A workspace can be perceived as a set of independent ‘copies’ of workspace revisable database objects. A workspace is thus an area in the database that provides a snapshot of all objects in the database. Objects that are subject to approval can be maintained within one workspace without affecting the snapshot in other workspaces.
The data in STEP is logically divided in to 'workspaces.' Standard STEP installations come with two workspaces which are named Main and Approved. The Main workspace represents unapproved revisions of the data and the Approved workspace represents approved revisions of the same data.
Hence, the Main workspace serves as an area for acquiring and maintaining data and the relation between data. Importing, enriching and categorizing data is done in the Main workspace. The Approved workspace stores data revisions that are deemed fit for production purposes - data that is ready to be published / exported to third-party systems.
The transition of data revisions from the Main workspace to the Approved workspace is referred to as Approval. Approvals can be performed manually or programmatically.
Data revisions that are approved will be marked as 'Approved' in the Main workspace. If approved data changes in the Main workspace e.g., is edited by a user, it becomes unapproved and must be re-approved to have the latest data made available in the Approved workspace. Hence, validation of data prior to approval becomes of main concern.
Workspaces are maintained in System Setup > Workspaces.
Important: Data maintained in System setup, such as attributes, LOVs, units, and so forth are valid for all workspaces. Objects that are not subject to approval appear identically in all workspaces.
Standard Workspaces
There are two standard workspaces:
- Main
- Approved
The following describes the basic workspace types:
|
Workspace |
Description |
Example |
|---|---|---|
|
Main |
Maintenance area (editable) |
Used as a the standard maintenance area for objects. |
|
Approved |
Approved area (uneditable) |
Used for objects that have been formally approved and are ready for e.g., translation or publishing. Objects are copied to the Approved Workspace from the menu option: Object >Approve object, or automatically upon system approval events. |
Note the following:
- The Approved and Main workspace are system defined workspaces and cannot be deleted or modified. A system can only hold one Main workspace and one Approved workspace.
- Data in different workspaces can be synchronized.
- 'Externally Maintained' attributes do not need approval. The values get populated in the Approved workspace as soon as the value is added / edited in the Main workspace.