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-20
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Summary
Parameters are general purpose text strings that are child objects of a parent object,
allowing detail information to be added to that parent object. For example, schematic
components make extensive use of parameters, they are used to define: the Designator and the
Comment; as well as the general purpose parameter strings that can be added by the designer
to fully define it.General purpose component parameters can be used for a variety of
functions, including: component detail, such as Wattage, Voltage, and so on; supplier
detail, including the supplier name and part number; library component design detail, such
as the revision number of the symbol; and documentation detail, such as a URL that links to
a component datasheet.
Parameters can also be defined at the schematic sheet (document) level, and also the project
level. Document-level parameters are ideal for defining fields such as the document title
and number, and project-level parameters are ideal for defining fields such as the designer,
or the project name.
Availability
Parameters are added as a property of the parent object, they are not placed independently
like a Text String. Parameters can be added to any of the following design objects:
Non-Graphical Editing...
The following methods of non-graphical editing are available:
Component Parameters
Component parameters include the designator and comment, as well as any user-defined
parameters.
By default, the designator, comment and user-defined parameters are not visible in the
Schematic Library editor. They are edited in the Library Component Properties dialog,
double-click on the Component name in the SCH Library panel or click the Edit button to open
the dialog, as shown in the image below.
Double click on the component name, or click the Edit button, to open the dialog and edit the component parameters in the Library
editor.
User-defined parameters can be displayed by enabling their Visible checkbox in the Library
Component Properties dialog. Enabling this will display the parameter Value, to display the
parameter name click the Edit button to open the Parameter Properties dialog where the
Visible checkbox for the Name field can be enabled.
The designator and comment strings can also be displayed in the Schematic Library editor, to
display them select Tools » Document Options to open the Library Editor Workspace dialog,
and enable the Always Show Comment/Designator option, as shown in the image below. This
setting is a property of the current Schematic Library.
Enable the Always Show Comment/Designator option to display these strings in the Schematic Library Editor.
Component parameters can be defined in the Schematic Editor as the component is being
placed, or after the component has been placed on a schematic sheet.
All 3 approaches open the Parameter Properties dialog, as shown below. Note that all
properties of the parameter can be edited in this dialog.
The value and the appearance a parameter string, in this case the Comment, can be edited in the Parameter Properties dialog.
Special purpose component parameters have been created for defining links from components to
related documentation. These include the HelpURL, and the ComponentLink parameter pair.
The HelpURL parameter allows you to define a link from a component to an external document,
such as a PDF or web page. The link is activated when you press F1 over the component on the
schematic sheet, or when that component in selected in the Libraries panel. Using this
parameter you can reference a PDF or text file, or an HTML page. To use the feature, add the
HelpURL parameter to the required component and set the value of the parameter to the
document you wish to open.
When specifying the value for the parameter, you can either include an absolute path or just
enter the document name. The following examples are valid entries for the value of the
parameter:
C:\Design_Projects\Schematics\Modifications.txt
T-33000 Getting Started with PCB Design in CircuitStudio_EN.pdf
www.altium.com
For a PDF document, you can also specify the page the document is to be opened at. This is
done by adding the #page=xx option to the end of the document name, as illustrated below:
Datasheet.pdf#page=364
When F1 is pressed with the cursor hovering over the placed object, a search for the
document is conducted as follows:
If a HelpURL parameter is defined, pressing F1 will lead to the file or URL value
specified in the parameter. If not, pressing F1 will open the Techdocs online
information page for the selected object.
This feature enables you to define and present named links to any number of reference
documents. Multiple ComponentLink parameter pairs can be defined. To use this feature, add
and configure the two parameters for each ComponentLink pair as follows:
Second parameter - used to define the entry that appears in the menu:
Any number of ComponentLink parameter pairs can be defined, each pair is associated by
sharing the same value for n.
To access component links, right-click on the placed part in the workspace, or right-click
on the component in the Libraries panel. The entry for the link will appear in the
References sub-menu, as shown in the image below.
The HelpURL and ComponentLink parameter pair allow support documents to be accessed from a component.
Indirected strings are known as Special Strings in CircuitStudio. There is a large number of
predefined special strings, which are listed below. Any user-defined document or project
parameter can also be thought of as a special string and be indirected to a Text String on
the schematic sheet.
Indirected strings are always interpreted and displayed during output generation,
such as printing the schematic sheets. To interpret and display indirected strings
on-screen, enable the Convert Special Strings option in the Schematic - Graphical
Editing page of the Preferences dialog.
Use Special Strings to define fields in a title block that is defined in a schematic
library. When the title block is placed on a schematic sheet the string indirection
feature will ensure the correct information for that schematic is extracted from the
Document parameters and displayed in the title block.
The following are the predefined special strings available for use on a schematic document.
The majority of these link to default parameter information defined for the active document
on the Parameters tab of the Document Options dialog (Project | Content | Document
Options).
Remember that the full list of special strings available in the Annotation dialog
will also include any derived from user-defined document-level and project-level
parameters.
Sheet numbers can be manually defined, or they can be assigned using Tools » Number
Schematic Sheets. This command opens the Sheet Numbering for Project dialog, which
can be used to assign consecutive numbers to each sheet in the project.
Document parameters can be displayed on the sheet using string indirection, in the upper image the Convert Special Strings option
is off, in the lower image it is on.
Several additional special strings (or special interpretations of existing ones) are
available when defining component parameters. In each case, the special string is entered as
the value for a parameter.
=CurrentFootprint – displays the name of the currently assigned footprint for the
component, as defined in the Models region of the associated Component
Properties dialog.
=Comment – displays the value appearing in the component's Comment field, as
defined in the Properties region of the associated Component Properties dialog.
=Description – displays the value appearing in the
component's Description field, as defined in the Properties region of the
associated Component Properties dialog.
=[ParameterName] – displays the value defined for a specified component parameter.
Enter the actual name of a component parameter as the special string name – so for a
component parameter named PowerRating, simply enter =PowerRating. When defining
the Comment property for a component, the associated drop-down field will be
populated with special strings for all existing component parameters – enabling quick
use of any defined parameter's value for the Comment.
An Inspector panel enables the designer to interrogate and edit the properties of one or
more design objects in the active document. Used in conjunction with appropriate filtering,
the panel can be used to make changes to multiple objects of the same kind, from one
convenient location.
A List panel allows the designer to display design objects from one or more documents in
tabular format, enabling quick inspection and modification of object attributes. Used in
conjunction with appropriate filtering, it enables the display of just those objects falling
under the scope of the active filter – allowing the designer to target and edit multiple
design objects with greater accuracy and efficiency.
Graphical Editing
Visible strings can be edited graphically, using what is known as in-place editing. To edit
a string in-place, click once to select, pause for a second, then click a second time to
enter edit mode.
Click once to select the string.
Once editing is complete, press Enter or click away from the string to exit in-place editing
mode.