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Parent page: Workspace Content Types

Altium NEXUS, in conjunction with your connected Workspace, caters for the ability to create and manage layerstacks (Layerstack Items) in that Workspace. Such layerstacks can be created:

• Through Direct Editing.
• Through saving of the current stack definition, in the Stackup Editor.
• By uploading the relevant Layer Stackup file (*.stackup) to a revision of a target layerstack.

Once a layerstack has been created (and data saved/uploaded into a revision of it), it can be reused in future board-level design projects.

In addition, a Layerstack Item can be used as a configuration data item in one or more defined Environment Configurations. An environment configuration is used to constrain a designer's Altium NEXUS working environment to only use company-ratified design elements. Environment configurations are defined and stored within the Team Configuration Center – a service provided through the Workspace, and the facilitator of this concept of Environment Configuration Management. For more information, see Environment Configuration Management (for an Altium 365 Workspace or a NEXUS Server Workspace).

Folder Type

When creating the folder in which to store a layerstack, you can specify the folder's type. This has no bearing on the content of the folder – saving a layer stackup will always result in a Layerstack Item. It simply provides a visual 'clue' as to what is stored in a folder and can be beneficial when browsing a Workspace for particular content. To nominate a folder's use as a container for layerstacks, set its Folder Type as Layerstacks, when defining the folder properties in the Edit Folder dialog.

Specifying the folder type – its intended use – gives a visual indication of the content of that folder when browsing the Workspace.

Content Type

When creating the target Layerstack Item in which to store your layer stack definition, ensure that its Content Type is set to Layerstack, in the Create New Item dialog. If you are creating the Item in a Layerstacks type folder, this content type will be available from the right-click context menu when creating the Item.

Creating a layerstack within a Layerstacks folder – the correct Content Type is available on the context menu.

Saving a Layer Stack Definition

Related page: Creating and Editing Content Directly through a Workspace

So far, we've discussed the support for a layerstack in the Workspace, in terms of related folder and content types. Saving an actual layer stack definition into the revision of a Layerstack Item can be performed in a couple of ways.

Direct Editing

A layer stackup definition can be edited and saved into the initial revision of a newly-created Layerstack Item, courtesy of the Workspace's support for direct editing. Direct editing frees you from the shackles of separate version-controlled source data. You can simply edit a supported content type using a temporary editor loaded with the latest source direct from the Workspace itself. And once editing is complete, the entity is saved (or re-saved) into a subsequent planned revision of its parent Item, and the temporary editor closed. There are no files on your hard drive, no questioning whether you are working with the correct or latest source, and no having to maintain separate version control software. The Workspace handles it all, with great integrity, and in a manner that greatly expedites changes to your data.

When you create a Layerstack Item, you have the option to edit and save a layer stackup definition into the initial revision of that Item, after creation. To do so, enable the option Open for editing after creation, at the bottom of the Create New Item dialog (which is enabled by default). The Item will be created and the temporary Stackup Editor will open, presenting a .stackup document as the active document in the main design window. This document will be named according to the Item-Revision, in the format <Item><Revision>.stackup (e.g. ALS-0005-1.stackup).

Example of editing the initial revision of a layerstack, directly from the Workspace – the temporary Stackup Editor provides the layer stackup document with which to define your layer stack.

Use the document to define the layer stackup as required. For more information, see Defining the Layer Stack.

There are three relevant controls when direct editing, readily available from the Quick Access Bar (at the top-left of the main application window):

• – Save Active Document. Use this button to locally save any changes made to the document. This allows you to save current changes, should you wish to come back at a later stage to make further changes before ultimately saving to the Workspace.

• / – Save to Workspace. Use this button to save the defined layer stack document to the Workspace, storing it within the initial (planned) revision of the target Layerstack Item. The Edit Revision dialog will appear, in which you can change Name, Description, and add release notes as required. The document and editor will close after the save. The layer stack document, *.stackup, will be stored in the revision of the Item.

  A Save to Server control is also conveniently provided to the right of the layerstack's entry, within the Projects panel itself.
• / – Discard Local Changes. Use this button if you wish to cancel editing and discard any changes made. The document and editor will close, and nothing will be saved to the target Layerstack Item.

These controls are also available as commands – Save (shortcut: Ctrl+S), Save to Server (shortcut: Ctrl+Alt+S), and Discard Local Changes – from the main File menu and from the right-click menu of the layerstack's entry in the Projects panel.

The saved data stored in the Workspace consists of the layer stackup definition, defined in the Layer Stackup file (*.stackup). In the Explorer panel, switch to the Preview aspect view tab to see the layer stackup.

Browse the saved revision of the layerstack, back in the Explorer panel. Switch to the Preview aspect view tab to see the layer stackup information.

Saving the Current Layer Stack

You can also save the current layer stackup defined for the active board design, to your Workspace, directly from within the Stackup Editor (from within the PCB, Design » Layer Stack Manager). To do so, choose the File » Save to Server command from the main menus. The Choose Planned Item Revision dialog will appear – use this to choose the next planned revision of an existing Layerstack Item, or create a new Layerstack Item on-the-fly.

After clicking OK, the Edit Revision dialog will appear, in which you can change Name, Description, and add release notes as required. Click OK when ready – the saving will proceed, with the resulting layer stackup definition, stored in the revision of the target Layerstack Item, available for preview through the Explorer panel.

Saving the layer stackup currently defined for the active board design, to a planned revision of a target Layerstack Item in the connected Workspace.

Uploading a Stackup File

You can also upload a Layer Stackup file into the revision of a Layerstack Item. This can be performed in a couple of ways.

Upload Menu

A Layer Stackup file can be uploaded by right-clicking on the required Layerstack Item in the Explorer panel, and choosing the Upload command from the context menu. The Create New Revision dialog will appear, in which you can change Name, Description, and add release notes as required. Use the Sources region of the dialog to load the required Layer Stackup file. This can be performed by dragging and dropping the file from Windows Explorer, onto the region. Alternatively, click the button – the Add Files dialog (a standard Windows open-type dialog) will appear. Use this to browse to, and open, the required file (*.stackup).

Manually specifying the Layer Stackup file to be uploaded to the target Layerstack Item.

Once the desired file is dropped in, or selected and the Open button clicked, an entry for it will appear back in the Sources region. Proceed with the upload by clicking the OK button. The uploaded file will be available on the Details aspect view tab for the layerstack, in the Explorer panel. Switch to the Preview aspect view tab to browse the stackup itself.

The uploaded file is listed on the Details aspect view tab for the revision of the Layerstack Item.

Drag and Drop from Windows Explorer

A Layer Stackup file can also be uploaded by dragging the selected file from a source folder in your Windows Explorer, and dropping onto the required target Layerstack Item in the Explorer panel. The Create New Revision dialog will appear, with the dragged file listed in the Sources region. Modify Name (which will be the file name, including extension) and Description (which will be in the format Uploaded from <FileNameandPath>, Size <FileSize>, Created on <FileCreationDate>), and add any Release Notes as required, and then click the OK button.

Uploading a Layer Stackup file using the drag and drop method.

Reusing a Layerstack

Related page: Controlling Access to Workspace Content

Once a layer stackup has been saved to a Workspace, and its lifecycle state set to a level that the organization views as ready for use at the design level, that layer stackup can be reused in future board-level design projects.

When you are connected to your Workspace, you are free to manually choose a revision of a layerstack. To do so, choose the File » Load Stackup From Server command from the main menus. The Choose Item Revision dialog will appear (essentially an incarnation of the Explorer panel) – use this to load layer stackup data from a revision of a target Layerstack Item in the Workspace.

Accessing the command to load a desired revision of a Layerstack Item into the Stackup Editor.

Re-Saving a Layerstack

At any stage, you can come back to any revision of a layerstack in the Workspace, and edit it directly. Right-click on the revision and choose the Edit command from the context menu. Once again, the temporary editor will open, with the layer stackup definition contained in the revision opened for editing. Make changes as required, then save the document into the next revision of the layerstack.

Accessing the command to launch direct editing of an existing layerstack revision.

Updating a Layerstack

If you need to change the layer stackup stored in a Layerstack Item, and you have the updated Layer Stackup file, you can upload that file to that Item – the new file will be stored in the next revision of that Item.

Downloading a Layer Stackup File

Downloading the Layer Stackup file stored in a revision of a layerstack can be performed from the Explorer panel in the following ways:

• By right-clicking on that revision and choosing the Operations » Download command from the context menu. The file will be downloaded into a sub-folder under the chosen directory, named using the Item Revision ID. The file can be found in the Released folder therein.

  Access the Download command from the top-level entry for a layerstack itself, to download the Layer Stackup file stored in the latest revision of that layerstack.
  Click the Explore button in the Download from Server dialog, to quickly explore to the download folder.
• By selecting the file for the layerstack revision, on its Details aspect view tab, right-clicking, and choosing the Download command from the context menu. Nominate the target folder to receive the file, in the subsequent Choose destination folder dialog.

Opening a Layer Stackup File

To open a Layer Stackup file that is stored in a revision of a Layerstack Item, select that file – on the Details aspect view tab for the revision – then right-click and choose the Open command from the context menu. The file will be opened within Altium NEXUS.

Soft Deletion

When connected to a Workspace, flexible functionality is available for removing a layerstack directly from within Altium NEXUS:

• From the Explorer panel – right-click on the layerstack's entry in the panel and choose the Delete Item command from the context menu.
• From the Templates tab of the Data Management – Templates page of the Preferences dialog – right-click on the template's entry in the dialog and choose the Delete command from the context menu.

The Delete Items dialog will appear, in which to confirm the deletion. The action is actually a 'soft delete', whereby the layerstack will be moved into the Trash area of the Workspace. The Trash is essentially a recycle bin into which any content within your Workspace can be moved (through a soft delete action). It is isolated from the rest of the Workspace.

Soft deletion of a layerstack. The layerstack will be moved to the Workspace's Trash area.

To proceed with the deletion, click the button. The layerstack will be removed and a Deletion Summary dialog will confirm successful deletion. If there was an issue with deletion, this will be flagged to you.

All content deleted in this manner can be found on the Trash page of the Workspace's browser interface. Note that you can only view the content that you have personally soft deleted. Administrators will be able to see the full content of the Trash page – so all content that has been soft deleted.

Things to consider in relation to a soft deleted layerstack:

• The layerstack will not be available from your design software, or from within the Web interface.
• Anywhere the layerstack was being used will reflect that the layerstack has been deleted.
• A layerstack can be restored, or permanently deleted from the Trash page, provided you have editing rights. Permanent deletion is only possible provided it is not being used by a parent item.