Use this to add single pins into the schematic from multiple pin connector parts. These are parts that were specially marked as connectors when created.
This enables you to create a tidy schematic showing just the pins on the connector that are used, on the pages they are used. The whole multi pin connector does not need to be added as a complete component. These pins are collected into their components when using Translate To PCB.
Shortcuts
Default Keys: None
Default Menu: Insert
Command: Insert Connector Pin
Locating this option
Available from: Insert menu > Connector Pin option
How To Insert A Connector Pin
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Select the Connector Pin option on the Insert menu, or use one of the above mentioned shortcuts.
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Setup the Insert Connector Pin Dialog:
- Set which parts library you wish to add from. A list of connector part names will appear in the dialog. Only parts that were added to the library as connectors will be shown. Use the filter to reduce this list to the parts that you are interested in.
- Choose which connector part you wish to add from the list or use the Find button to locate the part based on more advanced criteria.
- Change the component name (if the default provided is not suitable).
- Change which pin number you want to add (if the default provided is not suitable).
- Choose to add the connector part (or a number of copies of it) straight to the Component Bin, or to add a connector pin interactively into the design.
- If you have already placed a pin from the current connector, use the Copy Previous Pin option to orient and place the component attributes the same as the previous pin.
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Use the Add button to add the connector pin to the design. If adding to the bin then you are returned immediately to the dialog, else follow these next steps.
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Using the mouse, move the connector pin to the desired position and click to place it into the design.
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Continue to place connector pins using the same part. Each pin is auto incremented to the next free pin number in the design, or, if all pins of the component have been added, the component’s name is auto incremented to the next free name in the design.
Press the Esc key, or cancel using the shortcut menu, to return to the add connector pin dialog.
How To Use The Insert Connector Pin Dialog
This dialog is very similar to the Insert Component dialog and most of the controls work in the same way.
Look In
Use this to choose a parts library to search for the required connector part. The library list is set up in Library Folders in the library manager. Two special entries exist:
Use [All Libraries] to choose from connector parts in all of the parts libraries. If the same part is in more than one library, the first found will be used, so library order is important.
Use [Current Design] to choose from the connector parts already added to the design.
Which Parts
Use the Filter box to enter a string containing the ”*” or ”?” wildcard characters to filter the list to only matching names e.g. “Connector*“. Use the No. Pins box to limit the matching connector parts to those of a set number of pins (blank means any pin count). press Apply to alter the list of parts names accordingly. The number that matched the filters is shown in the dialog.
Part
This listbox contains the part names to choose from. Select the one required. The number of pins on the selected part is displayed in the Pins box.
Find
If you do not know exactly the name of the connector part to use but know part of its name, or the values of some of its attributes, use the Find button to locate it. The Find dialog will be displayed allowing you to search all libraries in the library folders for the required connector. This dialog allows you to search using several different criteria. You can search by part name, including wildcard characters. You can search on the number of pins on the part. You can also search for parts containing a particular named attribute, again using wildcard characters on the value. A list of connector parts matching the search criteria will be shown in the dialog. Selecting the required part will change the Insert Connector Pin dialog to show the chosen part.
See the help section Find Library Item for details on how to use the Find dialog.
Name
Enter the unique name for the connector component. The default name is created by adding a unique number to a stem taken from the part. This default name will not have all of its pins used in the design.
Pin
Only shown if you are not adding to the component bin (only whole components may be added to the bin).
The default pin number is the next free pin of this part type that is not yet used in the design. For example, if U1.1 and U1.2 are already placed on a page in the design, then U1.3 will be the default name. The listbox will contain the names of unused pins on the component using the supplied name.
Component Name Buttons
You will see three buttons to the right of the component name box. These are to help you easily choose between using free connector pins on existing components, or adding new components. If you hover the cursor over the buttons, a tooltip will be shown describing their use and showing what component name will be used if they are pressed.
First Unused Connector Pin - Use this button to set
the dialog up to add the first unused pin on any connector component using this part in the design.
The button will be disabled if there are no free pins in the design.
Next Connector Name - Use this button to
set the dialog up to add the next connector component using this part with free pins in the design.
First Free Connector Name - Use this button to
always set the component name to the first free name that does not yet exist in the design.
Preview
Use this to optionally display what the connector will look like when added to the design.
Schematic & PCB
If Preview is enabled, this switches between a single schematic connector pin preview and a dual preview allowing both the schematic connector pin symbol and PCB Footprint to be reviewed.
Attribute
If this button is selected, this displays attributes associated with the connector Part. Any attribute marked as a hyperlink can be selected from this link and the hyperlink activated.
Vault
If this button is selected, this displays attributes associated with the Vault (see below).
Add To Comp Bin
Use this to add the component(s) to the Component Bin. Pins from these connector components can then be dragged from the bin into the design at a later stage. The Number Of Copies box allows you to add multiple components to the bin in one operation.
Using with the Vault
If the Vault is in use, Look In will additionally include Vault entries. Each Vault folder that contains connector part items will be listed and the special entry [Vault Only] allows all connector parts from the Vault to be exclusively chosen.
Also, additional controls are shown on the dialog, below the Name field.
By default, Vault Revision shows the
Checking the Vault option will show the Vault IID and Version reference information for the part, connector pin symbol and footprint, alongside other enabled preview information.
Interactively Positioning A Connector Pin
Whilst using the mouse to position the connector pin, you can use the shortcut menu to change its angle and mirror it, amongst other things. This is explained in detail in the Move operation.
Use Insert Multiple Items to switch from adding a single connector pin to adding multiple pins at the same time. An Insert Multiple Components dialog will be displayed for you to specify how many connector pins are to be added in each direction and the gap between them. You can use the All Items In the Component option on this dialog to specify that you wish to add all the pins in the component in one go. Also use this dialog to specify the orientation of the individual pins within the group being added.
Use Next In Sequence option from the shortcut menu to increment the component name and pin number to the next free component or pin not used in the design.
Click to position the pin at the required position.
Related Topics
Component Bin | Find Library Item | Libraries | Insert Component | Move | Translate To Pcb