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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:
Using multiple categories for a single object class has multiple benefits or reasons:
. Default categories are available to use for the relevant objects in Workplace Management, like Requests, Reservations, Work orders, Buildings, Areas, Assets, etc. If there is only one default category available for the object, the user creating a new object, will not have the choice to select a category (Requests and Reservations only have one (default) category). Users can only create objects in a specific category, if the user has the correct authorizations.
Below some examples of objects and the default categories available:
Using categories for objects has multiple purposes:
Different page
It is possible that objects of the same type (e.g. Area) 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 therefor not visible on the page used for the 'Floor’ category.
Different workflow
It is possible that objects of the same type (e.g. Invoice) require a different process or workflow. With different categories, different workflows can be used. 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.
Using templates
A tempate can be linked to a category. A template can be used to pre defined data, when creating an object of that category. For example, when creating a new request, the field ‘Priority' automatically needs to be ‘Low’. In this case a template is linked to the specific request category, where the priority is set to 'Low’ by default.
Different authorizations
Different categories also allows the administrator to set different authorizations. For example, ‘Corrective work orders' need to be managed by the corrective work order manager and 'LTMP work orders’ need to be managed by the LTMP work order manager. The user needs to have the correct authorizations to see the objects of a specific category.
Reporting
Users can view reports with a default filter on a category. For example, ‘Corrective work orders assigned to me' or 'Reservable meeting rooms in building’. These reports filter the results the users sees, based on the default category specified in the filter of the report.
Integrations
Default or custom integrations set up for the customer can be for specific categories. For example, a integration to export outgoing invoices to a financial application.