Item-Less Component Creation

The introduction of Component Templates provided an efficient means for creating components using ratified templates, however, an issue within that function became apparent. Since the item is created first, the information in the template (i.e., naming scheme, revision scheme and lifecycle definition) were not assigned since the component item was already created. In order to alleviate this, Altium Vault 2.6, in conjunction with Altium Designer 16.0, supports item-less component creation. This does not mean an item is not created, but rather an instance of the CmpLib Editor is accessed directly, which allows the template details to be applied prior to adding and releasing the required component. The actual component item (and planned revision) is created as part of release preparation.

Accessing the Feature

Item-less component creation is available from within an existing folder for Component Items (folder type must be altium-component-library).

Accessing the new Item-less component creation feature.

Using the Feature

Once the Add Component button is clicked, a temporary (file-less editing) instance of the Component Library (CmpLib) Editor will be opened - titled New Component.CmpLib by default - and a component definition added ready. The default presentation and information loaded depends on whether a component template is involved.

• If the feature is accessed from a folder of components and that folder has a component template attached, then model and parametric data, as well as defined Lifecycle Definition, Revision Naming, and Component Naming, will be brought in from that template. The Default Folder will be the folder from which the feature was launched. The added component definition will be fully defined, with information from the template.
• If the feature is accessed from a folder of components and that folder has no component template attached, then a default CmpLib with default settings will be presented. If the source folder has a defined Item Naming Scheme, then this will be used for the CmpLib Component Naming field. The Default Folder will be the folder from which the feature was launched. The added component definition will simply have the folder path and component name entered, all other definition information (models, parameters, component type) must be manually specified.

For the remainder of this document, we'll just consider the first scenario - after all, getting the component template used is why this feature was created. Just remember, that while the process will be very similar for the other scenario, you will just need to do more manual work if not using a template.

Example CmpLib instance created after launching the item-less component creation feature from a folder (Schottky Diodes) that has a component template assigned to it.
In this case, the component definition is fully defined, with the information from the template.

Make any additional adjustments to the component definition as required. Any additional component definition that you add, will be created in accordance with the associated component template.

With the component(s) defined, save the CmpLib then click the  button in the editor's main toolbar to release the component to the vault. The Release Manager dialog will appear with the component already prepared. As part of this automatic preparation, the Component Item itself is created, with a planned revision to accommodate the released definition. Now simply hit the Release Items button, and confirm the release when prompted. Then view your new component in the Vaults panel.

Browsing a newly-created Component Item, and its initial released revision, back in the Vaults panel.