Create the Custom Component in Free Form

Use following method to create the custom component when you do not know the component name (keyword), URL, or forge or when you simply want to provide your own values (for example, when creating a custom component for commercial software you want to track in Code Insight for inclusion in the Bill of Materials).

To create a custom component in Free Form mode:

1. After you have performed Step 1: Access a “Component Lookup”, click Create New Component either on the Lookup Component window or on the Components tab on the Global Component & License Lookup tab.

The window opens in the Free Form form, enabling you to provide your own values for the component fields. (No field values are automatically populated.)

Optionally, you can switch to the URL form on the New Custom Component window, enabling you to enter a project or forge URL by which to create the component. Once you enter the URL, you must click Get Details to continue:

• If the URL belongs to a supported forge-URL domain, component fields are automatically populated with values based on domain conventions, as described in Create the Custom Component Based on Its Project or Forge URL.
• If the URL does not belong to a supported domain (that is, Code Insight is unable to parse the URL), you must click OK on the resulting “Unable to parse URL...” message box to proceed to manually complete component fields in Free Form mode (continue with the next step 2).
2. Update the component fields, noting that the Name, Title, and URL fields are required. (Click in the upper part of the window for examples of the standard name, title, and URL conventions used by the Forge value you select.) If you do not know the URL, enter NA. For more information about these fields, see Custom Component Properties.
3. Click Save.
• If the component is successfully created, it is immediately saved to the Code Insight database and listed in the Lookup Component window or on the Components tab on the Global Component & License Lookup tab. (The Components tab automatically filters to the new component by its component ID.)
• The process of indexing the component in the Code Insight Data Library begins immediately in the background. Once indexed, the custom component is made available for global component searches that users can perform against the Code Insight Data Library. For important information about the indexing process and these searches, see Note About the Indexing Process for Custom Components.
• If the component name and title combination already exists in the Data Library, an error message is displayed. You can edit the custom component details to provide a unique name or title; or (through the Lookup Component window) locate the already-existing component and associate it with the inventory item.
4. (Performed only from the Lookup Component window) Continue with Step 3: Associate an Instance of the Custom Component with the Inventory Item.