Integration with Other Applications > Introduction to Windchill ESI > Integrating Windchill ESI with SAP > Windchill ESI Features > Option Sets
  
Option Sets
ERP Connector allows publishing both standalone and associated option sets. Standalone option sets can be published either in the object-centric mode, or via a CN or a promotion request. Regardless of the type, when publishing an option set, the associated choices, their options, rules, and the relevant associations are published as well. A standalone option set gets published to all the distribution targets associated to it. However, an associated option set is published only to those distribution targets that the holding business object (such as a part, process plan, or a resource) is published to.
The following attributes are sent to the distribution target when publishing an option set:
1. Name
2. Description
3. Lifecycle State
4. Version Identifier
5. Iteration Identifier
6. Distribution Targets
7. Associated Choices and their attributes
8. Options holding the associated choices and their attributes
9. Rules for choices and their attributes
10. Information on the relevant associations (for example, part to option set, option set to choice, part to choice and rule to choice associations)
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Note the following:
• Standalone option sets may be published in the object-centric mode either via the Send To Distribution Target option or by setting its lifecycle state to any of the values specified by the Windchill ESI preference Lifecycle States Triggering Publication of an Option Set.
• When publishing an option set as a primary business object, or as a resulting object in a CN, or as a promotable object in a promotion request, the option set and its related objects (such as choices and their options) would be published. However, any business object (such as a part) that may be associated to the option set is not considered for publication.
• An option set may be explicitly associated to a business object or to the product or library that the object resides in. When such an object is published, the associated option set and its related objects are published as well, provided the distribution target attribute Publish the Associated Option Set when Publishing an Object has a value Yes. Also, with such a setting in place, if choices from the option set have been assigned to objects, these associations are published as well. Also published are choice rules and the relevant associations.
• When the distribution target attribute Publish only Incremental Changes for a Modified Option Set has a value Yes, publishing a modified option set results in only the incremental changes made to the option set (since it was last successfully published) being sent with the ESI response.
• When the distribution target attribute Publish only Incremental Changes for a Modified Option Set has a value No, publishing a modified option set results in the option set and all of its related objects (choices, options, and associations) being sent as “added” objects in the ESI response.