Different types of objects can be connected to an activity, for example, Activity Tasks, Work Orders, Purchase Requisition Lines, Purchase Order Lines, Shop Orders, DOP Headers etc. The connected objects report cost, hours, revenue and progress information to the activity. The type of information reported depends on the connected object.
Project Navigator/Connections displays the connection between the selected activity and other objects in IFS Applications. The same information is also displayed in Activity/Connections. The information about the connected object could include for example, object type, description, status, progress, earned value as well as estimated, planned, baseline, planned committed, committed, used and actual values for both cost and hours. Revenue information for planned, preliminary, posted and actual can also be included for the connected object. The cost will be reported in base, transaction and project currency.
There are two types of activity connections: user-defined connection and system connection. All connections created using the Connect/ Disconnect Object menu option in Project Navigator/Connections, are user-defined connections. Only user-defined connections are removable in the Connect/Disconnect Object dialog. All other connections are system connections for which the System Connection column will be selected. System connections cannot be removed in the Connect/Disconnect Object dialog. System connections are generated by other events in the system. An example of a system generated connection, is time reporting generated in IFS/Project Reporting when time is booked on an activity. This connection cannot be manually deleted in IFS/Project.
IFS Business Analytics can be used to create and analyze information based on the activity connection data available in IFS Applications. For more information refer About Information Sources in IFS Business Analytics.
Different types of objects can be connected to an activity, for example Activity Tasks, Purchase Requisition Lines, Purchase Order Lines, Shop Orders, DOP Headers, Work Orders, Document Packages, Time Report Sheets. The objects with their connection differences are as follows:
If you choose a connected object from the table, you can go to this object’s main window by selecting the Object Details menu option.
Creating: You can create an object connection either in Project Navigator/Connections or in the window for the object you want to connect. i.e., to connect an activity to a document package in IFS/Document Management, you can do so in Project Navigator/Connections or in the Document Package window by the Connect to Activity menu option and selecting the desired activity. Although it is recommended that you connect the object to an activity from the object’s main form, this can only be done if the particular object type is allowed for manual connections in the Project/Manual Connections. An object can have only one activity connected.
When you create an object connection in Project Navigator/Connections, the Connect/Disconnect Object dialog box containing various tabs for objects that are allowed for manual connections will be presented. After selecting desired object from the available tabs click OK to save the changes and close the dialog box. The objects are from modules that are allowed for manual connection with the project. When an object is chosen, the description, progress, and status fields are updated with the next save. The values of these fields are retrieved from the object itself.
Modifying: Activity connections cannot be modified.
Removing: Only user-defined connections are removable in this window by using the Connect/Disconnect Object menu option.
Refresh Project Connections: In case there is a need to update the cost/revenue element on a project connection (e.g. if it has an incorrect cost/revenue element due to incorrect posting control), it is possible to run the Refresh Project Connections function found in the Analysis/Project Connections window. This will allow you to refresh the connections for a given company, project and or object type and will update the cost/revenue element on the relevant connections based on the current basic data. This function is also used to update cost/revenue elements in case the code part used as Base for Project Cost/Revenue Elements has been changed (for more info on the process for changing the Base, please see the Release Notes). NOTE: Refreshing connections can be a heavy process (depending on data volumes) and should typically be scheduled to be run outside normal working hours, e.g. over a weekend.