Page 1 of 1

replacing properties of identical parts?

Posted: 18 Oct 2018, 09:47
by rustygutter
This has probably been answered before, but I could not find anything that exactly matched my situation (which I realize may mean a bad search on my part since this would seem to be a common issue?).

Let me start by saying all parts in my schematic have a custom (manufacturer-specific, not supplier-specific) "PartNumber" so that I could export a BOM usable directly for Digikey ordering. I also try to fill in the standard Manufacturer and Datasheet fields since it is VERY useful to be able to pull up a datasheet for a suspect part this way.

So here's my situation: I have a number of capacitors that are now unavailable at either Digikey or Mouser. I can find replacements of the same size, so all I need to do is a bulk replace of the custom "PartNumber" (and std manufacturer and datasheet) fields of matching parts.

I see that I can select multiple components on a sheet and clicking in a field of the top-right 'Parts:' menu brings up a spreadsheet by which I can edit <certain> properties of all selected parts on the given page. Not visible in the spreadsheet are Datasheet and Manufacturer! So I seem to have to edit these manually on a per-part basis!

I can select multiple parts and do an update from library, but I don't have a library part for each value of 0603 capacitor, so this method does not work. Normally (for example) I simply place "CAP 0603" multiple times and edit the property fields as necessary to customize to exact value, manufacturer, partnumber, etc.

I could create a custom library part for each newly-sourced capacitor and then do a "Replace Part...", but I am stuck doing this for each part individually since when I select multiple parts, only the first one is updated. Doing this for 50+ parts is PAINFUL!

Is there an <easy> way to update several properties of multiple parts?

Maybe I have the wrong workflow in the first place? Any suggestions welcomed.

Ted

Re: replacing properties of identical parts?

Posted: 28 Nov 2018, 14:40
by fi2eewill
Hi Ted,
Not sure if this is relevant for you anymore, here is my 2 cents.
I don't think there is a way around manually editing individual components fields with your current workflow. For that and other reasons, I maintain a custom library with all projects parts that I have created as I need them. When I first migrated to DipTrace, I had ZERO parts. Similar to other CAD tools, DipTrace comes with extensive library support which is helpful. However, if I need 0603 CAP, I would copy that part to my own custom library and modify its symbol (optional) and verify footprint for a minimum. Now, creating 10x different value 0603 CAP is piece of cake. Yes , it does take a little more effort upfront but the return on investment is huge in terms of time savings more importantly avoiding problems down the road.

Now a workaround for you can be like this...

1. Start Component Editor
2. Duplicate the old part
3. Modify the fields of interest for the NEW part.
4. Save library, can be a temporary library just for the purpose of updating parts

5. Open Schematic Capture
6. Select OLD component(s) to be updated.
7. Right-click -> Replace Part...
8. Select the NEW part from library
9. Apply to: Selected Components

replace_part.jpg
replace_part.jpg (82.18 KiB) Viewed 188 times
The above can work for small designs. However, it can be time consuming when you are trying to find all "similar parts" on larger design.
Ideally, you want to select one OLD part, right click -> replace part -> select NEW part -> Apply to: Similar Name Components
Of course that requires you to maintain a parts library with unique names...


Cheers,
Fi2eewill