Configuring Item Number Sequences

A Sequence is an Item of the Sequence ItemType that defines a template for automatic sequential numbering of Items of the same ItemType.

Out of the box, each Change Management ItemType is provided with a default Sequence configuration. It is possible to change the default configuration and/or configure other ItemTypes to use Sequences.

When creating an Item, the property with the Sequence configuration is not editable and contains the Server Assigned text.

Once the Item is saved, the property gets the next sequential number according to the defined template.

The following figure shows the Sequence configuration for the Express ECO ItemType, as an example.

To define a template, the Sequence Item view provides the following fields:

• Name – The Sequence Item name.
• Prefix – A constant group of alphanumeric characters at the beginning of the generated Item numbers. For example, in the ECO-xxxx1001-AC Item number, ECO- is the Prefix.
• Initial Value – The numeric value that begins the Sequence.
• Current Value – The last-assigned numeric value in a Sequence. An Item number to be generated next will be Current Value incremented by Step. For example, if ECO-xxxx1001-AC is the last number and Step is 1, then the next sequence will be ECO-xxx1002-AC.
• Suffix – A fixed group of alphanumeric characters at the end of the generated Item numbers. For example, in the ECO-00001001-AC Item number, -AC is Suffix.
• Pad With – A character filling the required number of spaces. For example, the ECO-xxxx1001-AC Item number has eight sequential numbers, four of which are unused and filled with x. Thus, Pad With is x.
• Pad To – The total number of characters for the number excluding the Prefix and Suffix. For example, the ECO-xxxx1001-AC Item number has eight characters. Thus, Pad To is 8.
• Step – A numeric value by which the sequential numbers of an Item number are incremented.

To access or create a Sequence, click the Navigation button and select Administration->Sequences.

To use a Sequence on an ItemType, set the Data Type as Sequence and the Data Source as Sequence Item Name on the item_number property.