Product State

This module gives each product a lifecycle status so you can tell at a glance whether an item is still in development, normal, at end of life or obsolete.

On the product form a status bar appears at the top of the page; clicking a state changes the product's status. The status is also shown as a column in the product list and can be used in the product search filters, including a group-by option.

States themselves are managed in a dedicated screen (kanban, form and list views). Each state has a name, a code, a description, a sequence for ordering, an active flag and a default flag. Only one state may be marked as default, and the code must be unique. A button on the state form shows how many products currently use that state and opens the list of those products.

Four states are installed by default: In Development, Normal (the default), End of Lifecycle and Obsolete. New products automatically receive the default state. A new security group, Product State Manager, is created to manage the state records; other users can only read them.