What is a Design Part?

To represent how a project/stream is organized, both from a management and technical perspective, Serena® Dimensions® CM models the system as logical structure of elements called design parts. Design parts are logical groupings of objects, such as modules of code, specifications, and documents. Each design part represents a conceptual component of the system. You can have as few or as many design parts as are necessary to represent the project/stream.

Grouping items within a meaningful design part structure makes it easier for people to understand how things fit together and what role they have to play in the success of the project/stream.

For example, the Payroll product can be divided into the following design part structure:

Applications
Algorithms
Bonus
Holiday
Reports
User Documentation

Each of these parts can be divided into smaller parts, as shown for Applications.

The top-level design part of the product is created when the product is defined. For more information on defining products, see the Process Configuration Guide.