So I was able to convert to Libre database one file, but that was the other day, and I’m not figuring out again. I was able to pare down the Excel file from multiple tabs into just a few rows of a few tables.
AltiumPartDatabase.xls (56.5 KB)
I’ll try again in a bit to import into a DB, my brain needs a rest (I was going to take the day off, wound up working this morning, now it’s time for the afternoon nap).
I should point out, that there is a field called “comp_code”. It is not a unique ID. On my passives it is unique, but its purpose in life was a sorting code. I wanted my R’s listed first, followed by C’s, D’s, transistors, IC’s, hardware, PCB last on the BOM. Bit OCD I know. Anyhow, the R’s and C’s wound up with a unique code (as assigned to the symbol by the database) when linked, so as to get 1k’s to list before 2k’s–but the IC’s, not so much. They are grouped by function but not actually sorted, they come out willy-nilly. I have some OCD tendencies, but unlike my wife, it’s not spelled CDO.
I have a list on my computer that tells me what comp_code to use, for when setting up stuff.
Thing is, if I insert a new component into the list, I could change every comp_code to a new value, and when doing linking… overwrite any prior code. So don’t think of it as a key of any sort, it was used strictly for BOM ordering. Every time it links to the database, there is a chance that the code could be renumbered. And as you can now see, any given code could be used multiple times. Not a key!
I’m no python programmer at all, and as I look back what I did in the past, somehow I was able to modify the sorting program to use that… no idea what I did, nor how I did it…
Something that I do, but does not seem industry standard, is to list all DNP’s ('cept I call them DNI). I had too many problems with assembly if I did not list every component on the BOM. Thus DNI’s are listed. They get grouped together, all the DNI’d R’s together, then C’s, etc. That way an assembly house (or person) could see, when doing visual inspection, what was meant to be not populated, going from the BOM.