Public and private properties. Property Tables.

In OpenBOM, a BOM Property is a data attribute, for example, Part Number, Quantity, Description. Think of a BOM property the same way you would a column header in a spreadsheet.  

There are two kinds of properties:

Public.  All properties defined as Public can be used by you all other registered OpenBOM users.  Public properties cannot be duplicated. That is to say, a Public property once created, for example, “Supplier Type” can be used by any other registered OpenBOM user.  Anyone trying to create a new property with the name “Supplier Type” will be notified that particular property already exists.

Lets restate the function of Public properties:  Only the Property name and type are Public, NO DATA IS EVER MADE PUBLIC.  A “Public property” ensures that you can share and combine BOM conveniently as the property types will be common amongst the BOMs

Private. A unique property (i.e., not a Public property) defined by a registered OpenBOM user in a private “Property Table” and is available only to that user or another registered OpenBOM user the Property Table is shared with.

Recently, OpenBOM improved the Templates behavior which allow you to pre-define a set of Properties which appear in every new BOM.  The Template option is on the Create BOM (or Part Catalog) dialogs.

OpenBOM is in the process of redesigning the Property management methods to make them more discoverable and friendly.  

Read more about property tables here.