Additional fields setup

Drawing Schematics, Hierarchical Design, BOM, Exporting net-lists, etc.
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jgmdesigns
Posts: 66
Joined: 18 Oct 2012, 15:09

Additional fields setup

#1 Post by jgmdesigns » 10 Feb 2020, 05:40

Hello!

Is there a way to tell Diptrace to add an additional field in ALL components by default?

I would like to add the additional field "DIGIKEY P/N" to every component by default, but it seems I have to manually add this to every component on the fly, or wait till the end and do an "apply to all' bu that means I will have to go back over every component to insert the Digikey Part number.

So, in summary, is there a way to configure Diptrace's properties panel defaults?

Thanks
Jim

Tomg
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Re: Additional fields setup

#2 Post by Tomg » 10 Feb 2020, 11:54

Yes, one library at a time. It will help to keep the Component Properties dialog window's Additional Fields display open before diving into the following procedure...

1) In the Component Editor, select the desired library.
2) In the main menu click on "Component" and choose "Default Additional Fields..." at the bottom of the drop-list to bring up the Default Additional Fields dialog window.
3) In the Default Additional Fields dialog window the currently-open library's existing fields will not be displayed, so be careful while performing the next step. (This is why you should have the Component Properties dialog window's Additional Fields display open.)
4) In the Default Additional Fields dialog window enter the new field(s) to be added. Click on the [Add] button to get each new field ready to be appended to the currently-selected library. Note: Every field being displayed by this dialog window is going to be appended to the existing list, so watch out for any unwanted pre-existing fields before performing the next step.
5) Continuing in the Default Additional Fields dialog window, click on the [Add to All] button to execute the global append operation. The new fields should now be appended to the bottom of the Component Properties dialog window's Additional Fields display for every component in the currently-selected library.
6) Before resaving the currently-open and newly-changed library, scroll through the component list while observing the Component Properties dialog window's Additional Fields display to see if what you just did is acceptable. If everything looks fine to you, resave the currently-open library (Ctrl + S).

If you need to change the field order for all components in a library in one shot, you will have to perform a search-and-replace using a capable text editor on that library's exported DipTrace ASCII file. When that is complete, the edited library file will have to be carefully imported back into the Component Editor (another task with potential "gotchas").
Tom

jgmdesigns
Posts: 66
Joined: 18 Oct 2012, 15:09

Re: Additional fields setup

#3 Post by jgmdesigns » 10 Feb 2020, 13:38

So I need to go to EVERY component in the library and change EACH one for each category? Holy S*** that has to be the most inefficient thing I have ever come across in a software package.

Just for the sake of kicks and giggles I tried to modify a part in the DISCRETE library. I get an error saying "Changing libraries in standard folder is forbidden! Please choose another destination or library"

So much for that idea.

So I am stuck with having to enter things manually several times, EVERY time, for EVERY component. THat really stink.

Oh well.

Thank you for trying.

JIm

Tomg
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Re: Additional fields setup

#4 Post by Tomg » 10 Feb 2020, 14:39

Sorry. I didn't realize you were trying to modify standard DipTrace libraries, which isn't allowed. Just place a copy of the standard library you wish to modify into the User Components group before making any changes to it. After that, you can use your modified custom libraries in your designs.
Tom

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KevinA
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Joined: 18 Dec 2015, 08:35

Re: Additional fields setup

#5 Post by KevinA » 10 Feb 2020, 20:49

As an alternative I copied the Program Files/Diptrace/lib folder to another drive, in an open CMD window (DOS Box) attrib -R Lib\* /S
Then with component editor Library/Library Setup Add a new Group the in the Group Libraries open Lib, select all the libraries, click OK and save
Now using Default Additional Fields when you add a field to EVERY library with one click.
You can/could replace the files in Program Files\Diptrace\Lib but during upgrades they are over written and you would have to do it again..

Tomg
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Re: Additional fields setup

#6 Post by Tomg » 11 Feb 2020, 11:10

You may have already tried this, but if you only need it to be schematic-file-specific...

1) Open the desired schematic and select/highlight one of the components.
2) In the Parts: box at the upper-right side of the screen, click on the Additional... [...] button to bring up the Additional Fields dialog window.
3) In the Additional Fields dialog window click on the [Add] button, set the Name: to "Digikey", clear the Default Value: (make it blank), set Apply To: "All Components" and click on OK. This will add the "Digikey" category to all schematic components.
4) Now, to enter a Digikey part number for a component you will need to open its Additional Fields window, find the "Digikey" category and type the part number into the data field. If you set Apply To: "Similar Name Component" before clicking on OK, that same part number will also be placed into the "Digikey" data field of every other component having an identical name. This can save some data entry time assuming, of course, that components having the same name should have identical Digikey part numbers.
5) Resave the schematic after you have finished making all of the needed entries. This will not change anything in the component library files.

Variation on a theme...
1) Open the desired schematic.
2) Select/highlight one complete set of identical components and, in the Parts: box at the upper-right side of the screen, click on the Additional... [...] button to bring up the Additional Fields dialog window.
3) In the Additional Fields dialog window click on the [Add] button, set the Name: to "Digikey", enter the Digikey part number into the Default Value: field, set Apply To: "Selected Components" and click on OK. This will add the "Digikey" category with the newly-entered part number to all of the selected/highlighted schematic components.
4) Repeat steps 2 and 3 above as needed for any remaining components.
5) Resave the schematic. Again, this will not change anything in the component library files.
Tom

jgmdesigns
Posts: 66
Joined: 18 Oct 2012, 15:09

Re: Additional fields setup

#7 Post by jgmdesigns » 12 Feb 2020, 04:04

Thanks for the work arounds, and I will implement them. But it seems counter productive to not allow configuration of the software regarding adding fields to default directory components. Especially since the software allows for the creation of BOMs the ability to tell the software that for all schematics EVERY component should include an additional field for distributor part number...or multiple for that matter so the assembly house can order accordingly.

Sigh,

Thanks again for the ideas

JIm

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