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Access from within Altium Designer

Created: April 06, 2021 | Updated: April 06, 2021 | Applies to version: 4.0
Now reading version 4.1. For the latest, read: Access from within Altium Designer for version 4.0

This documentation page references Altium Concord Pro, which has been discontinued. All your PCB design, data management and collaboration needs can now be delivered by Altium Designer and a connected Altium 365 Workspace. Check out the FAQs page for more information.

 

Parent page: Altium Concord Pro

This page has been retired from the documentation set. It is available up to a certain software version and still applies to your currently chosen version of the documentation, but may not apply to the next, or a future version.

For information related to the latest software version, see Accessing Your Workspace.

Interaction with Concord Pro can be made from various areas, but there are two main places:

From a purely component management perspective, much of the day-to-day interaction with Concord Pro will be performed from within Altium Designer through the Components panel.

This page takes a look at accessing your Concord Pro instance from within Altium Designer.

Signing in to Your Server

Sign in to your Concord Pro instance from within Altium Designer by clicking the Current User control, at the top-right of the main application window (e.g. ). This will be the user that is currently signed into AltiumLive through this instance of Altium Designer. In the subsequent menu choose the Custom connection command. The Sign in dialog will appear, with which to sign in to the target server. Enter the URL for the server and your server access credentials, then click the  button.

It can be a good idea to enable the Sign in automatically option, so that the entered URL and access credentials are stored and you don't have to repeatedly enter them to access the server when starting Altium Designer.

Signing in to your Concord Pro instance from within Altium Designer.Signing in to your Concord Pro instance from within Altium Designer.

The server's URL (Server Address) will be in the format http://<ComputerName>:<PortNumber> (e.g. http://impala:9780 for a server installed using the default port assignment). If the server is being accessed from an instance of Altium Designer that is running on the same computer on which the server is installed, you may also use http://localhost:9780. If you want to sign in using your Windows login credentials - taking advantage of the server's support for Windows Authentication - enable the Use Windows Session credentials option.

Altium Concord Pro relies on a number of Microsoft runtime components for successful operation and access, in some situations these may not be present on the target machine. If you receive an error message about a missing library (DLL) when you attempt to sign in to Concord Pro, it indicates that there are missing Microsoft runtime components. Obtain and install the relevant Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Package for your OS.

Signing in to a 'Known' Server

If you have previously connected to your Concord Pro instance from within the same instance of Altium Designer, it will become a Known Server. If this is the case, you can sign in to that server from within Altium Designer in a more streamlined fashion. To do so, click on the  control at the top-right of the main application window. In the subsequent menu, choose the entry for your server, in the CUSTOM CONNECTIONS grouping. If you enabled the Sign in automatically option when accessing that server previously, you will be signed in straight away. If this option was not enabled, the Sign in dialog will appear, with which to sign in to the target server. Enter the URL for the server, and your server access credentials, then click the  button.

Signing in to your Concord Pro instance from within Altium
Designer, when that server is already known.

Note that when the Sign in automatically option is enabled, you will be signed in to the server as the user that last signed in through the Sign in dialog. If you need to sign in as a different user, you will need to use the Custom connection command in the menu associated with the Current User control, at the top-right of the main application window (e.g. ).
You can also access your 'known' server from the Open Project and Create Project dialogs, when wanting to open an existing managed project, or create a new managed project, respectively. In either case, select the  entry in the Locations region of the dialog, then click the button relevant to that server on the right-hand side. Again, if you need to sign in as a different user, you will need to use the Custom connection command in the menu associated with the Current User control, at the top-right of the main application window (e.g. ).

Checking Sign in Status

You can check whether you are actively signed in to your Concord Pro instance from the following places:

  • The menu associated to the Active Server control, at the top-right of the main application window. When actively signed in to your Concord Pro instance, the control will reflect the name of that server (e.g. ). The server will also be highlighted in the associated menu within the section CUSTOM CONNECTIONS (and is distinguished by the  icon). Clicking the entry provides access to browse the content of that server through Altium Designer's Explorer panel.

Verification of being signed in to your Concord Pro instance.Verification of being signed in to your Concord Pro instance.

The Current User control itself reflects the user who is currently signed in to the active Concord Pro instance (e.g. ).

You can only be actively connected to one server through the software at a time and this could be a self-managed server, or an Altium 365 Workspace. If you have previously connected to other servers from that instance of Altium Designer, they will be listed as Known Servers. While actively signed in to one server, you could also be connected to another (it will not be the active server).

Once signed in to your Concord Pro instance, it will become the Active Server, as can be seen here.Once signed in to your Concord Pro instance, it will become the Active Server, as can be seen here.

  • The Explorer panel. When signed in, the server will be available from the menu associated with clicking on the name of the server currently being browsed.
Note that all connected servers will be listed, but only one will be active and is distinguished by the inclusion of the  icon, and its name in bold.

Browsing the Active Server through the Explorer panel in Altium Designer.Browsing the Active Server through the Explorer panel in Altium Designer.

Switching Servers

You can quickly switch between any of the servers available to you. To do so, click the Active Server control, at the top-right of the main application window (e.g. ). In the subsequent menu choose the entry for the server you wish to switch to. You will be disconnected from the current server, then after a few moments connected to the chosen server.

If switching to another Concord Pro server and the Sign in automatically option was enabled when accessing that server previously, you will be signed in straight away. If this option was not enabled, the Sign in dialog will appear, with which to sign in to the target server. Enter the URL for the server, and your server access credentials, then click the  button. Note that when the Sign in automatically option is enabled, you will be signed in to the server as the user that last signed in through the Sign in dialog. If you need to sign in as a different user, you will need to use the Custom connection command in the menu associated with the Current User control, at the top-right of the main application window (e.g. ).

Managing Your Server from Altium Designer

From within Altium Designer, you have the ability to manage certain aspects of your connected Server. This is performed from the Data Management - Servers page of the Preferences dialog. Click the Properties control associated with the Server - in the Active Server region of the page - to access the commands, illustrated in the following image and detailed thereafter.

Accessing commands to manage various properties of the server to which you are actively signed in.Accessing commands to manage various properties of the server to which you are actively signed in.

  • Server configuration - use this command to access the server's browser interface in your default Web Browser.
  • Lifecycles - use this command to access the Edit Lifecycle Definitions dialog, with which to manage the defined lifecycles for the server.
  • Naming schemes - use this command to access the Edit Revision Naming Schemes dialog, with which to manage the defined revision naming schemes for the server.
  • Operations - use this command to access the Edit Operation Permissions dialog, with which to define and manage global operation permissions for the server.
  • Connection - use this command to access the Connection Properties dialog, with which to configure your connection to the server.
For another Concord Pro instance to which you have a connection (connected or disconnected), you will only have access to the Server configuration and Connection commands.

Signing into a Server from Different Computers

Support is provided for signing into your Concord Pro instance using the same credentials, but from different computers (other than the computer on which the server is installed). If you attempt to sign in to a server that you are already signed into from another computer - either through Altium Designer, or the server's browser-based interface - a pop-up dialog will alert you to this. You can choose from two options offered in the dialog:

  • Terminate existing session - close the existing session that you have on the other computer and continue to login to the server from the current computer.
  • Start new session - login to the server from the current computer by using an additional connection license and thereby keep logged into the server from the other computer as well.
The same user can be accessing Concord Pro concurrently in different ways (e.g. connected through Altium Designer AND signed-in through an external Web Browser) and it only counts as a single connection from the licensing perspective, when access is made from the same PC. If the same user accesses that instance of Concord Pro from different PCs, each different PC access will require a separate connection (so extra seat of a Client Access License). You will therefore only be able to login from the current computer as well, provided you have enough server Connector licenses (CAL) remaining.

Signing Out from Your Server

You can sign out from your Concord Pro instance from within Altium Designer, in the following ways:

  • By clicking the Active Server control, at the top-right of the main application window (e.g. ). In the subsequent menu, click the sign out control () at the far-right of the entry for the active Server.

Your access to the server will also be terminated when you exit Altium Designer. In addition, and for an Administrator of your server, there is the provision to drop a session from the Admin - Sessions page of Concord Pro's browser interface. This can be used to terminate an existing session and thereby free up a connection to that server.

Working in the Server

Related page: Working with the Explorer Panel - Feature How-Tos

Once you are signed-in to your Concord Pro instance you can access and create content. The primary interface to the server from Altium Designer is the Explorer panel.

From a purely component management perspective, much of the day-to-day interaction with your Concord Pro instance will be performed from within Altium Designer through the Components panel.

When you are working in Altium Designer you access full server content through the Explorer panel. For component management only, you'll tend to use the Components panel.When you are working in Altium Designer you access full server content through the Explorer panel. For component management only, you'll tend to use the Components panel.

To display a panel:

  • Click the  button at the bottom-right of Altium Designer and select the required panel from the menu that appears.
  • Choose the required panel entry from the View » Panels main menu.

 

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