SnapEDA - make parts public - does it work for you?

[hanakp]

Over the years, I've created Eagle libraries for dozens special parts, so I thought I'd make them public on SnapEDA. Except it doesn't work. I took special care to observe all their standards (their Verification Checker is all green), but the parts are never made public. One of my colleagues has exactly the same experience. In fact, I'm starting to think the whole function is just a lure for suckers to upload their parts for free, so SnapEDA can sell them for 30 USD a pop in their InstaPart service. Did you ever manage to make parts truly public there?

[Elictro]

Hello!

I'm so sorry you ran into trouble uploading parts. It looks like this an issue with our on-page caching which we rolled out recently. When a part is uploaded, it isn't shown until the page cache refreshes. We're aware of this issue and it's actually scheduled on our current sprint to fix.

In the meantime, I went ahead and cleared the cache manually. You'll now see the parts you uploaded live on the part pages. Here's an example: https://www.snapeda.com/parts/THS7530PWP/Texas%20Instruments/view-part/. If you hover over your username at the top right, you'll see the date of upload.

We'll send another update when our cache invalidation fix is live, which should be in the next few days. Thanks so much for flagging this, it's extremely helpful to know where people are getting stuck!

Elizabeth

[faustarenas]

Hello there!

Faust here from SnapEDA. We just want to let you know that the cache fix is live! You can now upload your libraries and share it with the community without having us refreshing the cache manually.

Once again, we apologize for the inconvenience and thanks again for flagging it. Your uploaded libraries will be really helpful for the community!
Let us know if you ran into an issue again, we're here to help.

Faust

[hanakp]

Well, it still doesn't work for me. I tried uploading library for SR10010F-0204 switch, which already was in SnapEDA database. My library contains both symbol and package, but they don't appear in the search results, only datasheet is available for download as before. You can try this yourself, I'm attaching the library to this post.

Moreover, the "Your Uploaded Models" page is now broken - when I click on previously uploaded THS7530PWP, it will display details about the part. But when I click on the newly uploaded  SR10010F-0204, nothing happens. Or more precisely, the link leads back to the https://www.snapeda.com/parts/your_models/ page, not to actual part detail.

[faustarenas]

Hello hanakp!

We apologize for the inconvenience. The main reason for this is that the part you uploaded is not an orderable part number and our system could not find any match and thus it will only be available in Your Uploaded Models list. Upon checking on the file you sent, SR10010F-0204 is an incomplete part number. According to the datasheet http://www.taiwanalpha.com/downloads?target=products&id=219, on page 1 shows that the orderable part number format is Model - Number of Pole & Position - Shaft Type - Bushing Type - Timing. I assume that the part you uploaded is an SR10010F model, 2 poles 4 positions and any type of shaft. Our system has the part number with Flat-shaft type which makes the orderable part number to be SR10010F-0204-20F0B-C7-N-0027. You can check the part page here: https://www.snapeda.com/parts/SR10010F-0204-20F0B-C7-N-0027/Alpha%20Taiwan/view-part/.

If you try to change the device name of your file to be the same as the one available in our system, you will be able to see your uploaded library publicly on the part page.

We would also like to hear your feedback about what happens when there's no orderable part number matched in our system. Do you think to have it only available on Your Uploaded Models list enough or not? We would like to know how we can improve our process regarding these cases.

Thanks,
Faust

[hanakp]

Well, it would probably help if you shared this information somewhere on YOUR site and not after lengthy discussion here. You've not even removed the outdated warning about Eagle parts with multiple gates yet. Anyway, I'm afraid there is no "clean" way to resolve this, or at least not in fully automated way:

1. I named my part  SR10010F-0204 because the rest of the part number is mostly irrelevant from the schematic and footprint standpoint. Flat, slotted and round shafts of given length will look exactly the same on the PCB, for example. So under present SnapEDA system, I should upload the same library 3 times, only with different part numbers. That doesn't look very efficient to me, because many electro-mechanical parts are like this.

2. On the other hand, if you allow any parts to be public, then your site will likely become swamped with lots of libraries with no clear connection to real components. That's probably even worse.

Where do you get the list of existing part numbers? I mean, the SR10010F switch is a typical example of a part that can exist in literally dozens of configurations. Just because e-shops like Mouser offer only some of them doesn't mean the other configurations don't exist.

Moreover, there are many "exotic" components which you won't even find in such e-shops, because the manufacturers sell them directly. For example, I originally planned to upload library for Compulab CM-FX6 series of processor modules, but they're not even listed on SnapEDA. But at the same time, libraries for these "exotic" components are usually the most laborious to make, so sharing them with others has the biggest "value" for the community. In other words, there should be some way that users can add new part numbers. Or maybe not directly add them, but suggest them to a human moderator, along with proof of their existence (datasheet). He/she would then add the part numbers, maybe including all possible/available combinations.  Do you employ somebody who could do this?

https://www.compulab.com/products/computer-on-modules/cm-fx6/

Edit: the upload indeed works when I changed the name of my library to SR10010F-0204-20F0B-C7-N-0027.

[Elictro]

Hi,

We have updated our notes in our uploader about Eagle parts with multiple gates, you can see it here: https://www.snapeda.com/parts/mass_upload/

We wanted to let you know that all our part numbers are from our distributor partners. If they don't sell them, they won't be in our database. But if you use our new part form: https://www.cognitoforms.com/SnapEDA/PartRequestForm, we add the part in 24h typically and send you an email once it's added.

Finally, we would like to explain to you that as you have described, that it is a tricky problem, and as a startup, we are working hard to streamline it, but as you can see there are a lot of details to iron out. That's why we appreciate your feedback.

Sorry for the delay and thanks for your patience.

Thanks,
Elizabeth

[hanakp]

I've given it some thought over the weekend and... I think sonner or later, you will have to implement some sort of "part number aliasing" or "wildcard character" system, meaning that one library file will be associated with several part numbers.

The "wildcard characters" system would be best for parts like Compulab CM-FX6 processor modules I've mentioned earlier. They are manufactured in dozens of different possible Flash, RAM and CPU configurations, but they all look exactly the same in the schematic and on the PCB:

https://www.compulab.com/products/computer-on-modules/cm-fx6/#ordering

So you would create virtual part CM-FX6*** in your database and all part numbers starting with "CM-FX6" would be considered as one. This could be hidden from the users, so if someone searches for CM-FX6-D256-C1000-N128-U2, they would be automatically redirected to the CM-FX6*** page.

The "aliasing system" is  actually very common on tagged image sites like Shutterstock or Getty Images. For example, words like "vermillion" or "cinnabar" are aliased to word "red" so they yield the same search results. This would be better for more complicated part numbers like that SR10010F switch. Users (or your admin) would mark several part numbers as identical ("alias them together") and any uploads/changes would affect them all automatically.

Both these mechanism would have the hidden benefit of lower storage space needed for the library files, though I guess SnapEDA doesn't need to worry much about that yet.