A "tag group" or "spec ID group" is the portion of an Object Tag or Spec ID before the first space, symbol or change from an alpha character to a number.  In some reports (notably some schedule formats) FF&EZ can automatically group objects into sections based on the Tag Group as a way of organizing the report.  Some functions (such as the Assign Supplier and Pricing Tool utilities) can use Spec ID groups to process a subset of specifications in one operation.

For instance, these tags:

CHR001

CHR002

CHR-1
CHR A-032

SEATING01

SEATING A12

SEATING-33a

...would be in the "CHR" and "SEATING" groups, respectively.  If you include symbols in your IDs, those that are valid for creating these groups are the space character or any of these: 

- . _ 

The length of the prefix does not matter and can vary from one group to the next within a project, so prefixes can be flexible. 

Note: You should avoid using the following symbols in tags or spec IDs (also project IDs):

  \ / : * ? " < > |

This is because some IDs can be used to automatically create Windows file names. These characters are illegal in file names so FF&EZ will substitute an underscore ("_")  or exclamation point ("!") symbol if they are used to create one, which may cause confusion. 

For any particular tag or spec ID, the group is defined when either 1) a numeral first occurs after an alphabetic character or 2) when the first space or punctuation symbol occurs.  So, a tag like this: "CHRA-001" would defined as being in the "CHRA" group, not "CHR." If you wanted to create only a "CHR" group, format this type of tag like this instead: 

CHR-A-001
CHR-A-002
CHR-B-001, etc.

Exception: If you begin a tag or Spec ID with numbers (such as a numerical sorting prefix), FF&EZ will include these in the prefix, with the other rules still applying as described above. So these tags:

1STG-001
1STG-002

2ART-001
2ART-002
2ART-003

...would create the "1STG" and "2ART" groups, in which the groups would sort in the order that you see. 

If you have more than 9 numerical groups, you must pad the sorting prefix with leading zeros (e.g., "01STG" and "02ART" and "12MISC"). Otherwise, the tags won't sort in the order you expect.

Note, however, that if you insert a space or punctuation after the initial numbers, you will create numerical groups:

01 STG-001
01 STG-002

02 ART-001
02 ART-002
02 ART-003

...are in the "01" and "02" groups. 

If only numbers are used, the usual rules apply when the system "sees" the first space or symbol: 02.123, 02 456, etc. are in the "02" group.

For some reports, notably the "Materials Reference" report, the same approach is used to organize Spec IDs in "Spec ID groups."