SystemDesign_Dlg-Altium_Designer_SystemDesign_UI_DialogWindowConnection Manager_AD

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The Connection Manager dialog
The Connection Manager dialog

Summary

The Connection Manager dialog shows details for the overall connectivity, once established, in a multi-board design. The dialog will highlight any connections that are considered as in conflict, or in practice, any imported connection update that does not agree with the system design editor’s existing connectivity data map.

Access

The dialog is accessed from a multi-board schematic document by clicking Design » Connection Manager.

Options/Controls

Upper Region

  •  - click to redo the last performed command(s).
  •  - click to undo the last performed command(s).
  • Clipboard - use to paste selected connection entries, including the headers (ID, Net Name, etc.,) into a text document or spreadsheet. 
  • Report - click to create a report of the current connections. The report is in a text document or spreadsheet format. A dialog opens in which you can name and save the report.
  • Show Changes Only/Show Connections - click to toggle the listing between showing all connections (Show Connections) and showing only changes that have been made (Show Changes Only).
  • Show/Hide Mated Pins - click to toggle showing/hiding details of the literal Pin connections in the listing.
  • Grid Listing - lists all Net/Pin assignments, grouped under their parent Connection Designators and type (Wire, Direct, etc.,) and includes their system design ID and Net Name, along with their From and To Pin/Net connections.
The Net information shown in the highlighted fields in the listing represents the proposed change.

Lower Region

  • Conflict Resolution - this region indicates any connection conflicts between the current multi-board system design and source (child) projects during a design update. Select a highlighted Net entry in the upper region of the dialog to see a graphic representation in this region and to access a range of button options that can be used to resolve the conflict. When a conflict resolution option has been selected, a Confirmation dialog opens. Selecting Yes in the Confirmation dialog will cause the conflict resolution action to be applied to all conflicts of the same type. Corrected Net assignments will be highlighted in green and are also reflected in this region. 
    • Confirm – click to confirm your changes in the system design to match the updated assignments in the dialog.
    • Revert – click to have the system design ignore the proposed change. Note that the system design will then not match the net assignments in the child design(s).
    • Swap Pins – click to swap the Pin/Net assignments. 
    • Swap Wires - click to swap wires. The connector Pin/Net assignments will not be changed. 
The above options' availability will depend on the type of connection that is selected. For example, the Swap Wires option will not be offered for a Direction Connection between Module Entries where the PCBs are directly plugged together rather than wired together.
  • Revert Changes - click to ignore the updated assignments and revert back to the original connections.
  • Apply Changes - click to apply the updated assignments to the multi-board system design.
Note that the Net Name values shown in the dialog are not changed when a conflict is resolved since they represent the Net names in the local System Design. These names are automatically created when a connection is initially placed between Module Entries and may be changed at any time by editing that connection (or Wire, etc.,) in the Properties panel.
Once the Conflict Resolution changes have been applied, they can be inspected in the Properties panel when the relevant connection is selected in the system design workspace.

 

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