Enabling Product Lines
For most producers, product lines are optional. They must be enabled in the Producer Portal via the FlexNet Operations system configuration settings. There are two configuration settings that can be used. The one you choose depends on how your account uses product lines.
| 1. | Product lines are available for use as product groups without restricting the visibility of products to different users or accounts. (This product line functionality is enabled by default.) |
| 2. | Product lines are available for use as product groups and also restrict visibility of products to different users and accounts. |
Enabling Product Lines for Products
The default product line functionality can be enabled via the system configuration setting, Enable Product Lines for Products.
To enable product lines for products
| 1. | Click System > Configure. |
| 2. | Click FlexNet Operations to open the configuration page for FlexNet Operations-specific settings. |
| 3. | Locate the Enable Product Lines for Products setting and select its check box. |
Note:This setting is only effective if the check box for Enable Product Lines for Products, Users, and Accounts is not selected.
| 4. | Click Save Configs to save changes. |
Enabling Product Lines for Products and Visibility Restrictions
The addition of visibility restrictions to product line functionality can be enabled via the system configuration setting, Enable Product Lines for Products, Users, and Accounts.
Enabling this configuration setting restricts the visibility of products to the logged-in user. The logged-in user can only view the products and entitlements that use the product lines that the logged-in user created.
To enable product lines for products and restrict visibility
| 1. | Click System > Configure. |
| 2. | Click FlexNet Operations to open the configuration page for FlexNet Operations-specific settings. |
| 3. | Locate the Enable Product Lines for Products setting and unselect its check box. |
| 4. | Locate the Enable Product Lines for Products, Users, and Accounts setting and select its check box. |
| 5. | Click Save Configs to save changes. |
You define access rights by mapping products to product lines and then product lines to producer accounts or to customer users. For more information, see Mapping a Product to a Product Line and Linking Product Lines to User Accounts, respectively.
Product Lines Defined by FlexNet Operations
Two special product lines are automatically defined by FlexNet Operations:
| • | All—Applied to all customer users by default, this product line includes all products. When implementing product lines, FlexNet Operations includes All as the default to preserve product access for backward compatibility. Later, this product line can be removed and appropriate product lines linked to implement selective product line access for customer users. |
| • | Uncategorized—Collects the set of products that have not been mapped to a product line. FlexNet Operations treats Uncategorized as a separate product line. Customer user accounts that have not been linked to the Uncategorized line cannot see uncategorized products. |
Product lines can be the object of searches. In addition, product lines can include descriptive attributes that can be used to characterize them.
Behavior When “Enable Product Lines for Products, Users, and Accounts” Is Selected
The following table clarifies the relationship and behavior between organization-level and user-level product line assignments when the configuration Enable Product Lines for Products, Users, and Accounts is selected:
|
Organization has “ALL” |
User has “ALL” |
Behavior |
|
Yes |
Yes |
User sees all products. |
|
Yes |
No |
User sees products only from explicitly assigned user categories. |
|
No |
Yes |
User sees all products from org-assigned categories. |
|
No |
No |
User sees products from categories assigned to both org and user. |
Enabling “Skip Confirmation” for Product Lines
Depending on configuration settings, producers can reduce the number of copies of a license for certain product lines without requiring a confirmation capability request. This ability is only available if the system configuration setting Skip Confirmation for Product Line (under System > Configure > Embedded Devices > License Generation) is selected.
If the setting Skip Confirmation for Product Line is selected, producers can select the product lines for which no confirmation capability request is required on the Package Products | Product Lines page (available under Products > Product Lines) in the Skip Confirmation column.
Important:The Skip Confirmation column is displayed regardless of whether the Skip Confirmation for Product Line is selected or unselected.