Sch_Cmd-PlacePartPlacePart_AD

Applied Parameters: None

Summary

This command is used to place schematic components onto the current document.

Access

Parts are available for placement in the Schematic Editor, by:

• Choosing Place » Part from the main menus.
• Clicking the  button on the Wiring toolbar.
• Right-clicking and choosing Place » Part, or Place Part, from the context menu.

Use

After launching the command, the Place Part dialog will appear. Use the dialog to choose a schematic part and configure related attributes, prior to placement on the active schematic document.

The dialog's Physical Component field provides a drop-down list of all previously placed components from the dialog. Use the Choose button to the right of this field to open the Browse Libraries dialog. From here, you can browse through the currently Available Libraries (project libraries, installed libraries and libraries found along search paths defined on the Search Paths tab of the Options for Project dialog).

After choosing the required component, you will return to the Place Part dialog, the fields of which will be filled with information associated to the chosen component. The Designator will initially be of the default form U?, C?, R?, Q?, etc. You can enter the specific designator you require here, or at a later stage. Proceed with placement as follows:

1. Click OK - you will return to the schematic document and an outline of the part will be floating on the cursor.
2. Position the part and click, or press Enter, to place it.
3. Continue placing further instances of the same part, or right-click, or press Esc, to exit.
4. The Place Part dialog will reappear. Either browse for a different part to place, or click Cancel to exit part placement mode.

Additional actions that can be performed during placement – while the part is still floating on the cursor – are:

• Press the Tab key to access the Properties for Schematic Component dialog, from where properties for the part can be changed on-the-fly.
• Press the Alt key to constrain the direction of movement to the horizontal or vertical axis, depending on the initial direction of movement.
• Press the Spacebar to rotate the part anti-clockwise or Shift+Spacebar for clockwise rotation. Rotation is in steps of 90°.
• Press the X or Y keys to mirror the part along the X-axis or Y-axis respectively.

Tips

1. An alternate method of component placement is to use the Libraries panel (or the Vaults panel if placing a vault-based component from an Altium Vault). Both of these offer advanced search functions, and the ability to drag and drop a component from the panel, directly onto the active sheet.
2. A physical component and a logical symbol are the same if they come from a standard library. But for database libraries and vault-based 'libraries' (components available through a named collection of vault folders), a physical component represents a record in a table of the linked source database, or a revision of a Component Item in the source Altium Vault, respectively. So in a database, a record with Part Number 10ACD33 is the physical component, while the name of the schematic symbol in a source SchLib referenced by a field in that record - say Capacitor - would be the logical symbol. Similarly, in a Vault, a revision of a Component Item, with unique Item-Revision ID Cmp-000-0001-1, would be the physical component, while the name of the schematic symbol in the released library of the Schematic Symbol Item, referenced by that Component Item Revision - which is typically reflected in the comment field for that Schematic Symbol Item - would be the logical symbol.
3. By specifying the designator prior to placement, you will be able to place multiple instances, and the designator will increment, resulting in uniquely designated components.
4. While attributes can be modified during placement (Tab to bring up associated properties dialog), bear in mind that these will become the default settings for further placement unless the Permanent option on the Schematic – Default Primitives 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.