To access components in a SOLIDWORKS PDM vault that were not created by CircuitWorks, you must add component records to the Component Library manually.
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Ensure that the latest component files are in your SOLIDWORKS PDM local vault view and that the Component Library component folders point there.
- Use the CircuitWorks Library Component Wizard to import the files into the Component Library.
CircuitWorks creates a record for each component in the Component Library.
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Edit the new components as needed.
When importing files, CircuitWorks uses the file name for both the
Component Name and
Component Part Number in the Component Library. Depending on how CircuitWorks is configured to use component names and part numbers (see
CircuitWorks Options - Library), you might need to edit the records.
For example, if you import TO220.sldprt into the Component Library, CircuitWorks assigns TO220 as both the name and part number. By default, CircuitWorks looks for components in the Component Library using a combination of name and part number, so if you open an IDF file in CircuitWorks that contains a component named TO220 with a part number 64332, then the components do not match. CircuitWorks creates a new component and adds it to the library.
To ensure that CircuitWorks uses the original TO220 component, you must change the part number to 64332.