Altium - Problem: ECO from schematic to PCB doesn't work

[DaJones]

In looking at Altium recently, I noticed that changes in the pcb editor cannot reliably be ported back to the schematic editor via ECO.

I can start with a bare board, place a single resistor on it and try and get the resistor added to the schematic via an ECO, but whether I
start anew or work on an existing project, Altium doesn't seem to want to take changes made to the PCB layout and port them back to
the schematic. Not even the simple addition of a net ( connection ) or a part.

It SAYS it sees the changes, but that it can't automatically generate the ECO, and I'm presented with a dialog box to decide what to
do with the changes. Once I tell it what to do with each change, it tells me that though there were changes it did not execute the
changes and suggests that I look at the Project Options - which I've played around with to no good effect.

Can anyone offer a suggestion on how to get the ECO to work properly?


Thanks

[Rufus]

Can anyone offer a suggestion on how to get the ECO to work properly?

You need to reconsider your notion of 'work properly'.

A component placed on a PCB defines only a footprint, designator and comment. The footprint could be shared by thousands of schematic symbols, how could it know which symbol to place in the schematic?

There is no concept of schematics containing nets which have not yet been drawn and no support for attempting to modify the schematic drawing to match nets which have changed.

Changes from PCB to schematic are limited to modification of footprint, designator and comment. It could probably support deleting components and nets but it doesn't.

It just doesn't do what you seem to think it should, but, no one else thinks it should so it isn't a problem.

[joelby]

Agreed, I always make changes on the schematics and then push those to the PCB with an ECO, as this is the only way it works reliably! I wouldn't consider placing new components directly on a PCB unless I was doing a design with no schematic at all.. and I wouldn't consider doing that

[DaJones]

You need to reconsider your notion of 'work properly'.

A component placed on a PCB defines only a footprint, designator and comment. The footprint could be shared by thousands of schematic symbols, how could it know which symbol to place in the schematic?

There is no concept of schematics containing nets which have not yet been drawn and no support for attempting to modify the schematic drawing to match nets which have changed.

Changes from PCB to schematic are limited to modification of footprint, designator and comment. It could probably support deleting components and nets but it doesn't.

Thanks for the info, Rufus... though not totally accurate.

Ultiboard allows you to push changes either way without problems, and I seem to remember that Orcad works the same way.

And the fact that Altium ALLOWS you to place parts on the board ( parts, not footprints ) from the same parts list as the schematic editor kind of implies that this is a "workable" way to place a part.

It just doesn't do what you seem to think it should, but, no one else thinks it should so it isn't a problem.

I don't know you...
I've never spoken to you...
So...

What's up with the snarky attitude?



Dave

[DaJones]

It looks like you were right, Rufus.

If I drag a "part" into the pcb ( like "2n3904" ), what I actually end up with is just a footprint with none of the "2n3904" schematic part info.

That causes me to scratch my head!

What in the world is the point of allowing users to place "parts" ( from the "Parts List" ) onto the pcb, when the program is just going to
strip any actual "part" information out and place a footprint instead.

The other programs I've used ( Ultiboard, Orcad and Pads ) all allow placing parts on the pcb and pushing the changes to the schematic.

It's really rare for me to need to do something like that, so it's not a big deal. I was just surprised that Altium couldn't do it.