Violations Associated with Harnesses when Validating a Design in Altium Designer

Created: June 6, 2015 | Updated: August 10, 2021
Applies to Altium Designer version: 21

The Violations Associated with Harnesses region on the Error Reporting tab of the Project Options dialog
The Violations Associated with Harnesses region on the Error Reporting tab of the Project Options dialog

Logical, electrical, and drafting awareness in your schematic diagram can be verified during design project verification according to rules defined as part of the options for the design project – on the Error Reporting and Connection Matrix tabs of the Project Options dialog.

For a detailed overview of verifying your captured design, see Verifying Your Design Project.

The Violations Associated with Harnesses region on the Error Reporting tab of the Project Options dialog allows specifying the severity level associated with check of harness-related violations that can exist in source documents when validating a project. Use the following collapsible sections to access information on each violation available in this region.

For more information on signal harnesses, see Working with Signal Harnesses.

Default report mode:

Summary

This violation occurs when there are conflicting Harness Entries for the same Harness Type, either at a graphical or textual level (in the Harness Definition File).

Notification

If validation 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:

Conflicting Harness Definition for <HarnessType>

where:

  • HarnessType is the current conflicting Harness Type.

Recommendation for Resolution

Use the Details region of the Messages panel to quickly cross probe to the offending objects (Harness Definition Files and Harness Connectors) within the Signal Harness. Update the Harness Definition File to reflect the changes, or remove the offending Harness Entry.

Harness Definition Files for the design can be found in the Settings\Harness Definitions Files folder for that project, in the Projects panel.

Note

Use the controls associated with the Object Hints entry in the Connectivity Insight Options region (the System – Design Insight page of the Preferences dialog) to determine the launch style for object hints (Mouse Hover and/or Alt+Double Click).

Default report mode:

Summary

This violation occurs when either the Harness Type has invalid characters (such as [ ] { } . : ) or if the Harness Type is blank.

Notification

If validation 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.

If the Harness Type has invalid characters, this message is displayed in the following format:

Harness Connector Type <HarnessType> should not contain these characters [] {}. :

where:

  • HarnessType is the current conflicting Harness Type.

If the Harness Type is blank, this message is displayed in the following format:

Harness Connector Type cannot be Blank

Recommendation for Resolution

Use the Details region of the Messages panel to quickly cross probe to the offending Harness Connector. With the connector selected, specify a valid Harness Type in the Properties section of the Properties panel. Ensure the entry does not contain invalid characters.

Note

Use the controls associated with the Object Hints entry in the Connectivity Insight Options region (the System – Design Insight page of the Preferences dialog) to determine the launch style for object hints (Mouse Hover and/or Alt+Double Click).

Default report mode:

Summary

This violation occurs when a Signal Harness connecting Sheet Entries or connecting a Sheet Entry to a Port is missing a Harness Type.

Notification

If validation 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:

Missing Harness Type on Signal Harness

Recommendation for Resolution

Use the Details region of the Messages panel to quickly cross-probe to the offending objects (Sheet Entries or Ports) within the Signal Harness. Specify a Harness Type across the Signal Harness for at least one of the objects:

  • Port – specify a Harness Type in the Properties section on the General tab of the Properties panel (which presents all properties for the selected object).
  • Sheet Entry – specify a Harness Type in the Properties section of the Properties panel (which presents all properties for the selected object).

Note

Use the controls associated with the Object Hints entry in the Connectivity Insight Options region (the System – Design Insight page of the Preferences dialog) to determine the launch style for object hints (Mouse Hover and/or Alt+Double Click).

Default report mode:

Summary

This violation occurs when there are multiple Harness Types defined across a Signal Harness.

Notification

If validation 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:

Multiple harness types on harness <HarnessType1>, <HarnessType2>

where:

  • HarnessType1 and HarnessType2 are the multiple Harness Types specified across the Signal Harness.

Recommendation for Resolution

Use the Details region of the Messages panel to quickly cross probe to the offending objects (Sheet Entries, Ports, Harness Connectors, Harness Entries) within the Signal Harness. Specify only one Harness Type across the Signal Harness:

  • Port – specify a Harness Type in the Properties section, on the General tab of the Properties panel (which presents all properties for the selected object).
  • Sheet Entry – specify a Harness Type in the Properties section of the Properties panel (which presents all properties for the selected object).
  • Harness Connector – specify a Harness Type in the Properties section of the Properties panel (which presents all properties for the selected object).
  • Harness Entry – specify a Harness Type in the Properties section of the Properties panel (which presents all properties for the selected object).

Notes

  • Use the controls associated with the Object Hints entry in the Connectivity Insight Options region (the System – Design Insight page of the Preferences dialog) to determine the launch style for object hints (Mouse Hover and/or Alt+Double Click).
  • When you need to allow a specific point in the circuit not to report a violation of this type, you can place a Specific No ERC directive directly at the error location from the Messages panel – you can do this by right-clicking a message reporting the violation to suppress, then choosing the Place Specific No ERC for this violation command.

Default report mode:

Summary

This violation occurs when a Harness Type is found but a matching definition cannot be found in a Harness Definition file. This can happen for one of two reasons:

  • A Signal Harness is connected to an object (Sheet Entry, Port, or Harness Entry) with an unknown Harness Type.
  • When a Harness Entry in a Harness Definition file refers to an unknown Harness Type.

Notification

If validation 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:

Unknown Harness Type <HarnessType>

where:

  • HarnessType is the current unknown Harness Type.

Recommendation for Resolution

Use the Details region of the Messages panel to quickly cross-probe to the offending object and then ensure that Sheet Entries, Ports and Harness Entries have a known Harness Type and that Harness Definitions are accurate:

  • Port – specify a Harness Type in the Properties section on the General tab of the Properties panel (which presents all properties for the selected object).
  • Sheet Entry – specify a Harness Type in the Properties section of the Properties panel (which presents all properties for the selected object).
  • Harness Entry – specify a Harness Type in the Properties section of the Properties panel (which presents all properties for the selected object).

Note

Use the controls associated with the Object Hints entry in the Connectivity Insight Options region (the System – Design Insight page of the Preferences dialog) to determine the launch style for object hints (Mouse Hover and/or Alt+Double Click).

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