Product libraries view in Manager UI
Selecting the Product Catalog menu it will show a list, where you manage your product libraries.
Product Libraries list
The Product Libraries list is the starting point for all product-related work. From here you create new libraries and navigate into a specific library to edit products.
When you enter your tenant and have no product libraries defined, the screen shows an empty state with a prompt to create your first library:
Click Create a Product Library to open the creation dialog.
Once libraries exist, the list displays them with a New Library button in the top-right corner:
Clicking New Library (or Create a Product Library on the empty state) opens a dialog where you enter the library name and confirm creation.
Library actions (trailing menu)
Each library in the list has a menu button on the right side (⋮). Opening it reveals the following actions:
- History – View the edit history of the library and roll back to a previous version if needed.
- Replicate (Admin only) – Replicate the library to another environment.
- Delete – Permanently delete the library after confirming by typing its name.
Note
Deletion of a product library cannot be undone. All products in the library will be deleted. Contact VividWorks support if you need help recovering a library.
View Product Library History
Selecting History from the library menu opens a history dialog showing the author and timestamp of each edit. From there you can roll back to an older version if you have made an unrecoverable error.
Note
Rolling back forks the version history. You cannot return to the version you rolled back from. Use this feature with caution.
The Product Tree
Clicking a library in the list navigates into the Product Tree view for that library.
The Product Tree view contains three areas:
- The Product Menu bar
- The Product Tree view panel
- The Item Property view panel
The Product Tree view panel
The product tree view panel contains information about products and items under the product in form of a parent-child relationship through which the system knows which items are considered elements of the product.
In one product library, many products can be configured, and they may share or not share configuration with each other. Assets are stored in a product library, therefore if the same assets are used in many products, it's logical to keep them in the same library. Occasionally, this can mean that you have to upload assets again to another product library.
You will place many items here that are further explained in the introduction to parts and property sets. You can find more information how to manipulate the product tree from basic usage
The Item property view panel
For each item in the Product Tree view panel, the specific configuration parameters of that item will be listed and edited in the Item property view panel.
The panel content depends on the selected item on the Product Tree view panel. You can read about the specific properties from the Property set documentation
Product Menu bar
The Product menu bar contains controls for working with the products inside the selected library.
The Menu bar consists of the following items
- Regenerate Runtime Products
- View selected product
- Add a prebuilt component
- Status indicator
Note
The Product Menu bar is contextual and only items that you can use are available. For example "Open Webapp for 'product'" and "View 'product'" button are only available when a product is selected in the Product Tree view panel.
Library-level actions (Create, Delete, Replicate, History) are accessed from the Product Libraries list, not from the product tree toolbar.
Upload new asset
There are two ways to upload assets into a product library. Using the Upload new Asset button opens upload modal that permits you to upload assets into the configurator.
These assets are further explained in Introduction to content
Regenerate Runtime Products
For the time being, you will be heavily using this button. When ever you want to view some configuration in the 3D scene ("view 'product'" or 'Open Webapp for 'product'"), you need to regenerate runtime products and when using 'Open Webapp for 'product'' you need to also publish the product using the publish button on the product configuration view.
We recommend using View during development and regenerating runtime products before viewing the results.
Open Webapp for 'product'
With this button you will emulate production mode for product and view the Planner as a buyer would, without the website/e-commerce platform as container. The Planner will open in a new tab and will consume the whole browser window as it's not contained in a DIV element. If you have not selected a product in the product tree view, the button will not appear and if you havent published a product, the planner will not be able to load a configuration into view.
Note
The Open Webapp expects that a configuration is published and you will not see anything unless you've published a product. Also pay attention that you publish your configuration changes again after edits as this feature does not autoupdate
View 'product'
With this button you open 3D scene in the Manager to view the configuration settings, but not through production mode. This is very useful when configuring the products and setting up 3D parameters of parts, accessories and materials as you can view the outcomes, return to edit and view the outcomes. The button only appears if a product is selected in the product tree view
Note
View 'product' is useful for testing/staging. Remember to click on "Regenerate Runtime Products" between edits and View as otherwise no updates will show for you.
Status indicator
The status indicator will tell if an operation is on-going (spinner) or if the configuration is saved and is up-to-date.