Asset attributes

Required attributes

When you submit an asset, you must enter the following information:

• Name: Choose a name for an asset that is readable, memorable, and descriptive.
• Version: Create a version control system that works best for your company. For more information, consult your administrator.
• Community: Specifies the appropriate community for your asset.
• Type: Controls the information and artifacts that users must include with the asset.
• Short description: Explains the use and purpose of the asset.

Optional attributes

When you submit an asset, you can enter the following optional information:

• Tags: Categorize assets in a collaborative manner so that assets can be found more efficiently. Typically, a tag is one word that describes a specific aspect of an asset. A single asset can have multiple tags.
• Creation time: Specifies the time taken to create the asset. Creation time can be expressed in hours, days, months, or years.
• Usage time: Specifies the amount of time that the asset creator estimates that users need to begin using the asset. Usage time can be expressed in hours, days, months, or years.
• Description: Describes the features and functionality of the asset. Users can use a rich text editor to enter a description that is more detailed than the short description. The rich text editor includes support for tables, images, and .swf video files.

Custom attributes

Administrators can create custom attributes that can then be added to asset types.

When users submit an asset and choose an asset type with custom attributes, Rational Asset Manager provides additional fields for the custom attributes. Users enter values for these attributes when they submit an asset. In this example, an administrator requires that users define the development context. The underlined text of the attributes also lets users know that if they hover their cursors over the attribute name, the attribute description displays. This image illustrates how these attributes are displayed for users when they submit assets.

When to use custom attributes

Custom attributes are useful for describing the capabilities or characteristics of an asset. When a user submits an asset, descriptions are visible when the user hovers over the attribute names, providing additional context for using the attributes effectively.

You can assign a custom attribute to many asset types.

Custom attributes can be uniquely searched on. For example, you could create an attribute Supported by which will allow users to search for all assets supported by a specific user.

You can specify default values for some attribute types. For example, if you know the support contact will be the same person for assets in a specific department you can include a set value for that attribute to save users time during asset submission.

Data types for custom attributes

• Plain text
• Dates
• Repository users and user groups
• Numbers
• Boolean (True or False)
• Links (a URL)
• XML - extract the value of an attribute from the content of an XML file that is an artifact of the asset
• Resource - create a link to an artifact on a Jazz-based server such as a work item in Rational Team Concert