Attributes are used to determine different properties or characteristics of an object and can be beneficial for grouping and finding data with specific characteristics. There are three attribute types that can be used in Resource Management. Attribute type Resource, Shift and Scheduling determine on what object they can be used. There are system defined attributes that come with the installation as well as the possibility to create user-defined ones. Attributes and connected attribute values are created in Resource Attribute Manager. Attribute type Resource and Scheduling
There are System defined scheduling attributes allowed to use in the Shift template or directly at the Shift level. If the user defines these attributes in the Shift template or shift level, it is getting priority over the values defined in the Scheduling resource page for that shift or date range. For example, the user defines Cost per KM as 10 in Scheduling Resource page for the selected resource. Then In the Shift level define that parameter as 8 only for the selected two days. When sending data to DSE (Dynamic Scheduling Engine) it uses 8 as the Cost per KM for the defined two days and applies 10 for other days. All other Scheduling related parameters are working in a similar way. Parameters like Address Start, Address End, Snap Time, and Overtime are used for Dispatch Console when visualizing relevant values in the same way according to priority.
There is a System defined Resource attribute for regions, that can be used in resource Attributes. This parameter can be used to define region availability for resources that use either Automatic Scheduling (DSE) or Manual Scheduling (Dispatch Console). If the user defines these attributes on the Resource Attributes tab, it will take precedence over the regions defined in the Scheduling resource region page. For example, if the user defines a Region on Resource attributes with a validity period, regions defined in the Scheduling Resource Regions page will be replaced by the Region Attribute for the selected resource within that date range. It follows the same principle when sending data to DSE and visualizing regions in Dispatch Console. This also applies if the region is defined as an attribute without a validity period, as the system then considers the validity period to be from the current date to the end of the scheduling window. Note: If a user that uses Automatic Scheduling, has a requirement to specify a validity period for a resource region without using availability patterns, it is recommended to define a validity period in the same line itself on the Scheduling Resource Regions basic data form.
If a resource relocation is created with region, the relocated region will be defined as a resource attribute with the validity period as the relocation period. As stated earlier, the relocated region will preside over the basic region data for that resource during the relocation period.