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Schematic design workflow hints please?

gwideman

Hi folks. I'm looking for some hints on how to use CircuitStudio to develop schematics without having to commit to very specific components prematurely.

 

I often want to design the approximate schematic first, for example including resistors and capacitors whose values I haven't calculated yet, and certainly haven't decided on a package/footprint, let alone a supplier.  All the tutorials I've seen so far place very specific components immediately, which is not what I want.

 

So I guess this amounts to the following questions about a workflow for this iterative process:

 

1. How do I place a generic component, be it a passive whose value I don't yet know, or an IC whose package I haven't decided.

2. How do I later set the value of the generic component.

3. How do I later still set the package, and then specific part number?

4. Even later, how do I change any of the above?

 

Thanks. Graham

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  • 0

    I'll chip in with a suggestion, please feel free to join in this discussion as it's an excellent topic.

     

    Taking a resister as an example. It is possible to just place on a schematic and use the same symbol for every resistor instance. Later on you can assign values to each instance. The library part may contain multiple footprints and you can tailor each resistor on your design once you have decided on the package type required. The ECO process will keep the PCB up to date with the footprint changes. Symbols support extra parameters (name value pairs) so you can make use of these if you wish to specify manufacturer, supplier, part codes etc.

     

    Another option would be to place generic components and then later in the design process delete and replace with the specific one required. There is a lot of flexibility, once you understand the possibilities you should be able to design your own workflow that works for you.

  • 0 in reply to e14softwareuk

    Hi Peter, thanks again for your answers -- I seem to be keeping you busy this past day or so :-).

     

    I do not like at all the idea of having to delete and replace components. That requires breaking the connections and rewiring, which strikes me as very error prone.

     

    However, the generic resistor (capacitor, LED, etc) whose value can be set as a parameter, and which has multiple footprints from which to later choose -- that sounds good. Where do I find such components?

  • 0 in reply to gwideman

    There are no generic components with lots of footprints attached as standard, you would need to build your own library. However you don't need to start from scratch as you can make use of existing symbols and footprints (beware of attempting to copy symbols from the Online Vault as they tend to default back to their original state if copied and edited locally).

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  • 0 in reply to gwideman

    There are no generic components with lots of footprints attached as standard, you would need to build your own library. However you don't need to start from scratch as you can make use of existing symbols and footprints (beware of attempting to copy symbols from the Online Vault as they tend to default back to their original state if copied and edited locally).

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