mutually exclusive. You cannot assign the leader capability to the user who already has the primary capability. By default, users with the leader capability can:
If you assign the leader capability, the remaining users can only relate/unrelate subordinate objects and add action descriptions. |
Special roles
This section describes some of the main roles in Dimensions CM.
For details about the default roles and their privileges, see Default privileges for roles.
Each role has been configured to enable the user to perform the appropriate tasks associated with a typical position in your organization:
| Role | Description |
|---|---|
|
PRODUCT-MANAGER |
Users with this role can set up and manage the process model for a particular product. When a product is created, a user from the ADMIN group assigns the PRODUCT-MANAGER role to a single user in Administration Console > Product Definitions. |
|
PROJECT-MANAGER WORKSET-MANAGER |
Users with this role have special permissions for projects/streams. The Workset Manager/Project Manager can set up and maintain the project/stream directory structure, add or remove items, set the project/stream options that regulate how users work within projects/streams, and lock projects/streams to create baselines. Guidelines:
|
|
PARTS-CONTROLLER |
Users with this role can manage design parts for the product. This includes creating, updating, and relating design parts. For details, see Design part structure. |
|
DEPLOY-MANAGER |
Users with this role can to deploy items, Dimensions CM requests, and baselines to any stage in the Global Stage Lifecycle for any design part in the product. For details about deployment, see Use Dimensions deployment. |
|
CHANGE-MANAGER |
Users with this role have special permissions for Dimensions CM requests. The Change Manager can view other users' inboxes and action requests to any state in their lifecycle, provided that any enabled rules are followed. |
|
$ORIGINATOR |
This role specifies the creator of a specific request, item, or baseline. Dimensions CM assigns the role automatically to the user when they create the object. The role is applied only to that object. Unlike other assignments, this role is not assigned explicitly, and is not applied to other objects within the design part and/or project/stream that have not been created by that user. |
| $ALL_ROLES | This role specifies all the roles of a lifecycle, including $ORIGINATOR. Use $ALL_ROLES to assign an attribute rule to all the roles defined for lifecycle transitions, rather than to each role individually. |
Inboxes and roles
Every user has an inbox of requests, items, and baselines. An inbox contains objects that are currently waiting on that user for further action.
An object is added to a user's inbox when it is actioned to a state in which the user has a role to action it on to the next state. When the object is added to a user's inbox, the user automatically receives notification in an email message.
Whether an object is added to your inbox, and whether you can action the object to the next state, can depend on whether the relevant roles are optional or pending. For details, see Roles on lifecycle transitions.
See also:
