Preserving the Component Library during Import
Preserving the Component Library during Import
A new feature in the importer enables you to preserve the component library during the import process, which essentially prevents any modifications being made to it. In order to successfully import a BOM with this option enabled, components in the import data source must already exist in the component library, with no differences in attribute values.
To enable this setting, check the “Preserve component library by disallowing updates during import” checkbox:
As usual, you need to tell the importer which field in the import data source should be used to map at least one of the component types (base, manufacturer or supplier) in the component library. This would normally be the base component part number. In addition, when importing a BOM, the import source will also normally contain a reference designator (aka item reference) for each instance of a component (or collection of) in a design. An example for how these fields are mapped is shown below:
Click the “Create Preview” toolbar button to create a preview of the data prior to import:
The preview will be generated and shown in the bottom of the import window:
Instead of blue plus icons for parts which don’t exist in the component library, red minus icons will be shown to indicate that the components don’t exist in the library (no components can be created because the component library is being preserved). If you attempt to import the BOM at this stage, you will receive an error message telling you that it is not possible to import the components because there are differences to the component library.
At this stage, you can click “Yes” to view a comparison between the import data source and the component library, or alternatively you can click the “Library Compare” toolbar button after the preview has been created:
The comparison window allows you to easily identify differences between the component library and the components in the import data source as shown below:
Like the BOM comparison feature, you can enable/disable certain attributes from being included as part of the comparison using the check boxes to the right and clicking the refresh button:
You can also toggle between showing all components or only those which are different to the component library:
You can export the comparison information to a spreadsheet by clicking on the “Export” button:
A new tabbed document will be created showing a spreadsheet with the comparison information:
You can either save the spreadsheet or view it in Excel by clicking the appropriate toolbar button: