In reading about SCM (software configuration mgt, not supply chain mgt), I have seen mention of a "Bill of Materials" as a document provided with a build. What goes into the Bill of Materials document, and what is its purpose?
Is this a commonly used document?
SCM = Supply Chain Management? Software Configuration Management? Source Code Management? Please edit your question.
Regardless, a Bill of Materials generally referrers to a document that lists the parts and sub-parts that make up an "item" and if often a nested structure, that is, items are made up of other items, that are made up of still other items. The definition of item obviously varies from use to use, but by way of an example:
Car
1x Steering Wheel
2ft Leather
1 horn
4x Normal Wheels
1 Tire
1 Hub
7 Lug Nuts
1x Radio
In this example each of these lines are "items" but the Car item of made up of a Steering Wheel, 4 wheels and a radio. However, each wheel is made up of 1 tire, 1 hub and 7 lug nuts.
In Software Configuration Management the idea remains the same, but now you're listing the parts of software that make up the "package", and these software parts, may themselves have parts. Same idea, just a different defintion of "item."
It's an enumeration of each of the components in an installation module.