Generated capacitor and resistor libraries from Digi-Key

[mrtn]

I generated several libraries for Altium (or Circuit Studio) using Database Libraries which I then exported to IntLibs.

I realize you can get many of these parts from Altium or other third parties. I wanted to figure out on my own how I could scrape data from Digi-Key and (almost) automatically create part libraries.

There are 6,029 resistors, all are Panasonic ERJ series. The resistors are split up into 6 different IntLibs according to package size: 0201, 0402, 0603, 0805, 1206, 2512. I scraped the data from Digi-Key to create these libraries and thus they contain a significant number of parameters that you can use for your BOM generation.

The capacitor libraries are similar. There are 4,739 capacitors in 6 different libraries split up according to package size: 0201, 0402, 0603, 0805, 1206, 1210. They all contain similar parameters as the resistors. All capacitors are Murata – because it was easier to scrape one manufacturer without getting thousands of duplicate value parts.

I did this mainly for my own education but I thought someone else might find it useful so I'm sharing them. Relatively speaking it was pretty quick making libraries for over 10,000 parts but I learned a few things:

• Microsoft Access sucks for this.
• Altium Designer (v15 at least) can't read .xlsx files properly
• Altium Designer v16 converts DBLIBs to IntLibs at a rate of about 1 part per second (IT TOOK A LONG TIME)
• Altium Designer v15 converts DBLIBs to IntLibs at a rate of about 25 parts per second
• If you want to keep libraries like this up to date you need Altium Designer because Circuit Studio can't handle DBlibs

Here's a link to my blog which has the downloads. [I don't have any ads on my blog so I hope nobody gets angry about me linking to it.]

http://martin.engineer/wp/?p=541

[kripton2035]

how did you download the parts list from digikey ?

[mrtn]

how did you download the parts list from digikey ?

At some point in recent history Digi-Key added a button labeled "Download Table" to their search function.
I'm not sure if it would be useful for me to write my own instructions on how I made the dblib. I used instructions from a YouTube video (I do not have the link handy.)

[KD0CAC John]

I found that learning / doing electrical repair , one of the difficulties for me has been trying to find / figure out the needed part .
Many times I would get to the Digi-key site or another , and have some spec's for a part and end up with a list of 200 - 500 options , if I was lucky I may get to as little as 100 options .
Now with SMD parts & getting smaller m there is not room for markings , and if there is , they are in-house with no relevance to be able to look up .
Then something that makes things even worse , is that you get no info from manufacture , they do not let out even just basic info .
I got started mostly from ham radio and most gear comes with a wiring diagram in the user manual - that spoiled me

Will see if this helps , but still just learning .
Thanks   

[kripton2035]

how did you download the parts list from digikey ?

At some point in recent history Digi-Key added a button labeled "Download Table" to their search function.
I'm not sure if it would be useful for me to write my own instructions on how I made the dblib. I used instructions from a YouTube video (I do not have the link handy.)

yes I have this "download table" button, but it downloads the current page, and the page has a 500 items max size
so to download 6000 capacitrors list, you need to download, then merge 12 times ?

[mrtn]

how did you download the parts list from digikey ?

At some point in recent history Digi-Key added a button labeled "Download Table" to their search function.
I'm not sure if it would be useful for me to write my own instructions on how I made the dblib. I used instructions from a YouTube video (I do not have the link handy.)

yes I have this "download table" button, but it downloads the current page, and the page has a 500 items max size
so to download 6000 capacitrors list, you need to download, then merge 12 times ?

I made 6 different libraries of capacitors and I think the largest has around 1200 parts.
Set the "Results Per Page" to 500 lines and then you only have to download three pages of parts.
Concatenate the CSV files and voila you have a 1200 part spreadsheet.

It seems like there may be interest in writing about how I made the libraries so I'll write a blog post about it and update you when it's ready. It's too much to write in a forum post.

I found that learning / doing electrical repair , one of the difficulties for me has been trying to find / figure out the needed part .
Many times I would get to the Digi-key site or another , and have some spec's for a part and end up with a list of 200 - 500 options , if I was lucky I may get to as little as 100 options .
Now with SMD parts & getting smaller m there is not room for markings , and if there is , they are in-house with no relevance to be able to look up .
Then something that makes things even worse , is that you get no info from manufacture , they do not let out even just basic info .
I got started mostly from ham radio and most gear comes with a wiring diagram in the user manual - that spoiled me

Will see if this helps , but still just learning .
Thanks   

John,
I've found that searching Digi-Key is an art that must be practiced to figure out. I know Dave has done at least one video where he goes over some basics about how he finds the right part. I think it's his video on his nixie tube driver that he's working on.

Here's how I do it:
I start by selecting "In Stock" and "Cut Tape" because I can't get by without either of those options (for SMT Parts -- for DIP parts or other through-hole parts you would use "Tube")

Then for example for a capacitor I select the package such as "0805" and the capacitance, then the voltage rating, then the tempco (e.g. "X5R")

That will get you pretty close most of the time. I often sort by price and choose the least expensive one that meets my requirements.

[tszaboo]

XSLX does not work, so just save it to XLS, and it will happily use it.
How were you able to insert this amount of data to altium? The last time I tried, it was tedious. Every library, I had to click "add column" a dozen times.
Any reason you convert it to intlib at the end? Dlib just works, and it is easier to edit. Is it faster to open or something?

[mrtn]

XSLX does not work, so just save it to XLS, and it will happily use it.
How were you able to insert this amount of data to altium? The last time I tried, it was tedious. Every library, I had to click "add column" a dozen times.
Any reason you convert it to intlib at the end? Dlib just works, and it is easier to edit. Is it faster to open or something?

I added the necessary columns in Excel. If the schematic symbol and footprint references are correct it all works fine.

I converted them to intlib so I could use the libraries in Circuit Studio.

[Harvs]

I finally got around to looking at these and I'm keen to hear how you went about this when you have time.

One area for improvement would be adding a column that has the component value in one multiplier base.  The libraries tab can't sort off the value or name properly, it mixes the pf and uf all together.

[mrtn]

I finally got around to looking at these and I'm keen to hear how you went about this when you have time.

One area for improvement would be adding a column that has the component value in one multiplier base.  The libraries tab can't sort off the value or name properly, it mixes the pf and uf all together.

That's a good idea. I can probably write some excel formula to fix the values to they way I like them. i.e. Digi-Key still doesn't use the nano prefix so a 10nF cap is 10000pF.

[technotronix]

Can you please share the steps or screenshot for download?

[mrtn]

Can you please share the steps or screenshot for download?

I assume you mean downloading the part list from Digi-Key. See the attached two images. Or did you mean something else?