Revisioning an Item

Item revisions mark an unambiguous point in the history of an item. When viewing an item in Integrity Lifecycle Manager, the revision provides an identifier into its history. Furthermore, if you export the same item to a partner using a report or through ReqIF, and they call you to discuss it, you are assured that any discussion of Item 123, revision 1.2, for example, is done with the exact same item definition and understanding.

This is also true for everyone with direct access to Integrity Lifecycle Manager. When listing items, you have clear visibility to the item revision. As with the partner scenario, any internal communication through conversations, reports, or e-mail, can include a specific revision to ensure all parties are using the same exact definition.

The revision identifier is numbered as a two-part decimal in the format major.minor, where the number to the left of the decimal point is the major revision, and the number to the right of the decimal point is the minor revision. Your Integrity Lifecycle Manager administrator defines the revision pattern for revision numbers by specifying values in workflow and document properties. For example, the default revision number sequence is 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, ... 1.0, 1.1, 1.2. For information on your revision pattern for revision numbers, contact your administrator.

When viewing or editing a revisioned item, the revision information displays as follows:

▪ Significant Change Since Item Revision indicates if any fields were changed since the item was last revisioned. When changes exist, the value is true.If changes do not exist, the value is false.

◦ Labels tab displays revision labels, if labels are enabled for the type. Revision labels display in ascending order by default. The Label field displays each revision number, for example, 2.1. The Date field displays the date and time of each revision increment, for example,

The label :head is a system provided label that always appears first in the list. The date and time of :head are updated by revision operations; therefore, the :head label always represents the latest item revision.

Revisions labels are not distinguishable from other non-revision labels. However, revision labels and system provided labels that begin with “:” cannot be manually added, moved, or deleted for any type that is enabled for revisioning.

◦ History tab displays modifications to the revisioning fields, which denote when a revision was created. Select the modified date hyperlink to view the item as of that date and time.

To open a revisioned item at a specific revision, see “Searching for Items”.

To open a historical item as of a specific revision, date, and time and/or at its latest revision, see “Viewing a Historical Item”.