Data Management - File-based Libraries

Created: April 22, 2019 | Updated: September 04, 2021 | Applies to versions: 19.1, 20.0, 20.1 and 20.2

Now reading version 20. For the latest, read: Data Management - File-based Libraries for version 21

The Data Management - File-based Libraries page of the Preferences dialog

Summary

The Data Management – File-based Libraries page of the Preferences dialog provides controls to manage the File-based Libraries list. The libraries defined on this list are part of the Altium Designer environment, and therefore, components/models within are available to all open projects.

The File-based Libraries list is reflected in and is also affected by changes made through the Installed tab of the Available File-based Libraries dialog. This dialog is accessed by clicking the

button at the top of the Components panel.

Access

The Data Management – File-based Libraries page is part of the main Preferences dialog that is accessed by clicking the control in the upper-right corner of the workspace then selecting the File-based Libraries entry under the Data Management folder.

Options/Controls

File Libraries

This region displays the file libraries that are available to your design projects in Altium Designer. The following supported library types can be added to the list:

Integrated Library
Schematic Library
Database Library
SVN Database Library
PCB 3D Model Library

For each entry in the list, the following information is presented:

Library Name - the name of the library. For non-vault libraries, the extension is also included.
Activated - use this control to determine whether the library is activated, and therefore available for use (enabled), or deactivated, and therefore not available for use (disabled). A deactivated library is treated as though it had been uninstalled but remains in the file library so it can be quickly re-activated.
Path - displays where the library resides relative to the nominated path specified in the Library Path Relative To field.
Type - the library's type.

Additional Controls

Library Path Relative To - any libraries added to the File Libraries list are installed relative to the folder specified in this field. Click on the folder icon at the right of this field to browse to the required folder, or enter the path to it directly.

For a default installation, library paths are relative to the following folder: \Users\Public\Documents\Altium\AD19\Library.

For a default installation, library paths are relative to the following folder: \Users\Public\Documents\Altium\NEXUS\Library.

While you can enter a full path to a library by editing its Path entry, be aware that the path will change to be relative to the specified path in the Library Path Relative To field after closing and opening the Preferences dialog.

Use of a relative path makes it easy to switch between different sets of libraries and control the source of components in your designs. Changing the entry for the path in the Library Path Relative To field will automatically reload those existing libraries in the list that are found at the new location.

A library that is not found along the specified relative path will be highlighted by the use of red text for its entry in the list. The entry in its Type field will change to Not Found and it will be automatically deactivated. A libray that cannot be found cannot be activated.

Move Up - click to move the selected library upward in the list (where possible).
Move Down - click to move the selected library downward in the list (where possible).

The order of the libraries in the list will be the order they appear within the corresponding drop-down on the Components panel.

Install - click to access a menu offering the following installation commands:
- Install from file - choose this command to access a standard Open dialog with which you can browse to and open the required standard, file-based library type (*.IntLib, *.SchLib, *.PcbLib , *.DbLib , *.SVNDbLib , *.PCB3DLib ).
- Install from server - choose this command to access the Server Library dialog. If you are connected to a server, you will be able to use this dialog to create the server 'library', defining its name and the path to each server folder to be included as part of that library.
Remove - click this button to remove the currently selected library(ies) from the list. You can select multiple libraries in the list using standard multi-select controls (Ctrl+click, Shift+click).

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