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Why do categories exist?

Almost all objects in Workplace have categories. But why do categories exist?

The category in which an instance (for example an asset) is created determines a variety of things, such as:

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applicable template;

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access to the object;

In this article only the page layout are discussed. For the purpose of learning the basics this is sufficient. In later articles categories are discussed in further detail.

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The category determines the page layout

The same goes for instance pages:

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Depending on the category of the object we can show/hide category specific fields. For example, fields like License plate/Mileage we only use for assets in the category: car. We can make sure these are only visible on the car instance page, but not on any other pages, so that end users only see fields/functions important to those objects. The page can also be changed on the category page.

Summary

Exercise

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Search

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Categories are used to distinguish different types of a single object class. In a sense, different categories within an object class can be seen as subclasses of that object. For instance, the ‘Area’ object class, has multiple default categories available out of the box:

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If an object is being created and the object has multiple categories available to the user, the user will first need to select the desired category via a single select list as shown in the screenshot above. Not all objects have a category selection. For instance, requests are always created in the default category (customization aside).

Using multiple categories for a single object class has multiple purposes. The most relevant are:

Different categories can have different pages for the same object class

Objects of the same class (e.g. Area) may require different data to be registered. With different categories, different pages can be used. For example, for the area category ‘Meeting room' it is relevant to register the capacity and if the room is reservable. For the area category ‘Floor’ this information is not relevant and therefore not visible on the page used for the 'Floor’ category.

Different workflow process

With different categories, different workflows can assigned. Objects of the same class (e.g. invoices) may require a different process or workflow depending on the category. The process for an outgoing invoice is different from the process for an incoming invoice. A different workflow means that the process can have different tasks, which need to be executed by different users.

Us as filter in searching and reporting

Users can search and filter on specific fields, including (in some cases) the category, when using either advanced search screens or reports. For example, filter on all Assets of the category ‘Laptops’ to get an overview of all laptops in use. In this sense, the category acts like a label.

Next to the above, categories can also be used for certain customization purposes and via customization it is also possible to create custom categories for most object classes.
The next list contains a short description of customization in relation to categories. For details on these types of customization, see the relevant article in the /wiki/spaces/KB/pages/224428166

• Use a different template per category: A template can be linked to a category. A template can be used to pre-define certain fields, when creating an object of that category. For example, when creating a new request in a certain custom category, the field ‘concerns’ (Problem type) automatically needs to be a specific type of problem.

• Different authorizations: Different categories also allow the administrator via customization to set different authorizations. For example, a certain custom contract category might be authorized in such a way that only a subset of users managing all the contracts can view or edit contracts in this category.