Parts and revisions

A part is anything you build, buy or stock. A revision is one version of a part’s design. This page explains both, because every other part of BuildTrace hangs off them.

You work with parts and revisions in Parts & BOMs. Create a part with createPart. Create a revision with createRevision.

Part kinds

Every part has one of three kinds. The kind decides how BuildTrace tracks stock of the part.

Kind	What it is	How it is tracked
RAW	Bulk material such as resin, wire or screws	By quantity, per location and lot
COMPONENT	A bought-in or made item you count one by one	By serial number
ASSEMBLY	Something you build from other parts	By serial number

COMPONENT and ASSEMBLY parts are serialized: each unit has its own serial number and its own history. RAW parts are tracked by quantity only. See Inventory and Serials.

You can change a part’s kind later with reclassifyPart.

Revisions

A part can have many revisions. Each one has a label that you choose, such as A, B or v2. A part cannot have two revisions with the same label.

A revision has one of two statuses:

• DRAFT: you can still change its BOM and process.
• RELEASED: it is final.

Open the Revisions tab to see every revision of the selected part, its status and its release date. Select New revision to create a draft. You can copy the BOM from an earlier revision when you do.

Released means immutable

Selecting Release is permanent. A RELEASED revision is immutable: you can’t edit its BOM lines, and you can’t change its work instructions or test plan. The database blocks the edit, not only the screen.

Release a revision with releaseRevision. Two rules apply:

• Every child revision that the BOM pins must already be released. If not, the release fails and lists the ones to release first.
• Only a DRAFT revision can be released.

Changing a released revision

Because a released revision can’t change, you have two ways to move forward:

• Create a new revision. Copy the old one and edit the copy.
• Raise a change order against the released revision. See Change orders.

Re-baselining combines both. It folds the change orders that are in force into a new draft revision. See Change orders.

Compare two revisions

On the Revisions tab, choose two revisions and select Compare. BuildTrace lists the parts that were added, removed or changed between them. See Bills of materials.