Sheet Entry

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Modified by Admin on Nov 18, 2013

Parent Page: Objects

A Sheet Entry.

Summary

A sheet entry is an electrical design primitive that belongs within a sheet symbol. It is placed within a sheet symbol to designate input/output ports for the symbol. The sheet entries correspond to ports placed in the source schematic sub-sheet that the symbol represents.

Availability

Sheet entries are available for placement in the Schematic Editor only. Use one of the following methods to access the placement command:

choose Place » Add Sheet Entry [P, A] from the main menus
click the button on the Wiring toolbar.

Placement

After launching the command, the cursor will change to a cross-hair and you will enter sheet entry placement mode. Placement is made by performing the following sequence of actions:

the sheet symbol is implicitly chosen by the position of the new sheet entry by the mouse on the schematic sheet (this sheet needs to have at least one sheet symbol).
move the cursor to adjust the position of the sheet entry in relation to any edge of the sheet symbol, then click or press Enter to anchor the sheet entry and complete placement.
Continue placing further sheet entries, or right-click or press Esc to exit placement mode.

Any changes made to object properties during placement will cause the default properties for the object to be updated, unless the Permanent option - on the Schematic - Default Primitives page of the Preferences dialog - is enabled. When this option is enabled, changes made will affect only the object being placed and subsequent objects placed during the same placement session.

Non-Graphical Editing

The following three methods of non-graphical editing are available:

...via an associated properties dialog

This method of editing uses the following dialog to modify the properties of a sheet entry object.

The Sheet Entry dialog.

The Sheet Entry dialog can be accessed prior to entering placement mode, from the Schematic - Default Primitives page of the Preferences dialog (Tools » Schematic Preferences). This allows you to change the default properties for the sheet entry object, which will be applied when placing subsequent sheet entries.
During placement, the Sheet Entry dialog can be accessed by pressing the Tab key.
After placement, the Sheet Entry dialog can be accessed in one of the following ways:

double-clicking on the placed sheet entry object
selecting the sheet entry object and choosing Properties from the right-click pop-up menu
choosing the Change command from the Edit menu and then clicking once over the placed sheet entry object.

...via the SCH Inspector panel

The SCH Inspector panel enables you to interrogate and edit the properties of one or more design objects in the active document. Used in conjunction with appropriate filtering, the panel can be used to make changes to multiple objects of the same kind, from one convenient location.

...via the SCH List panel

The SCH List panel allows you to display design objects from one or more documents in tabular format, enabling you to quickly inspect and modify object attributes. When used in conjunction with the SCH Filter panel, it enables you to display just those objects falling under the scope of the active filter - allowing you to target and edit multiple design objects with greater accuracy and efficiency.

Graphical editing

This method of editing allows you to select a placed Sheet Entry object directly in the workspace and change its location graphically.

The Sheet Symbol itself gets resized automatically when you attempt to move the existing Sheet Entry beyond the current extends of the symbol. To move an existing Sheet Entry (or a group of sheet entries) to a different Sheet Symbol, press the CTRL key while dragging the Sheet Entry.
Sheet Entry colors help you identify whether you are making correct placement or not. If you move the Sheet Entry outside of a Sheet Symbol using the CTRL key, the Sheet Entry changes to a gray color to indicate incorrect Sheet Entry placement and you will not be able to place the Sheet Entry. A blue Sheet Entry indicates correct placement and you will be able to place the Sheet Entry.
Sheet entries can only be adjusted with respect to their shape by changing their I/O Type (accessed through the Sheet Entry dialog). As such, editing handles are not available when the Sheet Entry object is selected:
A selected Sheet Entry.
Click anywhere inside the dashed box and drag to reposition the sheet entry within the sheet symbol as required.

If the Enable In-Place Editing option is enabled on the Schematic - General page of the Preferences dialog (Tools » Schematic Preferences), you will be able to edit the name for the sheet entry directly in the workspace. Select the sheet entry object and then click once to invoke the feature. Type the new name as required and then click away from the sheet entry object or press Enter to effect the change.

Sheet Entry Actions

Right-clicking over a placed sheet entry will pop-up a context-sensitive menu, from which a variety of commands are available that act on that sheet entry (or on all selected sheet entries where applicable). The following sections detail each of these commands.

Many of the following commands are also available from the Schematic Editor's main menus. Commands on the main menus apply to the selected sheet entry(ies) or allow you to choose the sheet entry on which the command will act, rather than just the sheet entry under the cursor. Where such commands exist, reference to their access is made.

Jumping to the Corresponding Port

This command is used to jump to the chosen sheet entry's corresponding port on the sub-sheet referenced by that entry's parent sheet symbol. The command is accessed by right-clicking over the required sheet entry and choosing Sheet Entry Actions » Jump to Port PortName from the menu that appears.

Toggling Sheet Entry I/O Type

This command is used to toggle the I/O Type for the currently selected sheet entries, irrespective of sheet symbol to which they are associated, on the current schematic sheet.
The command can be accessed either by:

choosing Edit » Move » Toggle Selected Sheet Entries IO Type from the main menus
right-clicking over the required sheet entry (or one sheet entry in a selection of sheet entries) and choosing Sheet Entry Actions » Toggle Selected Sheet Entries IO Type from the menu that appears.
If you wish to toggle the I/O Type for the sheet entry under the cursor, use the second method of access, without prior selection. If you wish to toggle the I/O Type for multiple sheet entries, ensure they are first selected (in their respective sheet symbols) before launching the command.
After launching the command, the I/O Type defined for each sheet entry in the selection will be toggled, where applicable.

Toggling Sheet Entry I/O Type.

The actual change depends on the current I/O Type as follows:

Unspecified remains Unspecified
Output changes to Input
Input changes to Output
Bidirectional remains Bidirectional.

Toggling Sheet Entry I/O Type.

Swapping Sheet Entry Side

This command is used to relocate a selected sheet entry to the side of its parent sheet symbol that is directly opposite to its current position. The sheet entry's I/O Type is not changed by the swap. The command acts on all selected sheet entries, irrespective of sheet symbol to which they are associated, on the current schematic sheet.
The command can be accessed either by:

choosing Edit » Move » Swap Selected Sheet Entries Side from the main menus.
right-clicking over the required sheet entry (or one sheet entry in a selection of sheet entries) and choosing Sheet Entry Actions » Swap Selected Sheet Entries Side from the menu that appears.

If you wish to swap sides for the sheet entry under the cursor, use the second method of access, without prior selection. If you wish to swap sides for multiple sheet entries, ensure they are first selected (in their respective sheet symbols) before launching the command.
After launching the command, each sheet entry in the selection will be swapped to the opposite side of its sheet symbol.

Reversing Sheet Entry Order

This command allows you to reverse the order that selected sheet entries appear along a side of a parent sheet symbol. The I/O Type of a sheet entry is not changed by the reordering.
The command can be accessed by choosing Edit » Move » Reverse Selected Sheet Entries Order from the Schematic Editor's main menus.

Ensure that all sheet entries that you wish to reorder are selected prior to launching the command. Two or more sheet entries must be selected for a particular side of a sheet symbol in order for the command to have effect. You can simultaneously reorder sheet entries along different sides of the same parent sheet symbol and across different sheet symbols on the active schematic sheet.

After launching the command, the reordering will take place. The reordering is achieved by mirroring the positions of the selected sheet entries - along a particular sheet symbol side - about an imaginary line at the mid point of the distance between the extents of the two most-outer selected sheet entries.
The following image shows reordering for two selected sheet entries - whereby they exchange positions.

Reordering for two selected sheet entries.
The next image shows reordering for four selected sheet entries. The position of the center line used for the reordering is indicated to better show the mirroring effect on their pre- and post- reordering positions.

Reordering for four selected sheet entries.

Notes

Different arrow kinds or shapes can be defined for the sheet entries. The following arrow kinds are:
Arrow: Display as an arrow. The direction of the arrow is dependent on the I/O type setting.
Triangle: Display as a triangle. The direction of the triangle is dependent on the I/O type setting.
Block & Triangle: Display as a standard entry symbol. The direction of the entry is dependent on the I/O type setting.
When a Sheet Entry is connected to a Signal Harness, the Sheet Entry becomes a Harness object. By default, the Sheet Entry will change color to match the color of the Signal Harness. Disable the option, Sheet Entries and Ports use Harness Color in Schematic - Graphical Editing page of the Preferences dialog to specify your own color for Sheet Entries or to use the default color.
When a Sheet Entry is connected to a Harness Connector by a Signal Harness, the Harness Type in the Sheet Entry dialog is automatically populated with the Harness Type of the Harness Connector. When a Sheet Entry is connected to a Port by a Signal Harness and the Port has a Harness Type declared, the Sheet Entry will become a Harness object and change to the color of the Signal Harness. If you move the Sheet Entry away from the Harness Connector and the Harness Type field is not populated, the Sheet Entry will revert back to the default color.
Should you need to negate (include a bar over the top of) a sheet entry name, this can be done in one of two ways:
- Include a backslash character after each character in the name (e.g. E\N\A\B\L\E).
- Enable the Single '\' Negation option on the Schematic - Graphical Editing page of the Preferences dialog, then include one backslash character at the start of the name (e.g. \ENABLE).
When instantiating multiple channels from the same sheet symbol, certain signals are repeated and sent individually to each instantiated channel. With respect to a sheet entry, a signal is repeated by using the Repeat keyword in the sheet entry's name (e.g. Repeat(Headphone)) as illustrated in the example image below:

Using the Repeat keyword in the sheet entry's name.
The sheet entry is wired to a bus, which in turn carries the individual signals to their correspondingly instantiated destinations.

If you attempt to graphically modify a sheet entry object that has its Locked property enabled, a dialog will appear asking for confirmation to proceed with the edit.
If the Protect Locked Objects option is enabled in the Schematic - Graphical Editing page of the Preferences dialog (Tools » Schematic Preferences), and the Locked option for this design object is enabled as well then this object cannot be selected or graphically edited.
You will have to double click on this locked object directly and disable the Locked property or disable the Protect Locked Objects option to graphically edit this object.