Component with alternate patterns

[akis]

I have a choke which can be positioned in a variety of ways, vertically, horizontally, even sideways. How do I design a component that will appear on the schematic and during the PCB drawing will allow me to select one of the available patterns at will ?

[martinv]

I'm not sure if this is the best solution, but I make a separate pattern in the "Pattern Editor" for each orientation, then make as many duplicates of the component as needed in the "Component Editor".  Renaming each component and corresponding pattern for each orientation. 
e.g:

Pattern and Component names:
choke 1_Vertical
choke 1_Horizontal
choke 1_Sideways


Basically any time I need a modified version of a pattern, I save it to a new copy of the component with a new name.

 

[Kremmen]

I think that is the only way currently.

Another feature that i would love would be to borrow the concept of lifecycle from SW development tools. It would be ideal to have say a prototype layout where all the patterns would be optimized for self-made boards (bigger lands to account for unplated holes and manual drilling) and then the final production layout. Even there i would like to have options for large/normal/tight land geometries.

Oh well... maybe one day.

If any Novarm people are reading this board - when can we expect the next release of DipTrace? The list of features folks are waiting for is growing...

[akis]

That is how I do it currently, I have drawn multiple patterns and created multiple components even though they are all referring to the same. But if during PCB layout you need another shape, then you have to go back to the schematic to change the component.

[jolshefsky]

I currently use KiCAD and one of the things I like about it is the layout module editor permits the same pad number multiple times. So one thing I did was to make a "universal" trim-pot module (shown below; I also made a smaller footprint for fewer options). When I build a board, all the holes are there so I can use any one of an assortment of trim pots.) I made a compressor pressure switch board, for instance, and it has that pot module so I'll include a picture of the various pots that fit.

Otherwise, I agree with martinv:

I'm not sure if this is the best solution, but I make a separate pattern in the "Pattern Editor" for each orientation, then make as many duplicates of the component as needed in the "Component Editor".  Renaming each component and corresponding pattern for each orientation.

[Kremmen]

That is doable in DipTrace as well. Not by reusing pad numbers which i am not sure is a good idea anyway, but by defining connected pads in the component editor. Not ideal for a number of reasons, but it can be done.

[DerekG]

If any Novarm people are reading this board - when can we expect the next release of DipTrace? The list of features folks are waiting for is growing...

The latest beta version can be found at the bottom of their downloads page. It was released last month.

I installed it, but it is full of bugs when moving schematic connections (& tracks on the pcb) ................. so much so that I have uninstalled it until they work on it further.

Having said that, searching the component libraries has much improved along with being able to zoom in on footprints in the library before placement. Also, there have been lots of GUI improvements, leaving quite a bit of the clunkiness of the old interface behind.

Novarm will no doubt work on these bugs & I would expect they will put up a later beta (or version bump) within the next 2 or 3 months.

[John Coloccia]

Just make your main component with the pattern that you use most often.  Then make as many other patterns as you wish.  When your schematic, simply right click on the part, choose "Attached Pattern", and select the new pattern you want.  As with most commands, you can apply it to the current component, or all components like it.

Akis:
During PCB layout, you can not only replace the pattern with any other pattern, you can directly edit the pad properties if you need to.  No need to go back to the schematic, though it's always cleaner to have everything match.