Administer > Time Period management > Time period configuration tasks > Configure time period categories

Configure time period categories

You use time period categories to manage the data structures of different kinds of time period definitions. You can create new categories, and update or remove existing ones.

Category types

All categories fall into a set of types defined in globallist timeperiodCategoryTypes based on the codes table. The out-of-the-box types are described in the following table. You can configure the types to suit your needs.

Type Description
Maintenance Window Maintenance period.
Neutral Information period.
Freeze Period Blackout period.

Category workflows

Each category has an associated workflow, which is created for the timeperiodDefinition table. Before creating a time period, make sure you have already created a workflow for it. For details, see Configure a time period workflow.

Category configuration

To create a new time period category, follow these steps:

  1. Click Time Period Management > Configuration > Time Period Categories.

    The Time Period Categories search form opens.

  2. Click New.

    An ID is automatically assigned to the new category.

  3. Complete the following fields.

    Attribute Description Notes
    Id An automatically generated unique ID.  
    Type

    Select one from the pre-defined types. For example:

    • Maintenance Window
    • Neutral
    • Freeze Period
    • This is a mandatory field.
    • Cannot be changed as long as there are active time periods related to the category.
    Name A display name for the time period category.
    • This is a mandatory field.
    • Cannot be changed as long as there are active time periods related to the category.
    Workflow The workflow that is associated with this category. Time periods of this category will use this workflow.
    • A workflow created for the timeperiodDefinition table.
    Active Active flag. If the flag is set to false, the category will not be selectable when users create a new time period.  
    Color The color in which this time period category is displayed in the calendar.
    • Global List with predefined values as HTML color code
    Usage Condition

    A condition that allows the user an additional filtering on the categories. When a time period is created and this condition evaluates to false, the category is not selectable.

    To add a usage condition, Click Edit and then add a RAD expression in the Condition Editor.

    • Any RAD condition is acceptable.
    • Whether a user can use a category or not is also dependent on the Allowed Categories setting in the user's Security Role. For more information, see Time period security areas and roles.
    Description A description of the category.  
  4. Click Save.

    The new category is created.

To update an existing category, follow these steps:

Note You cannot rename a category if there are active time period definitions linked with it.

  1. Navigate to Time Period Management > Configuration > Time Period Categories.

    The Time Period Categories search form opens.

  2. Complete some fields to narrow down your search results or leave the fields empty, and then click Search.

  3. Select the category, and update its field values.

  4. Click Save.

To delete an existing category, follow these steps:

Note You can delete a category only when there are no active time period definitions linked with it.

  1. Navigate to Time Period Management > Configuration > Time Period Categories, and open the category.
  2. Click Delete.

Related concepts

Time Period Management
Time Period Management concepts
Time Period Management process
Time period workflow
Time period occurrences
Time period recurrence rules
Time period security areas and roles

Related tasks

Configure time period global settings
Configure a time period workflow
Configure time period approvals
Configure time period approval notifications
Calculate time period conflicts
Trigger an approval for time period conflicts
Configure time period conflict notifications for Change Management