Project Options - Parameters

Modified by Jason Howie on Mar 11, 2015
Contents

Parent page: WorkspaceManager Dialogs

The Parameters tab of the Options for PCB Project dialog.

Summary

This tab of the Options for PCB Project dialog enables you to manage parameters defined for the project, often referred to as project-level parameters. Parameters defined at the project-level are available for use across all schematic sheets and PCB documents in the project, through the use of special strings (=<ProjectParameterName> on a schematic, and .<ProjectParameterName> on a PCB).

Parameters defined on this tab will appear in the drop-down listings of available special strings for the respective Text fields in the Annotation dialog (schematic string object), and String dialog (PCB text string object).
PCBWorks supports parameters at various levels of the project - project-level parameters, document-level parameters (defined for a schematic sheet), and variant-level parameters. They also have a hierarchy, which means you can create a parameter with the same name at different levels of the project, each having different values. PCBWorks resolves this with the following order of precedence: Variant (highest priority) ---> Schematic Document ---> Project (lowest priority). That means the parameter value defined in the schematic document overrides the value defined in the Project options, and the value defined in the variant overrides the value defined in the schematic document. Note that schematic-level parameters are not available on the PCB or in the BoM, for these types of output you should use project or variant parameters.
When working with an Integrated Library project (*.LibPkg), the Parameters tab is part of the Options for Integrated Library dialog - a variation of the dialog described here.

Access

This is one of multiple tabs available when configuring the options for a project – accessed from within the Options for PCB Project dialog. This dialog is accessed by:

  • Clicking Project | Content | , from the main menus in the Schematic Editor, or the PCB Editor.
  • Right-clicking on the entry for the project itself, on the Projects panel, and choosing Project Options from the context menu.
Only the second method of access can be used for an Integrated Library project.

Options/Controls

  • Parameters Grid - the main region of the tab lists all of the parameters currently defined for the project, in terms of:
    • Name - the name of the parameter.
    • Value - the value of the parameter.
A parameter can be modified with respect to either of these attributes directly in the grid.
  • Add - click this button to add a new parameter to the list. The Parameter Properties dialog will appear. Use this to define the parameter, in terms of its Name and Value.
  • Remove - click this button to delete the selected parameter(s) from the list of parameters.
  • Edit - click this button to modify the currently selected parameter. The Parameter Properties dialog will appear, with which to do so.

Right-Click Commands

The following commands are available on the tab's right-click menu:

  • Edit - use this command to modify the currently selected parameter. The Parameter Properties dialog will appear, with which to do so.
  • Add - use this command to add a new parameter to the list. The Parameter Properties dialog will appear. Use this to define the parameter, in terms of its Name and Value.
  • Remove - use this command to delete the selected parameter(s) from the list of parameters.
  • Copy - use this command to copy the selected parameter(s) to the Windows clipboard.
  • Paste - use this command to paste parameter(s) on the Windows clipboard, back into the paramaters list on the tab.
The Copy and Paste commands support the ability to define a set of parameters in an external spreadsheet (such as Microsoft Excel), and paste them into the tab. If a parameter being pasted has the same name as an existing parameter in the list, the value for the existing parameter will be overwritten with that being pasted. If a parameter being pasted has a different name to any in the existing list, that parameter will simply be added at the bottom of the list.

 

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