---
alias: user-guide-attach-material
description: "This operation adds an existing material as a sub-material to another material, requiring specific setup conditions"
---

# Attach Material

:lock: Material.**Attach**

## Overview

This operation is used to add an existing **Material** as **Sub-Material** of another existing **Material**. As a naming convention, the **Material** being attached is referred to as **Sub-Material**, and the **Material** gaining the **Sub-Material** is referred to as Parent **Material**. The highest parent of the Parent **Material** is referred to as Top-Most of Parent **Material**.

## Setup

No special setup is required other than to meet the preconditions of the transaction.

## Preconditions

* Both the Parent **Material** and **Sub-Material** must exist and be Active.
* The **Sub-Material** must have the Qualification Count set to `0`.
* Both the Top-Most of Parent **Material** and the Top-Most of **Sub-Material** must have the CurrentTransferMaterial property set to `null`.
* For the Top-Most of both the Parent **Material** and **Sub-Material**:
    * The In Transfer Order Item must be empty.
    * The Pick List Item Count must be empty.
* The Parent and **Sub-Material** Package Count must be empty.
* The Top-Most of Parent **Material** and the **Sub-Material** cannot be On Hold Or In Transit or Dispatched or In Process or In Store.
* The Top-Most of Parent **Material** must be Queued or Processed.
* The **Sub-Material** to be attached must have the same state as the Top-Most of Parent **Material**.
* The **Sub-Material** must be at the same **Step** and **Facility** of the **Main Material**.
* The **Sub-Material** to be attached must not have a Parent.
* The **Sub-Material** (example: the **Material** being attached) cannot be associated with a **Resource**.
* Top-Most **Material** is not of type Consumable.
* Both the Parent and **Sub-Material** must have the same Primary Units and Secondary Units.
* If the **Sub-Material** to be attached has associated characteristics that are greater than `0` or `null`, then one of these conditions must be `true`:
    * The characteristics of the Top-Most of Parent **Material** is `0` or `null`.
    * The Material Characteristics set of the Top-Most of Parent **Material** match exactly (number, name, and value) the Material Characteristics of the **Sub-Material** to be attached.
* If the property Use Container Restrictions in the **Step** of the **Material** is `true`, the available containers will be the ones that match the restrictions applied by the context of that **Step**. For more information, see [[step-page#contexts-view|Contexts View]] or [[materialcontainertypecontext-st]].

    !!! note
	    The Container Used Positions must be less than the Container Max Usable Positions.

## Preconditions for Bulk

* In addition to the preconditions mentioned above, all Sub-Materials must:

    * Be attached to the same Parent **Material**.
    * Have the same Form.

## Sequence of Steps

The Attach Material wizard is called from the Details page of the selected **Material**. Depending on the current system status, the **Attach Material** button may be visible on the top ribbon or under the **More** actions button.

### Step 1

1. Select the **Material** you need.
2. Select **Attach**.
3. In the Attach Material wizard, select the **Material** to which the **Sub-Material** will be attached.
4. Specify whether for the **Sub-Material** you want to:
    * AssignMaterialToContainer - if **Sub-Material** has no Container.
    * TransferMaterialBetweenContainers - if **Sub-Material** has a Container.
    * DisassociateMaterialFromContainer - if **Sub-Material** has a Container.
5. In case the **Sub-Material** has future holds associated to it, it is necessary to define if these future holds should be copied into the **Main Material**.
6. Optionally, select whether to Bypass Material Form Validation For Siblings.
7. Select **Attach** to complete the operation.
8. The system will confirm that the **Sub-Material** was attached successfully to the main **Material**.

![Screenshot showing a system confirmation of attaching a Sub-Material to a main Material.](images/attach_material.png)