Create an item

Create items to store data

In CausewayOne Asset Management, data is stored as items.

Creating an item lets you store a set of values for the attributes defined by its design. In other words, the design is the concept, and the items created from it are implementations of that concept.

For example, the Litter Bin design below has attributes that define the characteristics of bins in general. The item beside it contains values for those attributes, which describe an actual bin.

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You can't create items directly from an interface. Instead, you can create items of designs that implement it.

Start the process

Most apps provide a quick way to create an item, whatever you're working on:

Boards app

To create a new item directly from the current board, select a column's Menu button and choose Create item .

Depending on the board, this lets you:

• create an item of the targeted design, or

• create an item of a design implementing the targeted interface

The Column attribute tracked by the board will be populated on the new item with the value represented by the column.

For example, the new job created below will have its Priority attribute set to "Medium".

Designer app

When editing a design or interface, select Create item in the app bar.

This lets you:

• create an item of the current design, or

• create an item of a design implementing the current interface

Data Explorer app

After creating a query in the Data Explorer app, the item results and their attributes are displayed as a table. To store a new row of attribute values for that table, select Create item in the bottom toolbar. If the button is hidden, open the Overflow Menu.

Depending on the current query, this lets you:

• create an item of the targeted design, or

• create an item of a design implementing the targeted interface

Afterwards, select Refresh data in the bottom toolbar to update the query tab.

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Alternatively, use a bulk action to create several activity items at once, against multiple selected items.

Hubs app

To create a new item from the current hub, select the Menu button beside a widget data point and choose Create item.

Depending on the data point's query, this lets you:

• create an item of the targeted design, or

• create an item of a design implementing the targeted interface

Where applicable, attributes are populated with values matching the query's conditions.

Lists app

To create a new item directly from the current list, open the List Menu in the app bar and choose Create item.

Depending on the list's query, this lets you:

• create an item of the targeted design, or

• create an item of a design implementing the targeted interface

Maps app

To create a new item while navigating the map, select Create item in the bottom-left corner. You can choose any design, regardless of which layers are turned on in the Layers panel.

Once the item is created, its details appear in a side panel. If it has geometry, the map also zooms to its location.

Item details

When viewing an item's details in any app, select Create item in a canvas section.

Depending on the section's query, this lets you:

• create an item of the targeted design, or

• create an item of a design implementing the targeted interface

Where applicable, some aspects of the new item may be set automatically.

For example, in the Jobs section below, select Create item to start creating a job for the current grass area. By default, the new job has the grass area as a parent and the same geometry. You can change both in the 3 Parents and 4 Item location steps of the Create Item process.

The Create Item process

Select a step to show its settings. Some fields are populated automatically, depending on where you started from, e.g. starting from the Designer app automatically selects the design you have open.

To proceed, complete all required steps and fields marked with an asterisk *.

1 Select a design

Fill in these fields:

• Design * - select the design of the new item. This determines the next steps: the attributes you can fill in, the parents you can link, and the geometry you can set.

  The available designs depend on where you started from. If you were working with an interface, only designs that implement the interface are listed.

• Collection * - select the collection the new item will belong to (usually Live by default). The selected design determines which are available. If set to Template, required attributes can be left blank on the new template item.

Alternatively, choose an item under From recently created to reuse its configuration. The new item will use the same design, collection, attribute values and geometry by default (but not parents). You can change any of these before selecting Create.

2 Item details

By default, item attributes are displayed in the order they were added to the selected design. Read-only and calculated attributes (e.g. Job Number) are hidden.

Alternatively, the layout and visibility of attributes are determined by an item form, which can also show read-only data. If any item forms exist for the selected design, the most suitable one is used. To use another, select the Item form button.

Some attributes may be populated with a default value. Required attributes are marked with an asterisk * and must have a value to continue. The only exception is creating a template item (those attributes will be required when creating a new item from it).

Select an attribute field to edit its value. Depending on the attribute type, enter a value directly into the field, or use the specialised picker to choose one or more values.

Attribute types

Icon	Type	Description	Input Method
	AQS	Store an AQS query in JSON format	Build a query in the AQS Builder
	Date	Store a date value, e.g. 30 April 2024	Select a value with the calendar picker
	Date Time	Store a date and time value, e.g. 2 July 2025 13:30:00	Select a value with the calendar picker
	Geometry	Store geometry coordinates in GeoJSON format	Draw points, lines or polygons using the Geometry Editor
	JSON	Store JSON code	Type into a fullscreen JSON Editor
	Link	Store the IDs of items of a specific design/interface	Select one or more items with the item picker or map picker
	Number	Store a number value, e.g. 256, 3.1415	Type directly into the field
	Seasonal	Store a date without a year, e.g. 25th December	Select a value with the calendar picker
	Text	Store a text value, e.g. I love managing my assets with Causeway	Type directly into the field
	Time	Store a time value e.g. 14:20:55	Select a value with the calendar picker
	Yes/No	Store a boolean value, e.g. true or false	Toggle the field to enable or disable it

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If the item form includes any attributes covered by other steps (e.g. Geometry), their controls are read-only. This stops you accidentally setting two values and shows if the attribute has a default value.

3 Parents

You can link the new item to any number of parent items. This works by adding the new item to a compatible Link attribute on the parent.

For example, you're creating a bin item. It's located at the Jephson Gardens site. The Grounds Site design has a Link attribute pointing to the Assets interface, which is implemented by the Litter Bin design. Therefore, you can add a parent-to-child relationship from the site item to the bin item, via that attribute.

Select Add parent and fill in these fields:

• Design * - choose from the list of designs containing a compatible Link attribute.

• Attribute * - choose a Link attribute on the design.

• Item * - choose an item of the design to be the parent, using the item picker or map picker.

Select Add to finish.

If you start the process from an existing item, that item is automatically added as a parent, e.g. creating a job from an asset.

Select an existing parent to edit its relationship. To remove a parent, select its Remove button.

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When creating an activity, if you add another activity as a parent, its parent asset will automatically be added as a second parent.

For example, you're creating a job to resolve a defect. If you add the defect as a parent, the new job will automatically get the defect's asset as another parent.

4 Item location

To set the new item's geometry, select Set location. Use the Geometry Editor to draw the geometry on the map or supply coordinates. This may be a point, line or polygon, depending on what the selected design allows.

If the field has an asterisk *, the selected design (or an interface it implements) has the Requires geometry property enabled. Therefore, a value must be supplied, unless Collection is set to Template or Inventory.

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When creating an activity, if you leave this step blank, the activity will automatically inherit the geometry of its parent.

Finish the process

After completing the relevant steps for your item, select Create to finish. A notification indicates whether the item was created successfully or failed due to an error.

The new item's details are displayed. To open the item in a new browser tab, select Open item in the notification. Every setting you've configured can be changed later, except for the item's design.

Create multiple items

To keep creating similar items, enable Create another before selecting Create. The process remains open, letting you adjust the current configuration as needed for the next item.

There are several other ways to create multiple items:

• To create activity items for multiple existing items, perform a bulk action in the Data Explorer app.

• For more complex scenarios, you can build workflows that perform Create actions according to various conditions. These can be triggered automatically or on demand. See Workflows in Asset Classic.

• If you need to create lots of items, consider storing the attribute data in a CSV file and importing it. See Gateway in Asset Classic.