New Project

Two variations of the New Project dialog showing Regular project options and VCS/Managed project options.

Summary

The New Project dialog is used to create an Altium Designer project file. Every design created in Altium Designer starts with a project file that stores project level settings, such as links to each of the design documents within that project. As well as creating the new project file on the hard drive, this dialog supports adding the new project to version control or creating it as a managed project.

The new project can be created:

• In a folder on the hard drive.
• In your version control system with a working copy in your preferred location.
• As a Managed Project with a working copy in your preferred location. A Managed Project is one that is stored in the version control system built into your Altium Vault.

Access

This dialog can be accessed in the following ways:

• Click File » New » Project.
• From the New from template region of the Files panell, click on any of the Projects entries.

Options/Controls

Project Types

Select the required project type from the list. If a template is available for the chosen type, it will appear in the Project Templates list.

Project Templates

After selecting a project type, the Project Templates region will list all available templates of the chosen project type. Templates are listed based on their file extension. Note that the project name defined in the Name field is prepended with the name of each document that belongs to the template project.

Name

When you click on a project type, a default name appears in the Name field; enter a suitable project name.

Create Project Folder

When the Create Project Folder option is enabled, a sub-folder with the same name as defined in the Name field will be created and the new project files will be saved in it.

Location

This is the folder location where the project files will be saved. Type in the location or click the Browse Location button to navigate to a new location. For a version controlled or managed project, this will be the location of the working copy.

Project Kind

Use the drop-down to select the type of project you want to create. Choices include:

• Regular - select to create a regular project.
• VCS - select to add this new project directly into your version control repository. When this option is selected, the following Repository options appear: 
  • Repository - the drop down will show the connected repositories defined in the Data Management - Design Repositories page of the Preferences dialog. Click Manage to open the Preferences dialog from where you can connect to a repository.
  • Repository Folder - enter a name for the folder of this project in the repository. Use the Browse button to open the Add to Version Control dialog from where you can navigate and create the required folder structure within the repository.
• Managed - select this option to create a managed project. When this option is selected, the following Repository options appear: 
  • Repository - the drop down will show the connected repositories defined in the Data Management - Design Repositories page of the Preferences dialog. Click Manage to open the Preferences dialog from where you can connect to a repository.
  • Repository Folder - enter a name for the folder of this project in the repository. Use the Browse button to open the Add to Version Control dialog from where you can navigate and create the required folder structure within the repository.

OK

When you click OK, the project and associated files will be created and saved and the project will be opened in the Projects panel.