Global Search in Component lookup windows (2015)

[bpasqualini]

Hi,

In ACE previous version, there was a very useful command (for me  ) in the component lookup dialog box (see picture).

In this versions, when I want to find a reference without knowing its family (CR, MS, ...) ACE searches in all the tables of the database and give me all the references with the same characters.

I don't find the command or equivalent in 2015.

How do you do when you don't know the family of your component ?

Thanks for your help.

[RobinShou-Autodesk]

Hello,

Thanks for report this requirement, we have added this into our requirement system.

For now, we don't have a good workaround in ACE2015.

Sorry for the inconvenience caused.

Thanks,
Robin Shou
Quality Assurance
AutoCAD Electrical
Autodesk, Inc.

Facebook Page : https://www.facebook.com/AutoCADElectrical
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AutoCAD Electrical App: https://itunes.apple.com/app/autocad-electrical/id736763190

[dshood]

This function must be looked at and added back to the 2015 software soon because it seems to be a big show stopper for our company migrating over to the new version anytime soon.

[dougmcalexander]

Agreed. We also need a cleaner workflow for displaying subassembly parts for editing There was a checkbox in previous versions so we could see parts that were checked as subassemblies. With 2015 you have to know the catalog number of the subassembly part, type it into the search field of the catalog browser, and click the edit icon, not the search icon, as you would expect.

We need to have a checkbox again, so we can see all subassembly parts in a given table, in case we don't know the catalog number but need to find it by its assembly list value so we can edit it.

[Icemanau]

I believe the previous catalog lookup was 100% better than the one in 2015.

In 2015, you need to basically memorise the catalog number to find anything. When you are working with 1000's of components, that can be problematic.

There doesn't seem to be any easy way to search for a description or anything else but a part number. I can't even brows a brand to look for a suitable component.

I now spend more time looking for a component in the catalog than is required. To actually find anything quickly, I have to pull out the customer catalog, get the part number from that, then type this into the catalog browser to find the entry

2015's component lookup seems to be designed by someone with eiditic memory who believes everyone else has the same.

Regards Brad

[vladop]

You can search for description, just type parts of the description or any other field and press enter (see picture).

In my opinion new Component lookup is much better than before.

Vladimir

[dougmcalexander]

I like the Catalog Browser as well. But I was happy the way it was. There were fit and finish issues in other areas of the software that needed attention before reworking the Lookup again. Remember that it was overhauled in release 2011 as well. It was a very welcome enhancement though.

The Catalog Browser is cool, but it has holes in it, as we have discussed here. No global search. No checkbox to display subassembly parts. You can assign the schematic symbol and the 3D footprint for a particular part number but you still have to use a separate database editor to assign the 2D footprint. This appears incomplete. And I saw a complaint about no longer being able to use wildcards for pin list database entries; each record has to have its own pin list entries. Okay, so we can copy and paste from another record, but the point is that none of this was broken in the first place.

I also understand Autodesk's position. They have to put new features in each year so people will buy the new version or renew their subscription. They are pressed to add something new that we just cannot wait to get our hands on. They seemingly cannot believe that we would all simply want all the existing features to just work flawlessly. I once read a post on this forum that stated something along the line of "Autodesk! No more new commands until all of the existing ones work!"

Would you all upgrade each year if there were only bug fixes in the new release? (Rhetorical question)

[dougmcalexander]

Let me clarify what I mean by global search. The Catalog Browser needs a checkbox next to the table list that we check when we wish to search all tables for whatever search strings we enter into the search field. When this box is checked, the table list grays out, to indicate that all tables will be searched. And, unlike the global search in previous releases, this one should return partial matches, the same as it does if I am searching one table with the new Catalog Browser.

[david_brude]

We have not moved our entire group into 2015 because of this catalog issue. We applaud the new circuit cut/copy/paste feature and were wanting to switch to gain this feature. But the catalog editing just mentioned is counter productive. I doubt this can be changed with a service pack.

Regards,

David

[OP21]

Hi Robin,

I'd like to also add a few comments on this.

The previous version had a lot more flexibility in searching/filtering for parts data and the abillity to quickly isolate part numbers and descriptions.  Just the fact that you have to type in the search string becomes a time waster when narrowing down parts to select or modify.  Bring back the ability to search by filtering, please.

I agree with Doug's posts that it was working "fine" but it seems that the attempts to improve took it backwards. I'm struggling to make it work but 2014 seems to be more stable and performs better where the catalog database is concerned.

Also, the Db migration utility created some problems from 2014 to 2015.  Colunms and data merging was messed up that took a few hours of manual correction to fix it.

Just one more...How come after a General AutoCAD SP1 release the horizontal scroll bars still haven't returned?

Thanks for letting us vent a little...Cheers!

[jmterlap]

Has this been addressed in 2015 yet?

[mathalekar]

Hello Guys,

Catalog browser mainly addresses the performance issue as well introduce a single window catalog database editing feature. Now we tried to optimized & integrate most used features in catalog browser as it's first iteration. We do understand few users are going to be happy to have them but some advanced users with some specific requirements like global search in catalog database are not going to be happy. But as i said, it is will come with stead improvements with various means like feedback via forums, ideastations & in product feedback are to name few.

To summarize here,

1. Introduce global search feature in catalog browser

2. integrate footprint database as a single source

3. filters

4. ability to display subassemblies

Thanks for feedback !

[vladop]

I changed my mind about Component lookup. At the time I said that I prefer new Component lookup I was still using ACADE 2014 and only peaked at the new one and saw only its positive sides. Now that I use ACADE 2017 I think that column filters are missing.

What I don't like about Component lookup is default filter that is applied when modifying existing part. It filters by MANUFACRURER, TYPE and STYLE of the current part number. It is most likely that I want to change one of these 3 values. So, I must modify search string and then click on search button to unfilter part number I want.

 

There is no "Clear filters" button. One must clear search string first and then click on the search button to remove filters.

Regards,

Vladimir