Libraries

Created: February 08, 2022 | Updated: February 11, 2022

The Libraries button opens the Libraries panel, which enables you to browse and place CircuitMaker components. The panel sources components from the Octopart component database portal, which provides access to comprehensive component data for thousands of real-world components. In the background, the components are linked to matching components in the cloud-based CircuitMaker storage and management repository (community components), if available. The panel offers full details of the selected component: name, description, parameters, models, etc.

When using CircuitMaker, there's no direct access to the Octopart database or the CircuitMaker repository, as all data sourcing and linking is performed in the background. The Libraries panel is your central access point for CircuitMaker's automated component management system.

The Libraries button can be accessed by choosing View | System | Libraries from the ribbon.

To access the components from the Libraries panel, you must be signed in with your Altium account through CircuitMaker.

The Libraries panel

Component List

The panel’s top drop-down menu lists all available component categories, as well as the Favorites Only entry for the components that you have added to your Favorites list. Use the selection options in the categories drop-down menu () to restrict the list to a particular component type.

Within the component listing, the content that is included may be managed by:

setting the component listing sort order – click a column heading to sort the component listing by that column data. Click the heading again to reverse the sort order. Right-click on a header column and select the Clear Sorting command to clear the currently set sorting.
setting the order of the displayed columns – drag and drop a column heading to a new position.
filtering the listing by a specific column entry – select the icon in a column header to display a list of its unique parameter entries, then select one or more entries to constrain the listed components to those that include the specified parameter. Select the (Select All) option to reset the filter. When a filter is set, additional controls for managing the current filter (disabling, editing, or removing the filter) are available below the component list.

Component entries listed with an associated icon have models already defined and are therefore ready to be placed in a design. To restrict the listing to those components that have associated model data, select the icon in the model column header and select the Yes option.

The component listing can be filtered to show only components with models.

Select a component in the list to see its details (parameters and models) in the lower region of the panel. Select multiple component entries to enable the data comparison feature, where the parameter differences between the selected parts are highlighted.

Component Search and Functions

Searching for Components

To search for available components in the Components panel, enter a phrase in the Search field and/or use the panel's Categories selection to narrow the component listing to your specific needs. The search functionality prioritizes results according to the entered search criteria.

Use the panel's category drop-down and search capability to narrow the listing to component types of interest.

Placing Components

A selected component with an associated domain model (schematic symbol or PCB footprint; listed with an associated icon) can be placed on the corresponding document (schematic sheet or PCB document) by dragging and dropping, selecting Place from its right-click context menu, or using the Place button.

A component can be placed from the Libraries panel to your design.

Create New Component

If a community component is not available for the component you have selected (the icon is not shown), it can be created within CircuitMaker and automatically added to the community library for others to share. To do this, right-click the entry and select Create New Component from the associated context menu. This will open a new community component entry in CircuitMaker's Component Editor, which is prepopulated with the component information (Comment, Description, and Parameters) provided by the Octopart component database.

If a component does not have models, you can create them by yourself.

Create Custom Part

There may be circumstances where a specific component that you need for a design is not listed in the Octopart database, and therefore not included in the available component list in the panel. This can be is resolved by creating a new, unlisted CircuitMaker component from scratch – a custom component. To create a new custom component, select the Create Custom Part option below the component list in the panel or in the component list area when there are no components found.

If there are no relevant parts, you can create your own custom part.

This opens a new blank component entry in the Component Editor, which can be populated with the information (parameters and models) that corresponds to your custom component.

Edit a Component

If you want to make changes to an existing component and its models, select the component in the panel's component list and select Edit from the right-click menu. This will retrieve the component from the community library (or local cache) and open it in the Component Editor.

A community component can be edited from the Libraries panel.

Add to Favorites

Along with the Octopart component database listing available in the Libraries panel, CircuitMaker also offers the concept of a Favorite collection of components. These represent community components that you created or edited, or any that you have manually added to the Favorites list.

To manually add a component from the Octopart listing in the Libraries panel to your Favorites collection, right-click on the component entry and select Add To Favorites from the context menu. Note that this option is only available for component entries that have an associated community component.

A frequently used community component can be added to your Favorites list.

See the Favorites Only Mode section below to learn more.

Compare Feature

The Compare feature allows you to compare the parameters of two selected parts. This feature is accessed by selecting two parts in the component list region. Parameters of the selected parts will be shown side-by-side, with differences highlighted in red text for easy comparison.

Favorites Only Mode

The Favorites component list is directly accessible from the Libraries panel by selecting Favorites Only in the panel's library selection drop-down menu.

The Favorites library setting lists and groups only the components that interest you.

Building up a list of favorite components means that your preferred component options are easy to access and use in your designs. Components can be placed in a design from the Favorites list using the Place button or right-click menu command and also removed from the list using the Remove From Favorites right-click menu command.

Using the Custom Only checkbox below the Search field, you can display in the panel only your custom components. Note that custom parts are distinguished by the icon in the Favorites list.

One fundamental difference with the Favorites list, compared to the normal Octopart listing, is that its entries refer directly to Community components rather than components in the Octopart database list. Each entry therefore includes information derived from the community component item, such as its version – Revision ID (1, 2, etc) – as the suffix of its name. This represents the community library's version control system at work – an edited component is stored as a new version in the community library, leaving the previous version intact. In other words, when a component or model is saved to the community library, the version control system creates a new version – or more correctly, revision – of that component/model.

As you can see from the above image of the Libraries panel, the Favorites list can include multiple entries for one component – note the LM217MS-TR entries. These represent two versions of the community component; the initial revision 1 and the revision 2 created by a subsequent edit – these were automatically added to the list during the saving process.

Conversely, the other listed entries shown have been added to Favorites from the Octopart library listing. Note that the entry highlighted in blue is at revision 2, which was the current version of that component when it was added to the Favorites list.

The community component associated with an Octopart component list entry will be the latest version of that Community component. If this is added to your Favorites list, the entry will stay at that revision, even though subsequent revisions may have been created by another user.

Note that the Octopart listing in the Libraries panel will always link to the current version (most recent revision) of a community component.

Right-Click Menu

Back image: a component that is not added to the Favorites list; front image: a custom component in the Favorites list.

Place – use to place the currently selected component in the active design.
Add To Favorites – use to add the currently selected component in your Favorites list. This command is only available if the component has domain models.
Remove From Favorites – use to remove the currently selected component from your Favorites list.
Create New Component – use to create a new community component from the currently selected Octopart database component. This command is only available if the component has no domain models.
Edit – use to edit the currently selected component through the Component Editor.
Scrap revision – use to mark the selected revision of a custom component as scrapped. When trying to place a scrapped component in the design, a confirmation dialog with a warning will appear.
Unscrap revision – use to mark the selected scrapped revision of a custom component as unscrapped.
Copy – use to copy component parameters shown in the component list region as a tab-delimited text.

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