I am after a method of getting an error, or at least a warning, if I place a component without verifying the footprint.
The problem this is meant to fix is that for some quick projects I tend to use a generic symbol, for instance a resistor or capacitor, with the intention of completing the value and perhaps source until later. But the footprint needs specifying at some point, and the generic symbol will have a bunch of generic footprints - 0603, 1206, 0.4 axial, etc. OK so far: plonk the resistor down, going to be an 0603 no matter what value, burn the board then see about where to get it.
Sometimes, I forget about the footprint until almost too late. Or I do a global assignment but a solitary resistor isn't included. Then, typically, the default generic footprint gets used instead of the one that should be.
Of course, I could have no generic footprint but then I'd have to mess about assigning one from somewhere every time. The ideal would be to have a set of associated footprints but not have a default one, so generating the PCB would throw up an error if I haven't assigned one by then, but I get the benefit of the picklist to choose one. However, if there is one associated, Altium will use it by default.
I thought about having a default and then deleting the source, so Altium would complain that it couldn't be found when getting to the layout. But I'd need it to start with in order to assign it, and creating then deleting the invalid default for every component would be too much of a drag. Compiling the library would cause a complaint too.
So, and sorry if it took a while to get here, I figured what I need is a pukka footprint, to be used as the default, that will fail something only when it gets to being on the PCB. Perhaps pads 1mil apart or 1" diameter - the aim is to unambiguously let me know I've missed something (and earlier rather than later).
Any other ideas to achieve this?