footprint not found in Ultiboard

[lacy]

As far as your question in your last post is concerned. I am pretty sure you can do it either way and there isn't much difference between the two, if any. 

One question I do have is to what type of component you are trying to make a footprint for. There are some components that are called "interactive components" and this option is greyed because Multisim considers these parts a non-editable, but there is a way around this as far as footprints are concerned. Let me know if what I suspect is the case and I will tell you the workaround.

I hope I am helping you. I only wish I could do more.

[lacy]

Also, let me know if you have a spreadsheet at the bottom of the screen with the tabs RESULTS NETS COMPONENTS PCB LAYERS.

I need to knmow this information because I may have a solution for you if you have the spreadseeht and these tabs within it.

[KostasB]

Hi,

Lacy, you are right- that there are no restrictions in the Power Pro version, they are only available in the Education Version.

Frank, I think I have the answer to your problem. It looks like the components you are using are not from one of the Multisim databases but

have been brought in externally. The following link describes what you need to do to be able to modify the footprint:

http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/37D3E078A759808186257347005AC9C3?OpenDocument

Let us know if that helped,

KostasB

National Instruments

Applications Engineering

[lacy]

Thanks KostasB for that useful information. My idea was that if he had the spreadsheet that he could do it a lot easier using it. The only thing he would have to would be to navigate to the component tab and the scroll to where it say footprint and then click on that box and assign his footprint that way if he already has followed you first procedure to place it in the Multisim database.

Anyway, he can give either one a shot and see which one makes it easier for him. The big thing is that he gets this working the way he wants.

Just a note that both procedures that you posted can be done through the spreadsheet and may be simpler to use (at it is for me) if that option is available.

Message Edited by lacy on 12-06-2007 06:47 PM

[theonlyonewoanallis]

Sorry guys, its been a busy week. Thanks Lacy and Kostas for all of the help.

Lacy, I was not really trying to produce any particular circuit or footprint. We are using Cadence for production. I was just trying to evaluate if we should switch to NI because of cost and / or ease of use. I wanted to go through all the motions of using NI to see how easy it worked. When I was trying to add parts / footprints it was a Tyco power supply module I was using as a reference, but it could be any part.

Also, Yes I have the spreadsheet view (that I never saw before because it was turned off) in Miltsim with 4 tabs, and I do have the spreadsheet view at the bottom of Ultiboard with 13 different tabs (RESULTS NETS ETC).

 When I follow the link that Kostas sent everything worked, BUT the "Edit Footprint" button remains greyd out.... However, I still see 2 other ways to edit the footprint now.

Thanks guys.

Frank

[KostasB]

Hi Frank

It's good that you can now work with the software. As Lacy mentioned, if you want to import footprints for a large number of componets, the spreadsheet view is the way to go:

For your reference the procedure is:

Turn on the spreadsheet view if it is not already on, this option is under View>>Spreadsheet view

1. Click on the Component tab
2. Locate the Footprint column and click on the heading, this should highlight the entire column.
3. Click on the AZ icon above the spreadsheet to sort your footprint names in alphabetical order.
4. Locate the upper most name and left click once, hold down the shift key on the keyboard and click on the bottom most name. All rows in between should also be highlighted.
5. Click on any of the highlighted footprint name and a Edit Footprint dialog should appear.
6. Click on the Select from Database button, navigate through the database and highlight the desire footprint, press the Select button to select this footprint.

Regards and best of luck,

KostasB

National Instruments

Applications Engineering