Nicknames

Purchasing uses the term "nicknames" to refer to shortened or alternate versions of a software or manufacturer/vendor name.

Software nicknames map application names to license units in the CAM Database.

Manufacturer/Vendors nicknames allow you to normalize manufacturers/vendors entered in the purchasing interface to manufacturers/vendors represented in the CAM Database.

Nicknames generally come into use when you import purchasing data from a spreadsheet or when you manually enter an order or line item and use a name other than the official name for a given entity.

for example, say you entered a purchase order that included some software from Microsoft. When you entered the line item, you typed "MS OFF STD 2007" instead of spelling out each word. But when the inventory process in CAM Administrator next ran, it found a license unit for the same application and version, but with the official name. You could use a nickname to associate "MS OFF STD 2007" with "Microsoft Office 2007 Standard".

To "map" nicknames to the official names that are used in the CAM Database, use the options in the Preferences panel. You can create and edit nicknames there, as well as delete existing, unused nicknames.