How to change or add attributes on multiple components in schematic

[Greg.Decker]

I have a schematic that has multiple repeated components, and they all need to have attributes added or updated. For example, I need to add the same manufacturer, manufacturer's part number and standard description to a dozen resistors on a single page. then I need to repeat for a dozen different resistors, capacitors, ICS and miscellaneous other parts.

Is there a way to do this without opening the attribute for each individual resistor and adding the manufacturer, manufacturer's part number and standard description as new attributes? It seems like there should be an easier way to do this, even if it's just a command-line that I can enter for each attribute and just click on the parts rather than opening the attribute, clicking "new," typing the attribute name and pasting the attribute value to every part. (Just describing the procedure is exhausting, imagine having do do it for hundreds of components)

There's an ULP that claims to do update attributes for a group of components (attrib-add), but it doesn't appear to do anything but give me an error saying nothing is selected even when parts are clearly selected.

Any assistance on, for example, how to use the attribute command line would be appreciated. The F1 description of how to use attribute is less helpful than it could be.

[jorge_garcia · Accepted solution]

Hi @Greg.Decker,

I hope you're doing well. The easiest way to do this would be to form the selection of resistors and then go to the Inspector. The inspector has an attributes section where you can create new attributes which are applied to the entire selection. You can use the Design Manager to make really granular and specific selections.

Try it out and let me know if you run into problems.

Let me know if there's anything else I can do for you.

Best Regards,

[Greg.Decker]

Thanks. That actually worked.

[Greg.Decker]

I have a followup question: 

So selecting a group of parts and adding an attribute to all of them seems to work, but I cannot change change an existing attribute in a group of components.

For example, I have six resistors (in the full design it's more than six, but six in a single group) that all have a blank attribute called "MFG-PN." I select all of them and view the inspector, and I can see all of the attributes. I select the "MFG-PN" attribute and double click on it, which allows me to type the manufacturer's part number into the field. But when I hit enter, the value just disappears.

Is there a way to modify existing attributes in a group using the inspector?

[jorge_garcia]

Hello @Greg.Decker ,

I hope you're doing well. There's an enhancement request for improving the inspector so that it can edit existing attributes. Currently, it's not possible.

I'll add your comments to the existing ticket to see if this can be prioritized. For now you would probably have to use a ULP to change the attributes of a selection.

Let me know if there's anything else I can do for you.

Best Regards,

[timMRXQV]

Just want to add that this feature is sorely needed. If I want to update the part number for a 10K resistor in a schematic that has several hundred, doing it one at a time isn't practical.

[jorge_garcia]

Hi @timMRXQV,

I hope you're doing well, in the meantime you can use the attrib-add.ulp to create attributes for a set of components. I've attached it for your reference.

Let me know if you run into any issues

Best Regards,