Overview
Mobaro Assets can have parent/child relationships. Every Asset can have one parent Asset and any number of children, forming a tree under each Location. The hierarchy is the one grouping of Assets that you define yourself.
This article covers how the tree works, where to see it, how to set and change an Asset's parent, and how to design a hierarchy that scales. For creating an Asset, see Create an Asset.
At a glance |
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Who can do this | Super Users, or a Role with Assets › Administrate — at Locations where you're a member. Moving between Locations needs this at both. |
Where | Locations › Assets, or Locations › select a Location › Assets |
Works on | Backend (web). Creating and moving Assets is also possible through the Public API. |
Availability | All organizations |
💡 Why this matters: A hierarchy lets you mirror your operational structure. A roller coaster has an electrical system; the electrical system has control panels; the control panels include individual MCC units. Modelling that makes large Asset libraries easy to scan and gives every piece of equipment an obvious place.
The hierarchy doesn't cascade to work
Selecting a parent Asset as the target of a Schedule or Assignment doesn't include its children. If you target Control Panels, the Schedule applies only to Control Panels itself, not to MCC1, MCC2 or any other child Asset under it.
🛑 Critical: To run a Checklist on every Asset in a branch, select each Asset as a target on the Schedule. The hierarchy is for organization and navigation, not for choosing targets. Otherwise inspections you expect on child Assets never reach anyone. See Asset-driven Assignments and Schedules.
How parent/child relationships work
Each Asset has three relationships that define its place in the tree:
Location: the one Location the Asset belongs to.
Parent: optional; another Asset at the same Location. Top-level Assets have no parent and sit directly under the Location.
Children: Assets that have this Asset as their parent. Each child is a separate record with its own details, work and history.
An Asset's parent must be at the same Location, so you can't link Assets at different Locations into one tree. Two counts show throughout the Backend: Children (direct children only) and Descendants (every Asset below it, all the way down).
Where to see the hierarchy
1. Tree view
Go to Locations, select a Location and click Assets. You see the Location's Assets as a tree: expand a parent to see its children, and click an Asset to open its details on the right. The toolbar has Create, Delete and Move.
2. List view
Locations › Assets lists the Assets you have access to, with columns including Name, Location, Parent, Children and Descendants. Use it to audit the structure across Locations and find Assets without a parent.
Set or change an Asset's parent
When you create an Asset: in the tree, select the Asset (or the Location) that should be its parent and click Create. To create a top-level Asset, select the Location itself.
To reparent an existing Asset: select it and click Move. In Move asset to another location or asset, select the new parent, which can be the Location or an Asset under it, and click Confirm. Mobaro shows The asset was successfully moved.
⚠️ Heads-up: A move takes the Asset's whole branch with it, and doesn't change which Schedules target it. You can't move an Asset under itself or one of its own descendants, and RideOps Assets can't be moved. Moving to another Location also moves the Assets' Assignments to that Location; see Linking Assets to Locations.
To delete an Asset: select it and click Delete. Mobaro tells you how many descendant Assets will be deleted with it.
🛑 Critical: Deleting an Asset also deletes all of its descendants, and it can't be undone. To keep the children, move them to another parent first.
Design a hierarchy that scales
Mirror how your team talks about the equipment. If a maintenance lead would say "the MCC1 control panel on Galaxy Coaster's electrical system", the tree should follow that path:
Galaxy Coaster (Location)
→ Electrical System (top-level Asset)
→ → Control Panels (child of Electrical System)
→ → → MCC1, MCC2, OCC1 (children of Control Panels)
Keep the depth useful. There's no fixed limit, but past three or four levels the tree gets hard to navigate. Many hierarchies work well with three: System › Subsystem › Component.
Make leaves the smallest tracked unit. An Asset with no children should be the smallest thing you inspect, repair or report on individually. Going finer adds naming and maintenance overhead.
Categories and other groupings
Besides the hierarchy, each Asset has Category, Manufacturer and Model fields. You choose their values from lists that Mobaro maintains; you can't add your own values. See Understanding Asset fields and properties.
For groupings that cut across the tree, such as "all electrical Assets in the park", use a consistent naming convention (for example, an EL- prefix), and repeat the same branch structure across similar Locations so similar Assets sit in similar places.
Best practices
Sketch the hierarchy before you build it, with input from operators, maintenance and leadership.
Use the same structure for analogous rides or facilities, so anyone who works on both finds things in the same place.
Give Assets distinct names even under different parents (Track Eddy Brakes, Electrical Eddy Brakes); Mobaro allows duplicates, but they cause confusion in lists and reports.
Don't try to model several groupings (by ride, by manufacturer, by maintenance interval) in one tree; use the Asset fields and naming for those.
After restructuring, check the Schedules that target the moved Assets.
Frequently asked questions
How do I change the parent of an asset?
Select the Asset in the tree or in Locations › Assets and click Move. Pick the new parent — the Location or an Asset under it — and confirm. The Asset's children move with it. RideOps Assets can't be moved.
Can I move an asset to a different location?
Yes, in the Backend with Move: switch the Location field to the new Location and pick the new parent. You need Assets › Administrate at both Locations. See Linking Assets to Locations.
I need to create 60 child assets (seats 1–60). Is there a quick way?
Not in the asset tree, which creates Assets one at a time. For many Assets, use the Public API, which creates one Asset per call. See Bulk imports and API access for Assets.
Can I group assets by category?
Yes, but only with the values Mobaro provides: each Asset has a Category field, plus Manufacturer and Model. You can't create your own categories. The hierarchy and naming conventions are how you group Assets your own way.
How do I see the asset tree?
Go to Locations, select a Location and click Assets. To see the parent of every Asset across Locations, use Locations › Assets and its Parent, Children and Descendants columns.