Hi,
In DesignSpark PCB, ModelSource still is the backbone of finding components from the RS website. I KNOW ITS OLD, BUT STILL EXTREMELY USEFUL...MORE SO BECAUSE WE DONT USE MS-OFFICE and so CANNOT USE ECAD PART WIZARD thing.
So, when a component is saved from ModelSource, a Library file is assigned and the NAME, SCHEMATIC SYMBOL, PCB FOOTPRINT are saved.
However, very soon when we have a plethora of these components, and we need to add a component from this library to an ongoing design, it becomes very difficult to figure which component should be used. Please see the attached picture. I bet you cannot tell exactly what is the Voltage and Capacity of this Aluminium Capacitor, let alone pitch length and other dimensions. Right now, users have to go to the web, paste in the name of the component and hope Google will show the vitals of this component in the first page somewhere.
Proposal:
DesignSpark Libary files should store all the data about a component that shows up in Model Source, and this data should be visible to the user in the Add Component dialog. Also, if the user's library file has a ton of components...the ModelSource table format can be used to filter components to be added. This will speed up the design process immensely.
Looks like somework, but not to the tune of undoable. Please add this as a high priority feature addition in the next major release.
Showing below example of the current Add Component diaglog.
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