Components with Duplicate Pins

Parent category: Violations Associated with Components

Default report mode:

Summary

This violation occurs when two or more pins in a component have the same designator.

Notification

If compiler errors and warnings are enabled for display on the schematic (enabled on the Schematic - Compiler page of the Preferences dialog), an offending object will display a colored squiggle beneath it. Hovering over the object will display a pop-up hint that summarizes the violation.A notification is also displayed in the Messages panel in the following format:

Duplicate pins in component Pin <Identifier1> and Pin <Identifier2>

where:

• Identifier1 is the identifier for the first instance of the duplicated pin, represented by the part designator-pin designator pairing
• Identifier2 is the identifier for the second instance of the duplicated pin, represented by the part designator-pin designator pairing.

Recommendation for Resolution

Change the designator of the offending pin(s) accordingly, so that each has a unique assignment. Pin designators can be edited from within the Schematic Editor for a component that has already been placed:

• If the component pins are not locked, you can simply select the pin and edit its designator through the Properties panel.
• Otherwise edit the pin(s) using the Component Pin Editor dialog. With the component selected in the design workspace, access to this dialog is made from the Properties panel by clicking the  button, below the Pins section, on the Pins tab of the panel.

Typically, the duplication will reside in the library component, in which case you should edit the pin designator for that component in the source schematic library and then pass the change on to placed instances of the component, using the Update From Libraries (Schematic Editor) or Update Schematics (Schematic Library Editor) commands. Both commands are available from the main Tools menus of these editors respectively.

Tips

1. Object hints will only appear provided the Enable Connectivity Insight option is enabled on the System - Design Insight page of the Preferences dialog. Use the controls associated with the Object Hints entry in the Connectivity Insight Options region of the page to determine the launch style for such hints (Mouse Hover and/or Alt+Double Click). 
2. Only one error instance will be listed in the Messages panel for each distinct component. A component may well have more than two pins with the same designator, but when investigating the error using the Details region of the panel, only the first two duplicate pins (in alphabetical pin name order) will be listed.