Content Cart

The Content Cart dialog

Summary

The Content Cart dialog allows you to copy contents from a source Workspace to a target Workspace. This is control-central for defining what is to be acquired from the source Workspace and transferred into the nominated target Workspace – a trusty removal van that 'carts' your nominated data between established Workspace residences.

Access

The dialog is accessed by right-clicking on an Item of a folder (of Component of Generic Folder type) in the Explorer panel from the source Workspace then selecting Add to Content Cart from the right-click menu.

Options/Controls

Content Cart

• Use the Content Cart to copy content from <Source Workspace> into <Target Workspace> – this is a description of what the Content Cart will accomplish. Click the  control to select the desired target Workspace or open the Data Management – Servers page of the Preferences dialog, through the Server Administration entry.
• This Content Cart is called – the top-level folder for this acquired content uses the name of the cart itself. The default name is in the format Content Cart - <Current Date> - <Current Time> and is determined at the moment the cart is accessed.

• Change – click to open the Content Cart Name selection dialog to change the name of the Content Cart, if desired.

  You also can choose a folder in the target Workspace into which content on the cart is to be delivered. This can be an existing folder or a completely new one created on the fly. Browse to and select an existing folder for the cart using the Choose Folder dialog (a 'trimmed-down' version of the Explorer panel), which is accessed by clicking the button at the far right of the Content Cart name field in the Content Cart Name selection dialog. If desired, you can create a new folder within the folder structure using commands from the right-click menu.

• Add More Items – click to open a sub-menu to choose how to add the new item:

  • Select – click to open the Choose Item dialog from where you can browse the source Workspace for more Items. Items you can add include:

    • A single specific revision of an Item.
    • Multiple specific revisions of the same Item.
    • The latest revisions of multiple Items.
    • The latest revisions of all Items in the selected folder (and its descendent structure).
  • Add manually – click to open the Add new items dialog in which you can paste an external list of items that you require (one item per line), and that can then be searched for within the source Workspace using a chosen search criteria (GUID, Item ID, Name, or MPN).

Grid

This region lists all Items that you have chosen to acquire from the source Workspace.

• Source – lists the Revision ID and Folder of the selected items.
• Target – after Prepare Cart has been invoked, this area lists the Revision ID, Folder, Life Cycle, Naming Scheme, Note, Status, and Action for each listed item.

Right-click Menu

• Expand All – after Prepare Cart has been invoked, use to expand (open) all Items selected for acquisition and display their child Item.
• Collapse All – after Prepare Cart has been invoked, use to collapse (close) all Items selected for acquisition and hide their child Item.
• Columns – use the menus to toggle the display of data columns in both Source and Target regions.

Additional Controls

• Edit – click to edit the properties of a selected item.
• Remove – click to remove a selected item from the Content Cart.
• Change Settings – click to open the Content Cart structure dialog from where you can change the folder, lifecycle, item naming, revision scheme, and index properties for the content types. These settings are used to determine the properties of newly-created Item Revisions in the target Workspace – created ready and in the planned state to receive data from the original Item Revisions in the source Workspace.
• Prepare Cart – click to prepare the target Workspace for acquisition – checking the status of the chosen Item Revisions involved (in case they have been acquired previously), the parent-child links, and proposing the action to be taken. The results of this preparation phase are presented in the main acquisition grid.
• Deliver Cart – click to deliver the contents from the Content Cart to the target Workspace. A dialog will appear asking for confirmation to transfer the items in the Content Cart from the source Workspace to the target Workspace. A second confirmation dialog will confirm the results of the acquisition, with the acquired Items available to browse in the target Workspace through the Explorer panel.

Using the Content Cart for Acquisition to an IntLib

To be able to use this functionality in Altium NEXUS, you will need to enable the use of legacy component management methodologies. This is disabled by default in Altium NEXUS, as it is not recommended. You can restore this functionality by enabling the Legacy.UnManagedLibraries option in the Advanced Settings dialog – accessed by clicking the button, on the System – General page of the Preferences dialog. You will need to restart Altium NEXUS for the changes to this setting to take effect.

Perform the following steps to acquire into an IntLib file:

1. Click on the Select target server link then choose IntLib file from the menu.

2. Specify the name and location for the generated IntLib file. By default, the file will be named in the format Integrated_Library - <Date> - <Time>.IntLib, and will be generated in \Users\Public\Documents\Altium\AD<Version>\Library\ExportCmpLib. Modify this as required through the Save As dialog, which is accessed by clicking the Change link.

   Specify the name, and location, for the generated IntLib file. By default, the file will be named in the format Integrated_Library - <Date> - <Time>.IntLib, and generated in the location \Users\Public\Documents\Altium\NEXUS<Version>\Library\ExportCmpLib. Modify this as required through the Save As dialog – accessed by clicking the Change link.

3. If you need to acquire additional components into the same IntLib, click the Add More Items link then choose Select to access the Choose Item dialog (a 'trimmed-down' version of the Explorer panel), in which you can browse the source Workspace for more Items. Alternatively, choose the Add manually entry to access the Add new items dialog, which allows you to paste an external list of items that you require (one item per line), and that can then be searched for within the source Workspace using a chosen search criteria (GUID, Item ID, Name, or MPN).
4. Once ready, click the Deliver Cart button to proceed with generation of the IntLib. A temporary Integrated Library Package (*.LibPkg) will be created with source SchLib (including symbols, parameters, and model links) and PcbLib (including footprint models) files generated and added. This is then compiled to produce the IntLib file, which is generated in the specified folder. An information dialog will confirm successful generation of the file.