Compare

Compare is a Librarian only feature in the Parts Frontend application.

Compare can also be used to append and update records from an Imported Excel file.

Click on image to view

How Compare works:

Compare stops at the first difference found and displays records with differences.

If differences are found the command buttons can be used to update the Destination table.

To find more differences the user must first reconcile the displayed differences.

If you would like to review the differences without changing any data in the Parts table you can Swap Tables and select Compare.

If you update the Imported table no changes are made to the Imported Excel file. The changes are only made to a temporary Imported table.

That's It !

BOM - With Supplier Links Enabled

I'm currently working on a fairly large project with 20 schematic pages, 225 line items, 1034 parts (Ref/Des).

Generating the Bill of Material is taking several minutes.

After a little troubleshooting I found that if I disabled the Suppliers in DXP Preferrences the BOM would generate in a few seconds, vice several minutes.

As shown below enabling the Suppliers Links will display real time Supplier Information in the Libraries Panel. 

This is a nice feature when you are placing parts, but it comes at price when you want to configure or generate your BOM..

The reason for the performance hit is Altium searches the supplier websites looking for inventory and pricing for the 225 line items in the BOM, this takes a considerable amount of time.

If are using an Outjob to generate your BOM and you select Configure the configuration dialog will also take a few minutes to open if the Supplier Links are enabled.  

Altium Bug Crunch  #1508

Altium will freeze, but eventually thaw out and come back to life.



Work around 1:

To speed up the BOM un-check the Supplier Links in DXP Preferences before generating or configuring a BOM in the Outjob.

Interesting point:

In my Outjob BOM Configuration I have not selected stock or pricing information.

Supplier 1 and Supplier Part Number 1 are already in my design's database.

Why is Altium searching the Internet for Supplier Data?


Work Around 2:

Open the Parts Backend and rename Supplier 1 to Supplier and Supplier Part Number 1 to Supplier Part Number.

This will stop the long searches for supplier data on the web.  However the Supplier details will not be visible in the Libraries panel.

You can quickly open Supplier Part Details or datasheets using right clicks in the library panel or schematic.

Related link: Supplier Data


That's It !

Supplier Information - Review

Suppliers enabled in DXP > Preferences > Data Management > Suppliers


Results of Supplier Information displayed in Altium's Libraries Panel for 5 major suppliers listed alphabetically for the same part number.

To display Supplier data in the libraries panel the Supplier name in the parameters must match the names listed in DXP Preferrences for the supplier.

Note the parameters in the design must include Supplier 1 and Supplier Part Number 1 to display the Supplier data.

The Parts database has options to use to use Supplier and Supplier Part Number vice Supplier 1 and Supplier Part Number 1. This option is controlled by the field names used in the Parts backend.

Please note the results shown below are not associated with the Parts application. The supplier information is handled completely by Altium's supplier plugins.


Allied (no image for the connector)

Arrow (nothing displayed)

Digi-key (nice)



Mouser (nice)

Newark (nice)

Altium Version: AD14.3.16

Score 3.5 out of 5.

Related link: BOM with Supplier Data


That's It !

Parts - Getting Started

Download the latest version of Parts

Important !  See Access Security Notices and Permissions 

Extract the Parts files to a folder where you have read / write permissions.

Recommended Parts Demo Folder C:\Parts

Launch Altium.

In the lower right corner of Altium select Panels > Components

Then Select File-based Libraries Preferences

Install From File



Select *.DBLib to file type.

The Parts.DBLib file can be found in the Parts folder.

Select Parts.DBLib > Open.

Close the Available Libraries form.

Right click and Select Columns. 

Drag Column Headings to Organize the Displayed Parts. 

Then start placing parts in a schematic.

Add or Edit Parts

Open the Parts.DBlib file in Altium to edit or add parts.

Optional Parts Frontend.

The optional (not required) Parts Frontend application is for users that are looking for a turn-key solution with a user friendly and intuitive interface for a database library maintenance.

If you have Access 2016 or Microsoft Office 365 installed, then Double click the Parts_Frontend.accde to run the Parts application.

If you do not have Microsoft Access installed you can install a free Access runtime. 

Parts Frontend simplifies DBLib and SVNDBLIB library maintenance.

DBLib only takes a few minutes to set up, while SVNDBLIB requires typically about 30 minutes.  Parts supports SVNDBLIB, however I highly recommend using DBLIB & Git.

Parts is simple to install and use, however if needed technical support is available to get you up and running quickly. 

To request technical support or a demo of the Parts Frontend click on Contact Parts.

That's It !

Supplier Information

Display Supplier Information in the Altium Libraries Panel

click on image to view

Edit DXP preferences to display Supplier Information.

DXP > Preferences > Data Management > Suppliers 

Select Digi-Key and Mouser, apply changes, refresh the library panel.

The Supplier Information in the Libraries Panel is handled by Altium Supplier plugins.

Two fields in the Parts Backend were renamed to support the Supplier Information.

Supplier changed to Supplier 1
Supplier Part Number changed to Supplier part Number 1 

Note: The Supplier Names entered in the Parts Backend Database must match the names in DXP > Preferences > Data Management > Suppliers

Example: Enter Digi-Key (not Digikey) in the Parts Supplier 1 field. 

Related Link: Supplier Information Review.

That's It !

Bloat Meter

Your Bloat Meter has maxed out.

Access databases can get bloated after prolonged use.  And they Bloat quickly if you use Part Type Queries or you have been importing a lot of Excel worksheets.

The cure for database bloat is Compact and Repair  < See Microsoft Office Link.

The Parts bloat meter provides a visual indication of the backend file size relative to a user defined file size in MBs.

Suggested setting is between 20 and 100.

Notes:

Tools > Backup Database can be used to Backup and Compact the Parts Database.

Users with Librarian keys can set the Bloat Meter Size using Tools > Backup Database.

Users with only Designer keys can edit the user.dat file. (close Parts first).

Altium leaves connections to Access databases open when Altium is closed :(

Good News! Parts (Access) can close the connections that Altium neglects to close.


That's It !

SVN - TortoiseSVN Icons Missing

See TortoiseSVN Download Notes:

Click on image to view

Download link: Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2015

"Windows can only show a limited number of Overlay Icons (15 total, 11 after what Windows uses). Programs like Office Groove, Dropbox, Mozy, Carbonite, etc, will hijack a bunch of the 11 possible overlay icons (boy would it be nice if Microsoft upped the number of these as the number of applications that use them seem to increase and increase)..."

"You can see what overlays are set up, and change them (at your own risk) in the registry here:"  

Lesson 5: Learning to Use the Registry Editor Like a Pro - How-To-Geek

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\ShellIconOverlayIdentifiers

Source: svn - TortoiseSVN icons not showing up under Windows 7 - Stack Overflow:

SVN Icon Overlays

SVN Tortoise Settings

TortoiseSVN identified 22 installed overlays in my registry.

Tips:

Run Regedit > Ctrl + F > Search for "ShellIconOverlayIdentifiers"

Use Autoruns for Windows - Windows Sysinternals

Use leading space characters to move Tortoise up in priority. Note that GoogleDrive is using two leading spaces.

When editing the Registry press the F5 key to refresh the displayed order of the overlays.

Wow6432Node




Use the Task Manger to end and restart the explorer.exe process (it's way faster than restarting windows).

End explorer.exe process

Start Task Manager > Select explorer.exe > Right Click > End Process

Start explorer.exe process




Enter explorer > Ok




That's It !