An Attributes tab appears on the Properties dialog and is displayed when the Properties option is chosen with a selected item that is capable of having attached attributes. The name of the attribute tab will be prefixed to reflect the type of item selected, such as Copper Attributes or Pad Attributes, etc.
It shows all the attributes that are defined for the item, allows new attributes to be added and allows whether or not the attribute is to be visible on screen to be set.
The Attributes tab is also used to show attributes defined at the design level when showing Design Properties.
Shortcuts
Default Keys: I or Alt+Enter
Default Menu: Edit
Command: Properties
Locating this option
Available from: Edit menu > Properties option
Available from: Context menu > Properties option
Available from: Shortcut key > I
Using the Attributes Tab on the Properties Dialog
The dialog shows a list of all the attributes defined for the item. Each line of the list shows a checkbox indicating whether the attribute is to be displayed on screen, the name of the attribute followed by an ’=’ sign and then the attribute value.
Click on the checkbox to toggle the displayed state of the attribute, but note that it will only be visible on screen if the attribute name is also set to Displayed in the Colours Dialog.
To create a new attribute for the item click New and the New Attribute dialog will be displayed.
Select an attribute from the list and then click on Edit to modify the value of an existing attribute. The Edit Attribute dialog will be displayed from which you may change the value. For attributes whose value is not editable from the item selected the Edit button will be unavailable.
Note that built-in system attributes such as Pin Name are not shown in this dialog as they are already shown elsewhere in Properties dialog.
Overriding Inherited Attributes
Some items inherit attributes that are defined elsewhere on a referenced item, for example a pad on a component may have an attribute inherited from the pin on the component’s part. Using Edit for such an attribute has a different effect from editing a locally defined attribute. The inherited attribute is in effect overridden with a local value specific to this item. For such an overridden Attribute, the Delete button is replaced by a Reset button which when selected will remove the local value and restore the original inherited attribute value.
It is also possible to override an inherited attribute using New then selecting the appropriate attribute name in the New Attribute dialog.
Design Level Attributes and Variants
When showing design level attributes, if a current variant is active in the design, only those attributes specified to appear in that variant on the Variant Attributes tab of Design Properties will be listed
Drag and Drop
When viewing attributes of a Component, as well as using the Add and Edit buttons to manage attributes, you can also drag and drop a list of attribute settings onto the dialog. You can either drop one or more files onto the dialog, or a section of text from another application.
To be recognised as a list of attribute settings, the application will look for Name=Value pairs. Any line of text that does not contain the Equals sign as a separator will be ignored.
This is an example of some text that you could use to add some attributes to the selected component:
Mfr=Avent
Value=10ns
Tolerance=5%
Class=
Status=Live