Adopt a template strategy

In almost every case, it is best to base your elements on templates. You not only save time but also ensure that you have consistent definition across all of the elements based on that template. Any changes that you make to an element template are propagated to every element that is based on that template. A single template modification can alter hundreds of elements. This allows you to make changes to your model in a single place; you don't need to update every element.

You do not have to plan and create all your templates at once. A good approach is to start by modeling a single type of asset. Create a template for the asset type. Decide what data, calculations, and other properties you need to store for that type of asset. Each of these items requires an attribute template.

Base templates

Template usage can be very broad or very specific. A template can define a specific type of measurement device, such as a brand-name instrument, or it can be a broad-use template specifying a particular role, such as a liquid mass meter. Depending on how broadly you define the template, you might find that the list of attributes is slightly different for different subsets of assets. In this situation, consider using a base template (for more information, see Base and derived templates). The alternative is to use a different template for each asset subset.

Extensions

You can also set up element templates to include attributes (as well as ports) that are not defined or maintained by the template (for more information, see Learn about extensions). You can add simple, asset-specific attributes without the need to add them on all instances of the template.

Note: Categories, analyses and notifications are not affected by whether the Allow Extensions check box is enabled.