In
ContactsLaw, every
product has a unique alphanumeric
product code, which is the concatenation of the owning
workgroup's
product code prefix (a prefix that may be shared among several workgroups) and a number which is unique to that prefix.
| An example of a product code is LIT-00500, where LIT is the prefix for the Litigation workgroup and 500 is the product number. |
ContactsLaw will automatically assign product numbers in multiples of 100 - this is to allow insertions in situations where the order of products is important. Products are generally displayed in the order of their codes within the program.
If the owning workgroup's prefix is changed, ContactsLaw will check to ensure that product codes remain unique. Changing a product's workgroup, therefore, changes its code.
Careful consideration should be paid when initially assigning product codes; best practice guidelines suggest ordering the products which are most likely to be billed first, roughly in chronological order of their occurrence over the file's lifespan.