Vaults Panel Enhancements

Altium Vault 2.1, in conjunction with Altium Designer 15.0 brings several small, yet beneficial enhancements to the Vaults panel. These include the ability to resize the width of the columns, in the parameters region of a Component Item's preview; the ability to copy parameteric information for a component to the clipboard; and the ability to hide system folders - those folders related to, and created by, the Network Installation Service.

Width Control for Component Parameter Information

When browsing Component Items in the Vaults panel, switching to the Preview aspect view will present detailed information relating to a component, including its referenced domain models (symbol and PCB 2D/3D component model), and any defined parameters. Previously, the region for the parameters was treated as a single area, and getting at the information within it proved to be quite tricky, especially if parameter values were considerably lengthy. Now, the parameter names and their values are treated as distinctly separate columns, with resizing controls provided to change column width as desired.

Simply hover the cursor between the columns to access the  icon, then click and drag to resize. In conjunction with resizing of the symbol and model preview windows, you can now set the parameters region to fully appreciate the content it delivers.

For the parameter values column, you may need to fully expand the column to reveal the full values. Simply position the cursor to the right of the values until the  icon appears, then double-click to effect expansion. The column will expand to fit the longest parameter value.

Getting at the parametric information for a Component Item, by resizing the width of the columns.

Copy Component Parameter Information to Clipboard

Parametric information for a Component Item can now be copied to the clipboard, for subsequent use elsewhere in the design, or for pasting to an external application (such as Microsoft Excel). When browsing the Preview aspect for a Component Item, simply select the required parameters - in the Parameters region of the view - and either use the Ctrl+C keyboard shortcut, or right-click in the region and use the Copy command on the context menu.

Copy a Component Item's parameteric information to the clipboard, for use elsewhere as required.

Hiding NIS-related Folders

Installation-related Items generated in the local Altium Vault - by a Vault Administrator using the Network Installation Service (NIS) - can cause a disruptive level of 'noise'. The typical user (non-admin) of the vault does not want (or need) to know of their existence. Rather, they simply want access to the design-related Items that they are entitled to see. To remedy this, the vault folders into which these installation Items are stored are classed as System folders, and hidden for non-admins. Administrators are given control over whether or not these folders are displayed in the Vaults panel, when they themselves are browsing content.

The option to control visibility of system folders in the panel can be found in the Edit Altium Vault Properties dialog. Access to this dialog is made from the Data Management - Vaults page of the Preferences dialog. Simply right-click over the entry for the vault and choose the Edit Vault Properties command from the context menu (or select the vault in the list and clcik the Properties button, to access this command).

In the System Folder region of the dialog, use the Display System Folder option to toggle display of the folders as required. NIS-related system folders are:

• AltiumDXPExtensions (and child folders)
• Deployment (and sub-folders)
• Installation (and sub-folders).

Controlling whether System folders are displayed (top) or not (bottom) allows you to declutter the Vaults panel.

More Intuitive UI when Creating Items

Streamlining your ability to quickly create the right Items in the right folders, the right-click context menu for the Items region of the Vaults panel has been refined and made smarter - in context with the type of folder that is currently selected/focused, and in which the Item(s) are to be created.

The following table summarizes the type of Item that can quickly be created from the right-click menu, based on the parent folder type.