Overview of User Data

Product entities, such as packages, workflows, requests, and projects, include a set of standard fields that provide information about the entities. While these fields are normally sufficient for day-to-day processing, you can create user data fields to capture additional information specific to your organization. For example, if you want to include an additional field on every package, you can open the Validation Value User Data user data type (with global scope) and define the extra field, which is then displayed on the User Data tab for a validation.

You configure user data types from the User Data Context window in the User Data Workbench.

The following four columns in the User Data Workbench define the components that fully define a user data type:

  • User Data Type: Displays the user data type names, which are predefined and uneditable in OpenText PPM.

    Although you cannot create new user data types, you can create new user data contexts (based on the Validation Value User Data, the Package User Data, or the Environment User Data types) and define user data fields for them.

  • Scope: Displays the scope of the user data type field. The two possible scope values are:

    • Global. If the user data type field has a global scope, the User Data tab for every designated entity contains the defined user data field.

    • Context. If the user data type field has a context scope, then the defined user data field is added only to the User Data tab for entities that have specific Context Field and Context Value definitions.

  • Context Field: Displays the context-sensitive fields. It applies only to user data type fields with context scope. Because each user data type only has one available context field value, the cells in this column are populated automatically.

  • Context Value: Lists the value (context) for the context-sensitive field. It applies only to user data type fields with a context scope. You cannot create a new context value. You can only assign an existing one.

You can define up to 20 user data type fields for display on the User Data tab of a defined entity. You can configure the major attributes of each field, including its graphical presentation, the validation method, and whether it is required.