Applied Parameters: OffSheetConnector=True
Summary
This command is used to place an Off Sheet Connector object onto the active document. An off sheet connector is an electrical design primitive. Off sheet connectors are used to connect nets across multiple schematic sheets that are descended from the same parent sheet symbol.
Access
Off sheet connectors are available for placement in the Schematic Editor only, by:
- Choosing Place » Off Sheet Connector from the main menus.
- Locating and using the Off Sheet Connector command (
) on the Active Bar.
If the command has been recently used from the Active Bar, it will become the active/visible button. Where other commands are available, this is indicated by a triangle at the bottom-right corner of the button. Click and hold on the active button to access a menu of all associated commands for that grouping.
- Right-clicking in the workspace and choosing Place » Off Sheet Connector from the context menu.
Use
After launching the command, the cursor will change to a cross-hair and you will enter off sheet connector placement mode with an off sheet connector floating on the cursor:
- Press the Tab key to access the Properties panel, from where properties for the off sheet connector can be changed on-the-fly, including the Net Name. Pressing Tab pauses placement, allowing you to interact with the panel (or other area of the software) directly. To resume, click the pause symbol that appears over the workspace.
- If the off sheet connector requires rotation, press the Spacebar to rotate it in 90° steps. Press the X or Y keys to flip the off sheet connector along the X-axis or Y-axis respectively.
- Position the off sheet connector so that its electrical hotspot (the end held by the cursor) touches the wire to which you want to connect it to, then click or press Enter to effect placement.
- Continue placing further off sheet connectors, or right-click or press Esc to exit placement mode.
If the Net property of the off sheet connector is entered before it is placed and the value entered has a numeric ending, each subsequent off sheet connector will auto-increment this numeric value. This behavior is configured in the
Auto-Increment During Placement options, on the
Schematic - General page of the
Preferences dialog. For off sheet connectors only the
Primary field applies, the
Secondary field applies when the object has multiple fields, such as a Pin.
Tips
- It is important to remember that although there are times when an off sheet connector and a sub-divided sheet symbol can be useful, they do have limitations. They will not properly form automatic component classes and these need to be recreated manually in the PCB if you choose to use them.
- To successfully connect a particular net across two or more sheets, the off sheet connectors on each sheet must be assigned to the same net.
- Port Cross-References cannot be applied to off sheet connectors, therefore Ports should be used where possible.
- For information on how a placed off sheet connector object can be modified graphically, directly in the workspace, see Graphical Editing.
- While attributes can be modified during placement (Tab to bring up the Properties panel), bear in mind that these will become the default settings for further placement unless the Permanent option on the Schematic - Defaults page of the Preferences dialog is enabled. When this option is enabled, changes made will affect only the object being placed and subsequent objects placed during the same placement session.
Altium Designer Documentation
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