Parameter Link Broken??

Question

I have successfully used Parameters in a previous design - both for Title Blocks in both SCH & PCB and for Assembly Text Layers in PCB.

So I've created a new project, along with SCH and PCB docs. The Document Parameters I've added for the SCH have successfully shown up in the SCH Title Block - no issues. But, in the PCB doc, the Project Options Parameters do not show up in the PCB Title Block - they all still have the ".___" (like .Title) text field placeholder, not the data I've entered into the Project Options Parameters dialog.

Also, I use the .Designator text field on the Assembly Text layer. In a previous design, this was filled in with the SCH Designator - no issues. Of course, this project just shows the .Designator text instead of the C12, or R9 that should be automatically populated.

I've tried to resave the .PrjPcb as a new project, tried adding the .SchDoc and .CSPcbDoc to a new project and saved - no change.

It's like the link between the SCH and PCB are there - Show Differences and View Channels show links between them, but for whatever reason the PCB parameters are not linking with the Project Parameters, nor the Component Parameters are linking with the PCB test fields....

Maddening!

Thanks - any ideas or help is greatly appreciated.

tarribred61 · Accepted Answer

Hi,

One suggestion I can think of is to check the View Options. There are four ways I know of to get to the menu:

1) Press CTRL-D to bring up the View Configurations > Show/Hide menu.

...OR...

2) Press SHIFT-L for the layers menu.

...OR...

3) Left mouse click on the color bar at the bottom of the PCB pane (where the layer names are).

...OR...

3) Right click on the PCB desktop and use the menu selections to get to board layers and colors.

The last three methods brings up the menu to define layers and colors.

Next pick the View Options tab.

Check that the Convert Special Strings box is ticked. Then press OK (or Apply).