View items

In the desktop client, you can view an item's history, role assignments, and users who have the item in their inboxes. To view an item without checking it out, get a copy of the item revision. You can also preview and print item revisions.

In this topic:

View item history

An item's history keeps track of the occurred transactions such as creating a revision or actioning.

The revision history shows when an item was revised and who created the revision.

The action history shows when an item was actioned and who actioned it.

An item's pedigree shows how the item's successive revisions are related in time and origin. The pedigree displays all events, including branches and merges.

The following table describes how to work with item history.

Field	Description
View an item's history	In an Items list, select an item. Select Item > History. To compare the content of item revisions, see Merge and compare item revisions and files. The History dialog box displays the history of various operations performed on the item, such as checked in, actioned, or exported to another project. Note: Dimensions CM may create pseudo merge entries in the history. This may occur, for example, when a revision is created in a branch from a revision on another branch, and then the next revision is created from a revision on a different branch.
Filter the content of the Item History dialog box	From the Filter list, select a category. In the Filter box, enter the text string that you want to use as a filter. The item history list is filtered to only include entries that contain that string.
Filter the content of the Item History dialog box based on the Change Type	From the Filter list, select Change Type and clear a change type that you want to remove from the item history list. To include the change type again, reselect it. Clear additional change types if needed. To reselect all change types, select All changes.
Filter the content of the Item History dialog box based on a date range	To view entries in the list from a specified date, select the From checkbox and select the date. To view entries in the list up to a specified date, select the To checkbox and select the date.
Sort the Item History content based on columns	To sort by a column, click the column's header. Click the column again to reverse the sort order.
Add or remove columns from the display in the Item History dialog box	Right-click the column header and select a field from the list to either hide or display that column. Fields already displayed have a tick against them.
View an item's deployment history	Click the Deployment History button. This opens the Deployment view in the web client, with the History tab displaying deployment/build event entries for the item.
Compare item revisions	Right-click a revision and select Compare with to compare that revision with another item revision or file. Or select multiple item revisions, right-click, and select Compare selected revisions. For details, see Merge and compare item revisions and files.
Open one or more item revisions in a new window	Displays the comment field for the selected row.
View an item's pedigree	Right-click and select Pedigree. The item is displayed in the Pedigree window. For details, see Work in the Pedigree window.

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View item's users, roles, and privileges

You can view the item's role assignments, the users who currently have the item in their inboxes, and the users' privileges for the item. To view these details, you need the View Other User's Privileges privilege for the product that owns the item.

To view the users, roles, and privileges for an item:

1. In the My Current Project/Stream navigation pane, expand the Items node.

2. In the content pane, select an item.

3. Select Item > User Roles and Privileges. The Users and Roles dialog box opens.

4. In the Users with Object in Their Inbox tab, view information about users who have this item in their inbox. The following details are displayed:

   Field	Description
   User Name	The user ID for which the item is pending.
   Role	The user's role.
   Capability	Displays whether the user has the Primary (P), Secondary (S), or Leader (L) role capability for the project or stream. You can set these responsibilities in the Administration Console. For details, see Set up the process model.
   Full Name	The user's name.
   Site	The user's location.
   Department	The user's department.
   Telephone	The user's telephone number.

5. To view the users assigned to a particular role for the item, select the Role Assignments tab. The following details are displayed:

   Field	Description
   Role	The roles assigned to this item.
   User Name	The user ID of the person or persons with this role.
   Capability	Displays whether the user has the Primary (P), Secondary (S), or Leader (L) role capability for the project or stream. These responsibilities are assigned in the Administration Console.
   Role Type	Displays the role type: From Tree. Indicates this user was assigned the role. Delegated. Indicates the role was delegated.

6. To view which privileges are enabled, select the Privileges tab. The following details are displayed:

   Field	Description
   Show	Displays the user for which the privileges apply. By default, the privileges for your user are displayed. To view another user's privileges, select the user from the list. You can select other users only if you have the View Other User privilege.
   Stage	Displays the stage at which any deployment-related privileges apply. To view deployment privileges for a particular stage, select the stage from the list.
   Area	Displays the area for which any deployment related privileges apply. After you select a stage, you can select an area from the list.
   Privilege list	Displays privileges and their descriptions. An icon next to each privilege indicates whether the privilege is enabled and can be assigned to others. Note: The warning icon next to a privilege indicates that the user’s permission cannot be resolved. Select a stage and area to determine whether the user has that privilege.
   Rule(s) Applied list	Displays the specified conditions under which the selected privilege can be performed or why the privilege has been denied. To view the rules applied to the privilege, select a privilege in the Privilege list.

7. Click OK when finished.

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Get item copies

Get a copy of an item revision so you can view it without checking it out.

Before getting item copies, review the guidelines:

• When you get a copy of an item revision, Dimensions CM leaves the revision in its current state (checked in or checked out) and creates a read-only copy in your work area.

• You can add an entire folder in the form of a folder item. When you get a copy of a folder item, the subfolders and items contained in the folder are expanded and copied to their relative locations in your work area.

• To get item copies, you need the Browse Item permission.

To get copies of items:

1. In an Items list, select one or more items. Select Item > Get, or click the Get Item button.

2. If you have selected a single item, for Name of File to Contain Item, enter the full path and file name. Or browse to select the folder containing the file. If you are creating a new file, enter a file name.

3. If you have selected multiple items, for Folder to Contain Items, enter the full file path or browse to select the folder.

   To review or change the list of selected items, click the Items tab and clear any item revisions you do not want to get.

4. Select the options for the files to be copied:

   Expand substitution variables	Select this option to enable item header substitution. For details, see About creating items.
   Automatically overwrite files	Select this option to overwrite any matching files in the release directory. By default, no files are overwritten.
   Apply system date/time	Select this option to set the timestamp of your work area files to the current date and time.
   Write Metadata	Clear this option if you do not want Dimensions CM to write metadata files to the work area for the copied files/folders.

5. Click OK.

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Preview and print items

Before previewing and printing items, review the guidelines:

• You can preview an item revision without first checking it out or getting a local copy of it.

• The item revision opens in the editor assigned to the item's format.

• This assignment is determined by your Windows association for the filetab of the Preferences dialog box. For details about assigning an editor, see Assign editors and browsers.

• While you have an item revision open in your editor, you can print it.

• To preview and print items, you need the Browse Item permission.

To preview and print an item:

1. In an Items list, select the item.

2. Select Item > Browse.

   You see the contents of the item revision in the editor assigned to the item format.

3. To print the item, use the editor's print command.

4. To return to Dimensions CM, exit the editor.

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See also:

• Select items