All nodes of the configuration hierarchy, such as plants, projects, changes, and so on, follow the same SmartPlant Foundation configuration lifecycle. Objects created at the plant level can be created, modified, and eventually either finished or canceled and terminated. However, because they already exist at the top level (plant), they cannot be merged.
Objects in a project can also be created, modified, and eventually finished or canceled and terminated. Since projects exist beneath the plant, objects in the project can be merged up to the plant level, if necessary.
The following diagram illustrates how objects can move between the plant and project levels (using claim and merge operations) as part of the lifecycle of the object.