Clickable URLs in the Vaults Panel

Old Content - see latest equivalent
Modified by Jason Howie on May 31, 2017
Contents

Further improving the usability of Altium Vaults, the Vaults panel supports clickable URLs. This functionality allows you to:

  • Click on a Component Item's ComponentLink parameter whose value is a URL, opening the target page in an external Web Browser.
  • Click on a URL in the supply chain data for a Component Item, opening the target page in an external Web Browser.
  • Click on a source document in the Design Snapshot region – from the Preview aspect view for a released board design (blank or assembled board) – to open that document (Read-Only) in Altium Designer.
  • Click on a generated output document in the Released Documents region – from the Preview aspect view for a released board design (blank or assembled board) – to open that document.

For Component Item parameters, Design Snapshot, and Released Documents, this functionality is also available when viewing the full details for an Item, directly in Altium Designer. To access this view, right-click on the Item's entry in the Vaults panel, and choose Full Item History from the context menu.

Clickable Component Parameter URLs

For a released Component Item in an Altium Vault, the Preview aspect view presents each ComponentLink parameter pair in a meaningful way, with the ComponentLinknDescription and ComponentLinknURL parameters refactored into a single entry. In both the Component Library document, and the Component Properties dialog (for a placed component), these are presented as separate parameters. In the Vaults panel, they present in the format:

ComponentLinknDescription (parameter Name) - ComponentLinknURL (parameter Value)

Simply click a URL to open it in an external Web Browser.

The value for the ComponentLinknURL parameter can be a URL-link (starting http:// or just www.), an FTP-link, a link to a shared network folder, or a link to local folder.
If the link is to a PDF document, that document will either open within the browser, or in an external PDF reader - in accordance with options configured for your browser.

ComponentLink parameter pairs are refactored to display as ParameterName - ParameterValue in the Preview aspect view for a Component Item in the Vaults panel.

Only URLs defined for ComponentLink parameter pairings are clickable. The HelpURL parameter and any standard parameter, whose value is a valid URL, will not present a clickable link in the Vaults panel.

Clickable Supply Chain URLs

Each released Component Item in an Altium Vault can have defined supply chain data, in the form of Part Choices. These are presented as Solutions in the Supply Chain aspect view. The actual supply chain intelligence – comprising Manufacturer (and part number), Supplier (and part number), Description, Pricing and Availability – is sourced from the relevant part catalog for that vault and the relevant Supplier Database. For both the Manufacturer Part Number and Supplier Part Number, the part number itself can be a URL to the Manufacturer's datasheet, and Supplier's website respectively. Simply click a URL to open it in an external Web Browser.

If the link is to a PDF document, that document will either open within the browser, or in an external PDF reader - in accordance with options configured for your browser.

Click to access a URL associated with a supply chain solution for a Component Item in the vault.

Clickable Design Snapshot URLs

After releasing a board design project – either the blank (fabricated bare) board or the assembled board – you can open that design's source documents for inspection in Altium Designer. Simply browse to the applicable Item Revision in the Vaults panel, and switch to that revision's Preview aspect view. Then, in the Design Snapshot region, hover over a source document – the entry will turn blue and the cursor will change to a hand cursor, synonymous with URLs. Click on one of these URLs to open an instance of the document as the active document in Altium Designer's main design window.

A document can also be opened for viewing by using the View command from the right-click context menu.

Documents are opened for viewing in non-editable, Read-Only fashion. For individually-opened schematic documents, a watermark is used to reinforce this fact.

Open multiple documents simultaneously by selecting them within the Design Snapshot region, then using the Open Selected Documents command from the right-click context menu. Click the entry for the project file itself (*.PrjPcb) to quickly open the project, and all its source documents, in Altium Designer.

Click to open a source document directly in Altium Designer for Read-Only inspection!

Clickable Released Document URLs

After releasing a board design project – either the blank (fabricated bare) board or the assembled board – you can open any of that design's documents. Simply browse to the applicable Item Revision in the Vaults panel, and switch to that revision's Preview aspect view. Then, in the Released Documents region, hover over a generated output document – the entry will turn blue and the cursor will change to a hand cursor, synonymous with URLs. Click on one of these URLs to open that document. Those documents native to Altium Designer will be opened directly for viewing within Altium Designer. For non-Altium Designer documents, such as output PDF files or Excel-format BOMs, these will be opened directly in the relevant software application (provided it is installed).

A document can also be opened for viewing by using the View command from the right-click context menu.

Click to open a release-generated document. Those document types that are not native to Altium Designer will be opened in their respective applications (where available).

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