Component Browser allows you to view or edit component properties in a circuit, or in the displayed schematic sheet. Properties can be set for multiple selected components. It is launched using the following methods, which open it in a new tab.
- On the eCADSTAR Schematic Editor ribbon, click Home > Browser > Component or click Design >Browser > Component.
- Right-click a circuit in the Design Tree panel and select Component Browser on the assist menu.
When you access Component Browser by right-clicking a circuit and selecting Component Browser on the assist menu, component properties are shown for the whole circuit. When accessed from the eCADSTAR Schematic Editor ribbon, component properties are shown only for the displayed schematic sheet. Component properties are shown in the Property Table. User-defined attributes are listed. These are specified in the Attribute Manager dialog, in eCADSTAR Library Editor.
When changing symbol names in Component Browser, connected nets are also changed to match the symbol.
If you right-click a cell which has an attribute defined as a hyperlink in the Attribute Manager dialog, then you can launch the hyperlink by clicking Open Hyperlink on the assist menu. This is also possible in eCADSTAR Schematic Viewer. If multiple cells are selected that have different values or a hyperlink is not specified, then this command is not available. The hyperlinks are launched in your default browser or associated application.
If you specify a Reference Designator value that already exists for a component on any sheet in the design, then a warning dialog is displayed which shows the duplicate value. However, it is not displayed if the value exists within a block in the design.
- Click Yes in the dialog to keep the duplicate value.
- Click No in the dialog to discard the duplicate value.
The warning dialog is not displayed if a duplicate Reference Designator value is assigned to empty gates or empty power boxes.
For multi-gated components that have the same part and reference designator, you can set the value of an attribute in all associated components. They must be in the same circuit, and can be within an instance block (a definition block is treated as a circuit). You can do this only if Home > View > Variants is toggled off on the ribbon. You can do this in Component Browser or the Properties Panel panel in eCADSTAR Schematic Editor. The following attributes can be set.
- User defined attributes.
- The Component Group and Placement Group system attributes.
SPICE attributes cannot be set.
- If an attribute value is set for multiple components that each have different part names or reference designators, but all contain multi-gated parts, then all sets of components are updated.
- If all relevant sheets are in the same circuit but a component is not in the active sheet, then attributes are not updated if the sheet containing an affected component is locked by another user. An error message is also displayed.
The relevant values are set in the Library Editor Panel: Parts tab, or the Part Editor Panel: Properties tab, User Part Attributes section. The columns that are displayed in the Property Table are specified in the Customize Display dialog. If you toggle on Home > View > Variant on the Component Browser ribbon, then component properties are displayed for all variants in the design.
- If the design has no variation items or you select Simple in the Variation Manager dialog, Mode section, then the Variant column is displayed in the Component Browser table. Specify whether a component is a variant by selecting Yes or No.
- If you select Advanced in the Variation Manager dialog, Mode section, then the Variation Type column is displayed in the Component Browser table. This allows you to associate a component with a variation type by selecting it. The Variation Type check box is displayed above the Component Browser table. If selected, then this allows you to filter the contents of the table by the variation item that you select in the accompanying box.
If Component Browser is launched, then components are displayed if you right-click them on the canvas, and select Send on the assist menu. You can do this on the canvas in eCADSTAR PCB Editor and eCADSTAR Schematic Editor, and in Constraint Browser. The relevant row is selected in Component Browser, but the focus is not switched to this application. Multiple components that you select can be sent. However, net connections are not sent.
- Component Browser must be launched in order to send selected items to it.
- If Variants is selected on the ribbon in Component Browser, then the row is selected in Component Browser for the Reference Designator, rather than the symbol, when you send a variant.
- You cannot use the Auto Send command to automatically send selected components to Component Browser.
- For a multi-gated part, the Fitted attribute that you specify is applied to all gate components that are variants of it. The Undo and Redo commands apply to all the gate components.
-
If you change the Reference Designator value for a gate component, then the value is updated for all parts in the design with that Reference Designator value.
- A license is required to access the variation functionality in eCADSTAR.
| Group | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| File | New | |
| Open | ||
| Save Design | ||
| Save Design As | ||
| Save: saves the changes that you make in the Component Browser tab. | ||
| Close Design: closes the current schematic design. | ||
| Close: closes the Component Browser tab. | ||
| Migration | Migrate a CADSTAR design. | |
| Configuration | Product Settings | |
| Application Settings | ||
| Shortcut Key Settings | ||
| User Command Settings | ||
| Customize the Ribbon | ||
| Customize the Quick Access Toolbar | ||
| Help | Current Tool Help: displays the online Help for eCADSTAR. | |
| Check for Updates: allows you to check online for updates to eCADSTAR. | ||
| About eCADSTAR: displays the version number of the relevant application within eCADSTAR. It also allows you to check online for updates to eCADSTAR. | ||
| Exit | Closes eCADSTAR Schematic Editor. If you have made any changes, then you will be prompted to save them before the application closes. | |
| Home | View | Variants: if you configure
variants in the Variation
Manager dialog, then additional columns are displayed in the
Property Table for
each variant. If you create variants in the schematic design using
the Create
Variant Component dialog, then component properties are displayed
for each variant.
|
| Change | Reference Allocator | |
| Reference Number | ||
| Change Part | ||
| Library | Reload Library | |
| Library Editor: launches the Library Editor. | ||
| Settings | Component Browser Settings | |
| Customize Display | ||
| Auto SendCross Probing Settings | ||
| Clipboard | Paste | |
| Cut | ||
| Copy | ||
| Delete | ||
| Undo | Undo | |
| Redo | ||
| View | Display | Start Page |
| Library Searcher | ||
| Properties Panel | ||
| Output Panel | ||
| Tab | Managing Tabs and Tab Groups |
