Using Categories to Manage Product Variants in Jama Connect®

Published Date: January 1, 2025
Validated: Yes
Audience: Everyone

Products Applicable: 

• Jama Connect®

Summary

This article explains how to use Categories in Jama Connect® to manage product variants effectively. It describes a structured approach for defining products, establishing variants, and applying category hierarchies to support traceability and variant management across requirements and related artifacts.

Resolution

Step 1: Define a Product

Begin by creating a product project in Jama Connect® that includes all requirements, tests, and traceability links.

Variation in this context may come from:

• Regulatory requirements across different markets
• Customer-specific requirements
• Different component configurations
• Feature-level configuration differences

When variation becomes necessary due to one or more of these factors, proceed to define variants.

Step 2: Define Variants

Identify the variants you need to manage within the product.

Examples include:

Market-based variants

• US
• Canada
• EU
• China

Customer-based variants

• Customer A
• Customer B

Product configuration variants

• Compact Car Easymove
• Easymove Plus
• Easymove Premium

Feature-based nesting example

• Compact Car Easymove → ADAS
  • Blind Spot Detection
  • Lane Departure Warning

Step 3: Create Variant Categories

Work with an Organization Administrator to:

• Enable Categories in Jama Connect®
• Create and configure category trees
• Define which projects the categories are visible in

Important notes:

• Categories are currently managed at the Organization level
• Project-level category administration is planned for future releases
• Visibility is controlled at the top node of the category tree and applies to all child categories
• It is recommended to scope visibility to specific projects rather than global usage for this use case
• Enable Categories in relevant views (including Reviews where applicable)

You may need multiple category trees depending on your variation strategy (e.g., market variants vs feature variants).

Step 4: Apply Variant Categories to All Items

Apply categories consistently across the product hierarchy to ensure accurate filtering and traceability.

Recommended approach:

1. Apply categories manually to top-level requirements (e.g., customer or regulatory requirements)
2. Create a filter to identify downstream items missing the category
3. Select filtered items and apply the category in bulk
4. Repeat until all items in the hierarchy are categorized

Note:
If more than 50 items exist, they must be selected in pages. Bulk select-all beyond 50 items is not currently supported.

Ensure the project has complete traceability for best results.

Feature Categories

Adding Feature Categories to Items

For feature-based modeling, create a nested category structure in which feature categories are nested under variant categories.

Example structure:

• Variant: Easymove Plus
  • Feature: ADAS
    • Blind Spot Detection

When using this structure:

• Apply both the variant category and feature category to each item
• Relying only on inherited visibility will not apply the category at the item level
• Items must have explicit category assignment to appear in filters

To correct missing assignments:

• Select items from the category view
• Apply the missing variant category directly

Note: Feature-only assignment is not sufficient for filtering unless explicitly applied.

Adding Features to Variants

To assign features to variants:

1. Use an “All Features” category tree
2. Drag and drop features into the desired variant category
3. The category is copied to the variant and applied to associated items

To remove a feature from a variant:

• Drag it back to the “All Features” category tree
• Confirm merge when prompted

Important notes:

• Categories cannot be deleted while associated with items
• Moving categories is the supported method for removal
• Manual cleanup may be required if variant categories were previously applied to items

Additional Resources 

• Success Programs
• Success Catalog
• Datasheets
• Request a Solution Offering or Training from the Success Catalog

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