Attributes are information about a work item that shows in a field or column of a view. Attributes should have unique names; if an attribute has the same name as another attribute, then it must have a unique attribute type and/or it must be dimensioned. Attributes can be assigned to work item types from the Investment Type tab in the Types Setup tab.
There are six primary types of attributes:
- General–A general attribute can be used by any work item type. A general attribute is never timephased (or ranged) and it is never a milestone. General attribute types include: date, flag, float, integer, large text, money, percent, resource, text, time, and URL link.
- Timephased–A timephased attribute can be used to track costs and/or benefits over a defined time period. There are four types of timephased attributes: labor costs, non-labor costs, other costs, and benefits. Timephased attributes can be split so that costs and/or benefits can be tracked in smaller, more detailed levels. When a timephased attribute is split, cost and benefit values are tracked at the split level, plus are rolled-up into the parent timephased attribute. Timephased attribute types include: Timephased - CURRENCY, Timephased - FTE, Timephased - NonLabor, and Timephased - UNITS.
- Calculated Timephased–A calculated timephased attribute can be used to calculate currency, hours, skills, and other measurements that are already being tracked using a timephased attribute. There are four types of calculated timephased attributes: currency, FTE, hours, and units. Calculated timephased attributes may use MathML. The calculated timephased attribute type includes: Timephased Calc - CURRENCY, Timephased Calc - FTE, Timephased Calc - HOURS, and Timephased Calc - UNITS.
- Ranged Calculation–A ranged calculation attribute can be used to derive the sum for timephased attributes and calculated timephased attributes. Ranged calculation attributes always use MathML.
- Milestone–A milestone attribute can be used to define dates. A milestone attribute is always dimensioned and can be rolled-up. Status can be assigned to a milestone.
- Constant–A constant attribute can be used in calculations, transitions, or whenever there is a need for a fixed value. A constant attribute is defined using the Edit Rates dialog box. A constant attribute must have a rate defined; use the Edit Rates dialog box to define a rate.
There are four roll-up types that can be applied to attributes (from the Attributes tab) and attribute dimensions (from the Dimensions tab):
- Sum–The sum roll-up type adds all of an attribute's direct descendent values.
- Average–The average roll-up type calculates the mean average of an attribute's direct descendent values.
- Minimum–The min roll-up type selects the lowest value or earliest date from an attribute's direct descendent values.
- Maximum–The max roll-up type selects the highest value or latest date from an attribute's direct descendent values.
Roll-up types can be used with the following attribute types: date,
float,
integer, milestone, money, percent,
ranged calculation, time, and
calculated timephased (all four of them).