Item Manager

Now reading version 21. For the latest, read: Item Manager for version 22
Applies to Altium Designer version: 21
 

The Item Manager dialog
The Item Manager dialog

Summary

The Item Manager dialog provides controls to update local design content or batch updates using automated Parameter matching in a current board design project to use Workspace design content that resides in one or more Workspace.

Access

The Item Manager dialog is accessed by clicking Tools » Item Manager in the schematic editor.

You need to be connected to a Workspace and have a schematic document open from the active project to access and use the Item Manager.

Options/Controls

  • Type – displays the icon of the entity.
  • Designator – displays the Item designator.
  • Item – displays the Item-Revision ID and Item name (for Workspace entity), Design Item ID (for a non-Workspace component), or file name (for a non-Workspace sheet symbol).
  • Document – displays the document in which the Item is located.

The middle section of the dialog shows component settings of the active project (Current Settings), while the right section lists how they will change (New Settings) when a suitable Workspace component or managed sheet has been assigned. The regions are described in detail below.

Current Settings

For each design entity, listed in terms of its designator, the following information is presented in this region of the grid:

  • Design Item ID – displays the Item-Revision ID (for a Workspace entity) or Design Item ID (for a non-Workspace component). For a non-Workspace sheet symbol, this field is blank.
  • Name – displays the comment (for a component) or the file name (for a sheet symbol).
  • Lifecycle State – the current lifecycle state of the revised component or managed schematic sheet revision. The Items that have been soft-deleted will have the state Deleted. The non-Workspace entries will have the state [Not Managed].
  • Revision Status – if the revision is in an applicable state (allowed for use in designs), this field reflects that the revision is the latest (Up to date) or not (Out to date). The Items that have been soft-deleted will have the status Deleted. For non-Workspace entries, this field is blank.
  • From – the source Workspace or library from which the entity in the design was placed. For a non-Workspace sheet symbol, this field is blank.

New Settings

This region presents information about the proposed change. It has the same fields as the Current Settings region, but these fields carry slightly different meanings when dealing with Workspace content:

  • Revision HRID – displays the Item-Revision ID.
  • Name – the name of the Item.
  • Lifecycle State – the current lifecycle state of the chosen component or managed schematic sheet revision.
  • Revision Status – the current revision status of the chosen component or managed schematic sheet revision.
  • From – the name of the source Workspace in which the chosen component or managed schematic sheet resides.
  • Footprint – the name of the associated footprint. For a sheet symbol, this field is blank.
For multiple instances of the same component used in a design, you can select a group of components and manually choose the required Workspace. The choice will be applied to all components in the selection. Standard multi-select features (Ctrl+Click and Shift+Click) can be used to select groupings.

Grid Region Additional Commands

Right-Click Menu

  • Update to latest revision – use to update the currently selected Item to the latest revision.
    Note that if there are multiple managed schematic sheet instances in the design project that are referencing the same out-of-date Managed Schematic Sheet Item revision, you will be prompted to update all these instances when updating if not all of these instances are selected. Select Yes in the Confirmation dialog that appears to proceed.
  • Automatch – click to open the Automatching Items dialog.
  • Choose manually – use to open the Replace Component dialog or the Choose Managed Sheet dialog, which provides direct access to available Workspace content.
    You also can double-click an item in the grid to manually choose an Item.
    Note that if there are multiple managed schematic sheet instances in the design project that are referencing the same Managed Schematic Sheet Item revision, you will be prompted to update all these instances when choosing another managed sheet if not all of these instances are selected. Select Yes in the Confirmation dialog that appears to proceed.
  • Refresh – use to refresh the information in the grid region.
  • Cross Probe – use to cross probe and locate the Item in the appropriate schematic.
  • Show in Explorer – use to show the Item in the Explorer panel.
  • Export – use to export the item report using the Export for dialog.

Tabs

Use the tabs at the bottom of the grid region to populate ("filter") the region with the following specific content in the current design:

  • All – display all the content in the current design.
  • Unmanaged – only display content that is local in the current design (i.e. they have not been placed from a Workspace).
  • Managed – only display Workspace content in the current design.
  • Components – only display components in the current design.
  • Alternate Components – only display any alternate components in the current design.
  • Sheet Symbols – only display sheet symbols in the current design.
  • Ambiguous Items – only display any ambiguous items in the current design.
  • Ambiguous Footprints – only display any ambiguous footprints in the current design.
    To resolve any ambiguous Items, generally caused by multiple matches, select the Ambiguous Items or Ambiguous Footprints tab and make a suitable choice from the Not selected menu in the dialog’s New Settings section. Note that multiple matches, and therefore the available choices, can be referencing different revisions of the same component. When the issue is resolved (no longer classed as ambiguous), the component will move to the Managed/Components tab lists.

Additional Controls

  • Options – click to open the Item Manager Options dialog in which you can further refine how auto-matched Workspace components are applied to the current board design.
  • Automatch – click to open the Automatching Items dialog. The matching process compares a local item against the properties of Workspace Items according to the matching rules defined in the Item Manager Options dialog. When a match is found, that Workspace Item (component or managed schematic sheet) will be proposed for the update. This command also is available on the right-click menu of the grid region.
    The software will attempt to find a matching Workspace Item in any currently connected (and enabled) Workspace.
  • ECO – use the drop-down to select which option is desired:
    • Generate ECO – once changes have been set up as required, click this option to generate an Engineering Change Order and browse the actions that will be taken to implement those changes. You can disable any actions as required since you always have full control regarding what gets changed.
    • Apply ECO – select to execute the ECO. It will bypass the ECO browsing process.
Note

The features available depend on your level of Altium Designer Software Subscription.

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