Managing Your Components

This guide is the quickest way to get most of your components managed. 

There is no one-size-fits-all guide to getting ALL of those components managed, but it should get you 95% of the way 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Checking if your components are managed 
• Understanding the Parameters of Your Components
• Check and Remove Duplicate Component Footprints
• Creating the Schematic Library
• Creating the PCB Library
• Start the Import Process

Checking if your components are managed 

1. Open your project in Altium Designer.

2. Open your schematic, document type ending .SchDoc

2. Now, we need to check if your components are unmanaged or managed

3. Click Tools > Item Manager

4. This will open a new window with all your items. Click on the tab, Unmanaged. All the parts you see in the window are your unmanaged parts:

Understanding the Parameters of Your Components

5. Close the Item Manager by clicking the X on the top right corner

6. Click on an item on the schematic. I have selected the component in red. Click the Properties tab on the far right. Scroll down on the Properties column until you see Parameters.

7. These parameters should have a value you require for creating the Part Choice. Here, I will use the Manufacture PN as the Manufacturer Part Number. 

Check and Remove Duplicate Component Footprints

8. Your components may have multiple footprints for one component. Since we only need one, we need to remove duplicates.

9. Click Tools > Footprint Manager 

10. Select all the components from the components list

11. Select all Footprints and click, Validate. You will see the column Found In, populated by Footprint Not Found. 

12. Click Current. This will bring all the footprints that are used in your design to the top of the list. Select all the footprints that do not have the tick in the Current column and click Remove. Once removed, the only footprints in the list should be those with a tick by Current. Click Accept Changes (Create ECO)

13. Click, Execute Changes, then close

14. If you get this Confirmation popup, click OK

Creating the Schematic Library

15. Click on Design > Make Schematic Library

16. Take a look at the Parameter Names. These should look familiar. Select the parameter name that held the value you want to use for Part Choices. I will use the Manufacturer PN as decided in step 7. Click OK

17. We have added 22 components, and created a .SCHLIB document. Click OK, and click back on the .SchDoc tab.

Creating the PCB Library

18. From the Projects panel on the left, double-click your .PcbDoc file

19. Click Design > Make PCB Library

20. Save the file

21. Click on your .SCHLIB. Each of the Items in your SCH Library should now have a footprint, which can be seen by clicking on the 2D button.

22. Save the .SCHLIB

Start the Import Process

23. Make sure you are connected to your workspace

24. Click File > Library Importer

25. Ensure you have the Properties panel on the left. If you are missing this panel, click the Panels button on the bottom right corner and find Properties.

From here, take a look at the different libraries (e.g. Capacitors, Connectors, Diodes...).

Take a look also at Part Choices Mapping. We want to make sure we are mapping the correct parameter to the correct part choice. This may already be autopopulated, but in our case we want to match Manufacturer to Manufacturer PN (as per step 7)

25. If the mapping you desire is not there, you can click on Add and click on the drop down menu the parameter you want to map to your part choice

26. Click Import. You may get a warning popup

27. Warnings regarding the same geometry, missing datasheets can be disregarded. Some components may still be undefined, but we can go ahead with the import.

28. We have 22 components imported. Click close

29. You may need to refresh/sign out of your workspace to refresh Altium Designer 

30. Click back into your .SchDoc and into Tools > ItemManager. Your parts will still be Unmanaged. Click Options

31. There may be many Matching Rules. Remove/Add rules so the Local Parameter and Server Parameter are matched.

32. In our example, the creater of the project knows that the local parameter ID matches the Server Parameter Design Item ID. Once you are happy with your rules, click OK.

32. In the Item Manager, click Automatch

33. Here are the automatched items. If you are successful, click OK

34. The components are now managed