Including Release Information on Generated Outputs

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Modified by Admin on Sep 13, 2017

When generating documentation for a PCB project, there needs to be some way of indicating which Item and revision the documentation relates to, as well as the configuration of the design project used in the release, and any applicable driving variant. This is managed through the use of special strings placed in the PCB document. Several special strings in particular are especially useful when releasing configurations of a PCB project, and generating the associate outputs thereof:

.PCBConfigurationName – the name of the configuration from which the output has been generated, as defined in the Configuration Manager dialog.

.VariantName – the name of the variant (if any) used to drive the generated output. If no variant is specified, this string will display [No Variations].

.Item – the Item that the generated data relates to (e.g. D-810-2000). The data will be used to build that Item.

.ItemAndRevision – the Item and specific revision of that Item that the generated data relates to, in the format <Item ID>-<Revision ID> (e.g. D-810-2000-01.A.1). The data will be used to build that specific revision of that particular Item.

.ItemRevision – the specific revision of the Item that the generated data relates to (e.g. 01.A.1). The data is stored in that Item Revision within the target Altium Vault.

.ItemRevisionBase – the Base Level portion of an Item Revision's naming scheme (e.g. 1).

.ItemRevisionLevel1 – the Level 1 portion of an Item Revision's naming scheme (e.g. A).

.ItemRevisionLevel1AndBase – the Level 1 and Base Level portions of an Item Revision's naming scheme (e.g. A.1).

.ItemRevisionLevel2 – the Level 2 portion of an Item Revision's naming scheme (e.g. 01).

.ItemRevisionLevel2AndLevel1 – the Level 2 and Level 1 portions of an Item Revision's naming scheme (e.g. 01.A).

In each case, simply place a text string (Place»String) and, from the String dialog, select the required special string from the drop-down field associated to the Text field.

Select the required special string from a list of such strings, when configuring the string.

These special strings are not interpreted until the time the output is generated. You will, therefore, not be able to see any real information within the PCB workspace (unless viewing the PCB in 3D, which itself is considered an output). The information supplied by using these strings can be seen on generated output, including Gerber/ODB++ files, Final Artwork prints, PCB prints, PCB 3D prints, PCB 3D Video, and Assembly drawings.

Example generated output for a configuration named Blank Board, targeting revision 01.A.1 of Item D-810-2000 (representing a fabricated bare board).