Published on Online Documentation for Altium Products (

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1 Published on Online Documentation for Altium Products ( Главная > Working with the Vaults Panel - Feature How-Tos Using Altium Documentation Modified by Jason Howie on May 24, 2017 Parent page: Working with an Altium Vault Altium Designer's Vaults panel provides a direct interface to your connected Altium Vaults. From the Vaults panel you can perform many activities, including: Create and manage the organizational structure used in the Vault. Create any number of Items, each representative of a design-side object. Review and manage the lifecycle of Item revisions. Interrogate the usage of a particular Item revision (Where-Used). Browse and manage supply chain information for Component Items. This page simply pulls together some tips, tricks, and cool functionality that may otherwise be missed amongst the feature-rich environment of the panel. Think of this page more as a 'crib sheet', presenting a collection of features that can really enhance your productivity when working with the Vaults panel. This page is by no means an exhaustive 'one-stop shop' of all that the Vaults panel has to offer. Many of its features are discussed elsewhere in the documentation, as part of dedicated documents pertaining to features and functionality relating to Working with an Altium Vault, specifically Working with Vault Components, and Managed Board Design Release. The Vaults panel provides the user interface to an Altium Vault, directly from within Altium Designer.

2 Changing the Working Vault The Vaults panel can only interface to one Altium Vault at a time. The field at the top-left of the panel indicates the currently open Vault - the Vault whose content you will be able to browse and modify. To select a different Vault, click the icon to the left of the Vault name (or on the Vault name itself), and choose a different Vault from those currently connected. Access controls for changing the working Vault. The current Vault appears in bold. All currently connected Vaults are presented on the Data Management - Vaults page of the Preferences dialog. And while you can only be signed in to one Altium Vault at a time, you can of course also be connected to legacy Vault technologies (Satellite Vault, Personal Vault, Altium Vault Server (v1.1, v1.2)), and of course, the Altium Content Vault. Folder Content Paging When you click on any folder within the Vault Folders structure region of the Vaults panel, the content of that folder will be split over a number of pages, where applicable to do so. This greatly decreases the folder's load time. Controls for browsing through the pages are presented at the topright corner of the Item listing, as illustrated in the subsequent image, and described thereafter. Paging, when enabled, is only applied where the content of a chosen folder exceeds the limit of Items for a single page, currently 150.

3 Paging of folder content speeds access to that folder, especially if it contains a sizeable number of Items. The following controls are available for browsing through the paged-content of a target folder: Control Description Page Forward - click once to step forward to the next page of folder content. Click repeatedly to step forward sequentially through subsequent pages of content. Page Back - click once to step back to the previous page of folder content. Click repeatedly to step backward sequentially through previous pages of content. Setup menu - click this control and use the Load all pages option on the associated menu to switch from folder paging (option disabled) to single content view (option enabled), the latter showing all Items in the chosen folder as a single-page list. Moving Folders and Items One or more Vault folders, or Items within a folder, can be quickly moved using the drag and drop technique: Folders - simply select the folder(s) to be moved (using standard Ctrl+click, or Shift+click techniques), then click, drag, and drop the selected folder(s) onto a different folder in the structure. Upon dropping, the folder(s) will become sub-folders of that target folder, slotted in alphabetically. Folders can also be moved to be top-level folders within the Vault structure. Simply drag and drop to free space beyond the last folder in the tree structure. Items - simply select the Item(s) to be moved (using standard Ctrl+click, Shift+click, or Ctrl+A techniques), then click, drag, and drop the selected Item(s) onto a different folder in the structure.

4 Quickly organize your Vault folders and Items using drag and drop functionality. Folders and Items can also be moved using the corresponding command available from the right-click menu (the command will reflect whether one or multiple folders/items are being moved). Launching a command will give access to a dialog in which to select the target folder under which the folder(s) should be moved under, or the Item(s) should be placed into, respectively. Deleting a Folder Vault data is valuable and cannot be recovered once it is deleted. For this reason you must first delete all included Items before you can delete the containing folder. Once that is done, you can delete the empty folder using the right-click Delete Folder command. Further streamlining the organization of your Vault folder structure, support is provided for deleting multiple empty folders in a single action: Selected Folder Deletion - simply select the empty folders (using standard Ctrl+click, or Shift+click techniques), then right-click on the selection and choose the Delete Folders command. Recursive Folder Deletion - delete a tree of empty folders using the right-click Delete Folder command at the parent folder level. Both the parent and all descendant child sub-folders will be included in the deletion.

5 Toggling Displayed Content Use the following controls, located at the right-hand end of the Address Bar, to configure what information is presented in the panel: - click to toggle display of the Revision Details region of the panel. - click to toggle display of the Vault Folders region of the panel. Tailor the presentation of information in the Vaults panel to suit your working preferences. Drag & Drop Placement Placement of certain Vault Items into a PCB design project in Altium Designer is streamlined with the ability to drag & drop revisions of these Item types onto the active (and applicable) document, directly from the Vaults panel. Support is available to drag: A revision of a Component Item onto the active schematic document (or PCB document). The applicable model for the chosen domain will appear floating on the cursor accordingly. A revision of a Managed Schematic Sheet Item onto the active schematic document. A sheet symbol that references the sheet will float attached to the cursor. A revision of a 3D Model Item onto a PCB or PCB Library document, creating a 3D Body object that references that Item Revision. Simply browse your Vault for the required Item to be placed. Placement involves a specific revision

6 of that Item, so be sure to expand the main Item entry to list all of its available revisions. Then simply click on the required revision and drag an instance of it onto the design document. Drag and drop the top-level entry for an Item itself, to place an instance of the latest revision of that Item. Drag & Drop places a single instance of the Item Revision. If you need to place multiple instances, right-click on the required Item Revision (or top-level Item entry for the latest revision) and use the Place command. An example of dragging the required revision of a Component Item from the Vaults panel...and dropping it onto the active schematic document. In addition, Altium Designer supports access to, and placement of Vault components from, the Libraries panel. For more information, see the section Placement from the Libraries Panel, in the page Working with Vault Components. As well as placement into a design, the panel also supports downloading a Binary File Item Revision using drag & drop. While holding Ctrl, click on the entry for a revision of a Binary File Item, then drag and drop to the target folder in your Windows Explorer. All files stored in that revision will be downloaded directly into that folder. Ctrl+click, drag and drop the toplevel entry for a Binary File Item itself, to download the files stored in the latest revision of that Item. Alternatively, select the file(s) to be downloaded directly in the list of files stored in the Binary File Item - from its Details aspect view. Once selected, hold Ctrl, and click, drag and drop, into the target folder in your Windows Explorer. Only the selected file(s) will

7 be downloaded. Batch Download of Items The Vaults panel supports the ability to select multiple Items in an Altium Vault, and have the source entities for those Items downloaded, en masse, into a newly created (and linked) single source library, or folder as applicable. The following Item types are supported by this feature: Symbol Items - with the symbols for the selected Items downloaded into a linked Schematic Library (*.SchLib). Footprint Items - with the 2D/3D component models for the selected Items downloaded into a linked PCB Library (*.PcbLib). Component Items - with the component definitions for the selected Items downloaded into a linked Component Library (*.CmpLib). Simulation Model Items - with the released data applicable to each Item in the selection (*.SimModel, *.mdl, *.ckt, *.scb) downloaded to a separate sub-folder. Batch Download of Symbol Items To download multiple Symbol Items: 1. Browse to the Vault folder containing the Symbol Items of interest. 2. Select the Items required for download, using standard multi-select controls (Ctrl+click, Shift+click). 3. Right-click on the selection and choose the Operations» Download selected symbol in library command. 4. Use the Choose destination file dialog to determine where, and with what name, the new Schematic Library file is to be generated. 5. Click Save - the SchLib will be created, with progress displayed in a dedicated Downloading dialog. Once the download is complete, the Downloading dialog provides the ability to explore the downloaded content within Windows Explorer (click Explore), or to open the library within Altium Designer (click Open).

8 Example download of multiple selected Symbol Items into a Schematic Library document. The document will be linked to the Vault and folder, and the source symbols within the library will be linked to the corresponding Items in that folder. Each source symbol is named using the linked Item's Comment field.

9 Resulting Schematic Library document with the downloaded symbols. Batch Download of Footprint Items To download multiple Footprint Items: 1. Browse to the Vault folder containing the Footprint Items of interest. 2. Select the Items required for download, using standard multi-select controls (Ctrl+click, Shift+click). 3. Right-click on the selection and choose the Operations» Download selected footprint in library command. 4. Use the Choose destination file dialog to determine where, and with what name, the new PCB Library file is to be generated. 5. Click Save - the PcbLib will be created, with progress displayed in a dedicated Downloading dialog. Once the download is complete, the Downloading dialog provides the ability to explore the downloaded content within Windows Explorer (click Explore), or to open the library within Altium Designer (click Open).

10 Example download of multiple selected Footprint Items into a PCB Library document. The document will be linked to the Vault and folder, and the source footprints within the library will be linked to the corresponding Items in that folder. Each source footprint is named using the linked Item's Comment field.

11 Resulting PCB Library document with the downloaded footprints. Batch Download of Component Items To download multiple Component Items: 1. Browse to the Vault folder containing the Component Items of interest. 2. Select the Items required for download, using standard multi-select controls (Ctrl+click, Shift+click). 3. Right-click on the selection and choose the Operations» Download selected component in library command. 4. Use the Choose destination file dialog to determine where, and with what name, the new Component Library file is to be generated. 5. Click Save - the CmpLib will be created, with progress displayed in a dedicated Downloading dialog. Once the download is complete, the Downloading dialog provides the ability to explore the downloaded content within Windows Explorer (click Explore), or to open the library within Altium Designer (click Open).

12 Example download of multiple selected Component Items into a Component Library document. The document will be linked to the Vault and folder, and the source component definitions within the library will be linked to the corresponding Items in that folder. Each source component definition is named using the linked Item's Item ID field.

13 Resulting Component Library document with the downloaded component definitions. Batch Download of Simulation Model Items To download multiple Simulation Model Items: 1. Browse to the Vault folder containing the Simulation Model Items of interest. 2. Select the Items required for download, using standard multi-select controls (Ctrl+click, Shift+click). 3. Right-click on the selection and choose the Operations» Download selected sim model to folder command. 4. Use the Browse For Folder dialog to determine the parent download folder for the models. 5. Click OK - the download will proceed, with progress displayed in a dedicated Downloading dialog. Once the download is complete, the Downloading dialog provides the ability to explore the downloaded content within Windows Explorer (click Explore).

14 Example download of multiple selected Simulation Model Items into a designated folder. Within the destination folder, a sub-folder for each Item in the selection will be created, named using the Item-Revision ID. The release data can be found in the Released sub-folder therein.

15 Accessing the data for a Simulation Model Item included in a batch download. Batch Lifecycle State Changes Related page: Item Lifecycle Management All of the design Items stored in your Altium Vault have a Lifecycle State. The lifecycle state is used to reflect the readiness of that Item for use, for example an Item might be New From Design, In Production, or Deprecated. The lifecycle state of multiple Items can be changed in a single batch process. To perform a batch change: 1. Select the required Items in the Vaults panel. 2. Right-click and choose the Operations» Change state command from the context menu. 3. The Batch state change dialog will open. The Next State column will default to the next (promoted) lifecycle state for each Item involved. This can be changed on an individual Item basis, but editing of multiple selected entries in the column is also supported, for quickly setting the required state across Items. 4. Once the Next State has been set as required, click the Process button to effect the lifecycle state changes. 5. A Confirm dialog will appear, enter a comment if required (this is stored as part of the Item History) and click Yes to complete the batch lifecycle state change.

16 An example of quickly changing the lifecycle state of multiple Component Items. Clickable URLs Further improving the usability of Altium Vaults, the Vaults panel supports clickable URLs. This functionality can be found in a variety of relevant areas, including: Clicking on a Component Item's ComponentLink parameter whose value is a URL, opening the target page in an external Web Browser. Clicking on a URL in the supply chain data for a Component Item, opening the target page in an external Web Browser. Clicking on a document in the Released Documents region - from the Preview aspect view for a revision of a PCB Fabrication Data Item, PCB Assembly Data Item, or PCB Project Design Item - to open that document. For Component Item parameters and Released Documents, this functionality is also available when viewing the full details for an Item, directly in Altium Designer. To access this view, right-click on the Item's entry in the Vaults panel, and choose Full Item History from the context menu. Clickable Component Parameter URLs For a released Component Item in an Altium Vault, the Preview aspect view presents each ComponentLink parameter pair in a meaningful way, with the ComponentLinknDescription and ComponentLinknURL parameters refactored into a single entry. In both the Component Library document, and the Component Properties dialog (for a placed component), these are presented as separate parameters. In the Vaults panel, they present in the format: ComponentLinknDescription (parameter Name) - ComponentLinknURL (parameter Value) Simply click a URL to open it in an external Web Browser.

17 The value for the ComponentLinknURL parameter can be a URL-link (starting or just an FTP-link, a link to a shared network folder, or a link to local folder. If the link is to a PDF document, that document will either open within the browser, or in an external PDF reader - in accordance with options configured for your browser. ComponentLink parameter pairs are refactored to display as ParameterName - ParameterValue in the Preview aspect view for a Component Item in the Vaults panel. Only URLs defined for ComponentLink parameter pairings are clickable. The HelpURL parameter and any standard parameter, whose value is a valid URL, will not present a clickable link in the Vaults panel. Clickable Supply Chain URLs Each released Component Item in an Altium Vault can have defined supply chain data, in the form of Part Choices. These are presented as Solutions in the Supply Chain aspect view. The actual supply chain intelligence - comprising Manufacturer (and part number), Supplier (and part number), Description, Pricing and Availability - is sourced from the Vault's local Part Catalog and the relevant Part Source (either the aggregate parts database of the Altium Parts Provider (which itself interfaces to, and gathers the parts from, enabled Suppliers), or a linked local parts database). For both the Manufacturer Part Number and Supplier Part Number, the part number itself is a URL to the Supplier's website. Si mply click a URL to open it in an external Web Browser.

18 Click to access a URL associated with a supply chain solution for a Component Item in the Vault. Clickable Released Document URLs After releasing a board design project - either the fabricated bare board (PCB Fabrication Data Item) or an assembled board (PCB Assembly Data Item) - you can open any of that design's documents. Simply browse to the applicable Item Revision in the Vaults panel, and switch to that revision's Preview aspect view. Then, in the Released Documents region, hover over a generated output document - the entry will turn blue and the cursor will change to a hand cursor, synonymous with

19 URLs. Click on one of these URLs to open that document. Those documents native to Altium Designer will be opened directly for viewing within Altium Designer. For non-altium Designer documents, such as output PDF files, or Excel-format BOMs, these will be opened directly in the relevant software application (provided it is installed). This functionality is also supported for the design source - released automatically into the next revision of the relevant PCB Project Design Item, when using the Project Releaser. Documents are opened for viewing in non-editable, Read-Only fashion. For individuallyopened schematic documents, a watermark is used to reinforce this fact. A document can also be opened for viewing by using the View command from the right-click context menu. Click to open a released document. Those document types that are not native to Altium Designer will be opened in their respective applications (where available). Support for Multi-Part Components When viewing the symbol for a multi-part Component Item, the Preview aspect view will present each part - each with its own distinct symbol graphic - as a separate tab. In addition, the Place menu will present a sub-menu of all applicable parts that can be placed for that Component Item.

20 Previewing Browse to the multi-part Component Item of interest, in the Altium Vault, and ensure the aspect viewing mode is set to Preview. Each distinct part's symbol can be browsed in the symbol viewing region. Simply click on a tab along the bottom to switch between parts. Browsing the parts of a multi-part Component Item, at the component-level. Double-click on the entry for the child Symbol Item to browse the constituent parts for the component at the symbol-level. Again, ensure the aspect viewing mode is set to Preview.

21 Browsing the parts of a multi-part Component Item, at the child symbol-level. Placing When placing a revision of a multi-part Component Item onto a schematic sheet, right-clicking on the revision's entry and hovering over the Place command on the menu, will present a sub-menu containing all parts for that component. Simply select the required part to place. If using the Vaults panel's drag and drop placement functionality, be aware that only the first part (Part A) for the component can be placed. A placement sub-menu offers all parts in the multi-part Component Item. Quickly Exploring to Downloaded Content The Vaults panel supports the ability to quickly navigate to content you have downloaded from an Altium Vault. Simply download content in the usual way, then, in the subsequent Download from Vault dialog that appears to confirm the download, click the Explore button.

22 Quickly explore to the content you download from an Altium Vault. Ability to Copy-Paste Vault Folder Structure Adding greater flexibility to the management of your Vault content, the Vaults panel provides the ability to copy and paste a folder (and its descendant structure). This essentially allows you to quickly clone areas of your Vault folder structure, which can prove a real time-saver when readying your Vault for a deluge of component data, for example, where structure is similar, with a parent folder and sub-folders for the various domain models. To use this feature: 1. Select a folder in your existing folder structure, whose structure you wish to copy. 2. Right-click and choose the Operations» Copy Folder Structure command from the context menu. 3. Select the folder under which you want the cloned folder structure to be pasted. 4. Right-click and choose the Operations» Paste Folder Structure command from the context menu. Once pasted, you can make adjustments to the cloned folder structure as required. You can only copy a single selected folder (and its descendant structure). The commands

23 will be unavailable if multiple folders are selected. Note that on paste, only the folder structure is pasted - Items within the copied folder structure are not copied. Remember that when pasting, two folders cannot have the same name in the same area of the folder structure. Trying to do so will result in a Duplicate Folder HRID error. And while the parent folder will not be pasted, its descendant structure will be, and at the top level of the folder structure. So if you are trying to quickly create a set of cloned folders under the same parent area of the 'tree', what you can do is paste the folder structure to another temporary area of the main Vault folder structure. Then simply rename the top level folder, make any other adjustments, then drag and drop back to where you really want the folder to be. Quickly build your Vault's folder structure with the ability to copy and paste branches of the structure. Item Revision Comparison Using the power of Altium Designer's native file format comparison technology, the Altium Vault supports the visual comparison of two revisions - of the same, or different Items - for a range of supported content types, directly from within the Vaults panel. Revisions of Items of the following content types can be compared: Component Item Symbol Item Footprint Item Managed Schematic Sheet Item Schematic Template Item

24 PCB Fabrication Data Item PCB Assembly Data Item PCB Project Design Item Within the Vaults panel, browse to the relevant folder, select the two Item-Revisions that you wish to compare, then right-click and choose Operations» Compare from the context menu. Comparing Two Component Item Revisions When comparing two Component Item revisions, after clicking Compare a sequence of events takes place: The referenced Footprint Item revisions are compared. The referenced Symbol Item revisions are compared. The parameteric data for the two Component Item revisions are compared. The results of the comparison are presented in the Compare Component Revisions dialog.

25 Example comparison of two revisions of a Component Item. The dialog is divided into three distinct sections, showing the results of comparsion for the parametric data, footprints, and symbols. The following icons are used: - Identical. No difference exists between the parameter value/footprint/symbol for the two

26 compared Component Item revisions. - Not Identical. A difference has been detected in the parameter value/footprint/symbol between the two compared Component Item revisions. Disable the Show unchanged option to leave only those elements that are not identical. For symbols and footprints, you can run a comparison on the corresponding referenced Item Revisions - directly from the Compare Component Revisions dialog - by clicking the associated Compare control. Comparing Two Symbol Item Revisions When comparing two revisions of Symbol Items, after clicking Compare a graphical comparison is made and any differences that are detected will be listed in the Differences panel. The SchLib documents for the two revisions are opened within the workspace - by displaying them side by side in the design editor window, you can peruse the differences graphically. Clicking on a top-level folder for a detected difference will highlight that difference on both docu ments simultaneously. This is the same functionality as if running the Project» Show Physical Differences command on the two source documents.

27 Example comparison of two revisions of a Symbol Item. Comparing Two Footprint Item Revisions When comparing two revisions of Footprint Items, after clicking Compare a graphical comparison is made and the differences detected listed in the Compare Components dialog. This is similar comparison functionality to that when running the Tools» Update From PCB Libraries command, which detects the differences between a placed instance of a footprint, and its source in the relevant PCB Library. Note that the PcbLib documents for the two revisions are not opened for perusal in the

28 workspace. Example comparison of two revisions of a Footprint Item. The source libraries are not opened in the workspace - previews of the footprints are included here (taken from the Vaults panel) to show the differences that actually exist. The footprint is divided up into square cells and each cell has been analyzed for the differences. Cells where differences exist are shown in full color, with the differences highlighted. The layer tabs show how many primitive objects have differences for each layer that was compared, and clicking on a tab allows you to browse the differences more thoroughly. Comparing Two Managed Schematic Sheet Item Revisions When comparing two revisions of Managed Schematic Sheet Items, after clicking Compare a graphical comparison is made and the differences detected listed in the Differences panel. The SchDoc documents for the two revisions are opened within the workspace - by displaying them side by side in the design editor window, you can peruse the differences graphically. Clicking on a toplevel folder for a detected difference will highlight that difference on both documents simultaneously. This is the same functionality as if running the Project» Show Physical Differences command on the two source documents.

29 Example comparison of two revisions of a Managed Schematic Sheet Item. Comparing Two Schematic Template Item Revisions When comparing two revisions of Schematic Template Items, after clicking Compare a graphical comparison is made and the differences detected listed in the Differences panel. The SchDot documents for the two revisions are opened within the workspace - by displaying them side by side in the design editor window, you can peruse the differences graphically. Clicking on a top-level folder for a detected difference will highlight that difference on both documents simultaneously. This is the same functionality as if running the Project» Show Physical Differences command on the two source documents.

30 Example comparison of revisions of two different Schematic Template Items. Comparing Released Board Content When comparing two revisions of a PCB Fabrication Data Item, PCB Assembly Data Item, or PCB

31 Project Design Item, the results of the comparison will be presented in the Compare Project Revisions dialog. This will simply be a comparsion of the generated file structure, and a check of the files within that structure. Colour-coded options are used to show files that have changed, or not changed, and those that have been added, or removed. Enable/disable to toggle the display of these entries. Example comparison of two revisions of a PCB Assembly Data Item. Ability to Clone Vault Items The Vaults panel provides the ability to clone component- and schematic sheet-related Vault Items. So rather than creating that component, related domain model, schematic sheet, or associated template from scratch, you can simply clone it. Direct Editing ensures any required changes - to a copy of the source data from the original Item Revision - is a streamlined affair, with the resulting changes released into an initial revision of a new Item of the same type. Done and dusted in record time, you can quickly expand your Vault content without facing a blank canvas. The following Item types can be cloned: Component Item Footprint Item Symbol Item Simulation Model Item Component Template Item Managed Schematic Sheet Item Schematic Template Item The command to clone one of the supported Item types is accessed from the Vaults panel in the

32 following ways: By right-clicking over the entry for the source Item-Revision, and choosing the Operations» Clone command from the context menu. By selecting the entry for the source Item-Revision and using the Ctrl+D keyboard shortcut. The Clone command is available throughout the Vaults panel, wherever the applicable ItemRevision is presented, including: The main Item listing within a folder. Children aspect view (when viewing a Component Item, or Managed Schematic Sheet Item). Where-used aspect view (when viewing a Component Item, Symbol Item, Footprint Item, Simulation Model Item, Component Template Item, or Schematic Template Item). Preview aspect view (when viewing a Component Item, Managed Schematic Sheet Item, or Schematic Template Item). When browsing the main listing of Items in a particular folder, access the Clone command from the top-level entry for an Item, to clone the latest revision of that Item. Cloning Process Once the required source Item-Revision has been located, and the Clone command launched, the process flow is as follows: 1. A Direct Editing session is launched, with a copy of the source document - stored with the chosen Item-Revision - opened in the associated (and temporary) editor.

33 A copy of the source document in the chosen Item-Revision is loaded into the associated editor. 2. Make changes as required. A quick graphical change to highlight the feature.

34 3. Save the document. 4. Click the button on the editor's standard toolbar, to release the document to the Vault (shortcut Ctrl+Alt+S). The Create Item dialog will appear. By default, the clone Item will adopt the same revision naming and lifecycle definition schemes as the original Item, and will be created in the same folder. These properties can be changed if required. The target Vault will be the same as that in which the original Item resides. This cannot be changed. 5. Once the Item properties are set as required, click OK. The new Item and its initial revision will be created, the document released, and the temporary editor closed. Browse the fruits of your cloning labor back in the Vaults panel. Browsing the released revision of the newly-cloned Item. Accessing a Parametric View of Your Components The Components type folder supports two viewing modes - the Classic View and the Components View. The latter, which is the default view for this folder type, allows you to browse the parametric data associated with all Component Items in the current folder. What's more, you can set up the view exactly how you like it for different folders of components, and those configurations will remain between sessions. To toggle between these two viewing modes, simply browse to a Components folder in the Vaults panel, click the button at the top-right of the components listing, and choose either the View» Classic View, or View» Components View command from the associated menu.

35 Access the Components View for a Components-type folder, presenting the Component Items in terms of their parametric data. Hover over the image to see the result of switching back to the Classic View. Take a look at the following sections for more information on working with the Components View. Controlling the Display of Columns Each column in the view corresponds to a specific parameter. Configuration of which columns are displayed - so which parametric information is presented - is performed from the Select Parameter Columns dialog. Access this dialog by right-clicking within the column headers area, and choosing the Select Columns command from the context menu that appears. By default, the following parameters are presented - Item, Lifecycle, Comment, Description. The Select Parameter Columns dialog is control central for defining which parametric data is presented in the Components View.

36 Hover over the image to see an example of additional parameters selected, presenting as additional columns in the view. Column Ordering & Sizing The order of the columns is customizable. Simply click on a column's header and drag it horizontally to the required new position. Valid positions are highlighted by vertical positional arrows. Alternatively, change the ordering in the Selected Parameters list of the Select Parameter Columns dialog. Simply drag and drop the entry for a parameter to the required new position within the list. With the exception of the column containing the icon for the component type, the width of a column can be modified, simply by clicking and dragging the right-hand separator (in that column's header). Grouping Components Components can be grouped based on any of the visible column headings. To do this, click and hold on a column header, then drag and drop it onto the text that says Drag a column header here to group by that column. A hierarchy of groups can be created, by nesting the column headers. Within the grouped columns region, use drag and drop to redefine the grouping 'sort order' as required. An example of customized grouping (by the Value and Case-Metric parameters). Sorting Parameters can be sorted by a specific column simply by clicking on that column's header. Click once to sort in ascending order (based on the content of that column). Click again to sort in descending order. You can sort by multiple columns. With the parameters already sorted by a specific column, simply Shift+click on another column to 'sub-sort' by the content of that column.

37 To remove sorting for a column, Ctrl+click on its header. Column-based Filtering Like an Excel spreadsheet, the parameters can be further filtered by the contents of each column. To do this, click the small funnel (filter) icon, located at the right-hand side of a column header ( ). A menu will appear containing a checkbox for each value present in that column. Enable the required checkbox(es), then click OK to reduce the list to only include parameters with that value (those values). When a column filter is applied, the filter icon is displayed in bold ( ), indicating that there is filtering applied based on that column. Filtering can be applied to multiple data columns. Each 'column filter' becomes an ANDed condition in the overall filter. A textual representation of the filtering currently in effect will be presented at the bottom of the region. An example of column filtering in action. To clear filtering for a column, choose the (Select All) entry from the filtering drop-down. To clear filtering completely, click the small cross to the left of the textual representation of the filter. To disable the filter, simply uncheck the check box to the left of its textual representation. To enable again, check the check box. A history of just used filters is available. Click the button to the right of the textual representation of the current filter to display the history. This button will display when at least one previous filter has been applied. Showing only the Latest Component Revisions Over time, Vault components may undergo many changes as they evolve, with each change resulting in a new revision to accommodate the massaged data. When browsing components for use in designs, it is typically only the latest revision that is required. All other previous revisions tend to become a level of noise, cluttering the designer's field of view. To alleviate this, the Vaults panel provides the ability to hide this clutter, leaving only the latest revisions 'on show'. When using 'Vault libraries' through the Libraries panel, you also have the option of whether to show all Component Item revisions, or only the latest. To display only the latest revisions of Items in the Vaults panel, simply click the control, at the top-right of the Items region of the panel, and enable the Show only latest option from the associated menu.

38 This option is a global setting that applies to all Items in the Vault, irrespective of type, and the visual folder in which they reside. Declutter the Vaults panel by showing only the latest revisions of Items. Hover over the image to see the command applied. To get at a previous revision of an Item, simply click on the option again to toggle it OFF. Showing Hidden Revisions Related page: Controlling Visibility and Applicability of an Item Revision For an Item Revision entering a lifecycle state that has its Visible in Vault panels attribute disabled, that revision will, by default, not be displayed in the Vaults panel. And if it is the latest revision of the Item, then the entire entry for that Item will effectively be hidden from view. This visibility state - defined at the state level - can be overridden globally for all Items. To display all Item Revisions that are currently not visible, simply click the control, at the top-right of the Items region of the panel, and enable the Show Hidden Revisions option, on the associated menu.

39 Displaying hidden Item Revisions while browsing content in the Vaults panel. Hover over the image to see the result. Controlling Parameter Visibility when Placing Vault Components When placing components directly from the Vaults panel, control over the visibility of parameters associated to those components - or more specifically, their values - is performed from within the properties dialog for the parent folder. The folder must be of type Components. Simply right-click on the parent folder and choose the Properties command. The Edit Folder dialog will appear. Enable the Configure Parameters Visibility on Add option on the right-hand side. The parameters, taken from all components in the folder, will appear listed in the region. Use the Visible On Add checkbox associated with each parameter to control its visibility, when a component that has that parameter is placed on a schematic sheet. The Comment parameter is also shown. This is a system parameter. Parametric data is stored as part of the Vault folder properties, in the Vault itself, and is global to all users of the Vault, and with whom the relevant folder(s) have been shared. Folder hierarchy is also taken into account, so parameter visibility configured for a parent folder will be passed down to (inherited by) all child folders below.

40 Determine, at the folder level, which parameters should be visible when components that use them are placed in a design. When placing components directly from the Libraries panel, control over the visibility of parameters associated to those components is performed from within the Vault Library dialog. This dialog is accessed when adding or editing a Vault Library, as part of the set of Installed Libraries for Altium Designer. Controlling the Display of Component Parameter Information When browsing Component Items in the Vaults panel, switching to the Preview aspect view will present detailed information relating to a component, including its referenced domain models (symbol and footprint model), and any defined parameters. To aid in the display of parametric information, the parameter names and their values are treated as distinctly separate columns, with resizing controls provided to change column width as desired. Simply hover the cursor between the columns to access the icon, then click and drag to resize. In conjunction with resizing of the symbol and footprint model preview windows, you can set the parameters region to fully appreciate the content it delivers. For the parameter values column, you may need to fully expand the column to reveal the full values. Simply position the cursor to the right of the values until the icon appears, then double-click to effect expansion. The column will expand to fit the longest parameter value.

41 Getting at the parametric information for a Component Item, by resizing the width of the columns. Copying Component Parameter Information to the Clipboard Parametric information for a Component Item can be copied to the clipboard, for subsequent use elsewhere in the design, or for pasting to an external application (such as Microsoft Excel). When browsing the Preview aspect view for a Component Item, simply select the required parameters in the Parameters region of the view - and either use the Ctrl+C keyboard shortcut, or right-click in the region and use the Copy command on the context menu. Select multiple parameters as required using standard multi-select techniques (Ctrl+click, Shift+click, and Click&Drag).

42 Copy a Component Item's parameteric information to the clipboard, for use elsewhere as required. Export of Grid Data The Vaults panel supports the export of data from grid views, to a csv- or xls-formatted file. Examples of where this functionality is available, include: Component Items grid (both Classic and Component views). Items grid. Linked models grid in the Preview aspect view (for a selected Component Item). Search results grid. Item grid in the Where-Used aspect view. Item grid in the Children aspect view. Simply right-click within a grid and choose the Operations» Export Data command from the context menu. The Select columns for data export dialog will appear. Use this to determine the data you wish to export. The dialog contains all possible columns for the grid, with those that are currently displayed in the panel enabled for export by default. After clicking OK, the standard Windows Save As dialog will appear. Use the dialog to define where, and with what name, the exported file is to be saved. Use the Save as type field to choose the format of file - either a

43 Comma-Separated Values file (*.csv), or a Microsoft Excel file (*.xls). Progress of the export is displayed in the Export Data dialog. Once successfully exported, use the Explore button to quickly explore to the export folder. Alternatively, use the Open button to open the exported file directly. An example of exporting data - the linked models for a selected Component Item - to an Excel-formatted file. Vault Folder Naming Scheme Inheritance The Item Naming Scheme defined for a parent Vault folder will be inherited by its child folders by default. This can of course be overridden with a manually-set naming scheme for a child folder at time of creation, or anytime thereafter. When creating a child folder, the naming scheme entry will initially be bold-grey, to highlight that it will be inheriting that scheme from its immediate parent. Simply run with that scheme, or change it using a different scheme from the drop-down field, if required.

44 Item naming scheme inheritance from the parent folder - roll over to see the created child folder. If an Item Naming Scheme has been defined for a Components folder, and that folder also has a Component Template assigned to it, with a defined Item Naming Scheme also, then the folder scheme will take precedence ONLY if the Allow Override option has been enabled for the scheme, within the template file. Changing a Released Component Type On-the-Fly It is possible to change the component type for one or more components after release to a completely different type, on-the-fly. In the Vaults panel, simply select the component revision(s) that you want to change, then right-click and choose the Operations» Change component type command from the context menu. The Component Type dialog will appear from which you can select the new component type.

45 An example of changing the component type for a selected revision of a Component Item that has already been released. Source URL: D