Resource Types and the Attribute Library
Build the resource attribute library once, place attributes onto resource types, and choose whether each attribute applies to procurement, inventory or both.
A resource type is a definition of one kind of thing you supply or request. The type holds the fields that describe it, which are its attributes, and the library those attributes come from is shared across every type. This page explains how the library and types fit together and how to set one up.
The Attribute Library
An attribute is a single field with a name and a response type, such as a date, a number, a select list or a checkbox. Attributes are defined once for the organization in the attribute library, not inside each type. "Registration Expiration" exists one time and every truck type that needs it places that same attribute.
This is what makes fleet-wide questions answerable. Because every truck type uses the same attribute, one inventory table can show registration expirations across all trucks, whatever their type.
Sections and Placements
A type groups its attributes into sections, in the same way crew types do. Putting an attribute onto a type is called a placement, and each placement has its own settings.
Required makes the field mandatory. Procurement and Inventory control where the attribute is active, described below. Pricing lets an attribute drive cost: a Select or Checkbox attribute can set the variant or add a modifier to the price, and a Number attribute can act as the unit a type is priced by, such as miles.
Procurement and Inventory Use Cases
Each placement declares the places it applies. Procurement means the attribute is asked for when someone requests the resource. Inventory means it is recorded on the resources you own. An attribute can be active on one or both, but never neither.
This keeps forms honest. A maintenance log can be Inventory only, so account managers are not asked for it when they request a truck. A mileage figure for a haul priced per mile can be Procurement only, so a truck added to inventory does not need a mileage value and does not read as incomplete.
A required attribute that is active on Inventory blocks creating a resource until it is filled in, and blocks any edit that blanks it. Resources that were already blank keep saving.
Set Up a Resource Type
Open the resource library
Add attributes to the library
Create the type
On Types, choose Add type. Enter a name, the kind, the tracking type, a category, an icon and a color. The type opens in a full-page editor.
Place attributes
On the Attributes tab, add attributes from the library into sections, then set Required, Procurement, Inventory and Pricing for each one.
Add rate cards
Removing a placement, deleting its section, or changing its pricing away from Modifier asks for confirmation first when modifiers exist. Those modifiers are deleted.