Attaching a Schematic Folder

You attach a schematic folder to extend net connections between schematic folders. The attached schematic folder is the child schematic folder in a hierarchy. A schematic folder can be attached to a non-primitive library part, a non-primitive part instance on a schematic page, or a hierarchical block.

To attach a schematic folder to a new hierarchical block:

1. Open the schematic page editor on the parent page.
    
2. Choose Place – Hierarchical Block.
    
3. Specify a name in the Reference field.
    
4. In the Implementation Type drop-down list, select Schematic View.
    
5. In the Implementation name text box, enter the name of the child schematic folder.
    
6. If the child schematic folder is not in the current design, specify the path and library where the schematic folder is located.
    
7. Click OK.

To attach a schematic folder to a new part:

1. Create a new part. For details, see Creating Parts.
    
2. Click the Attach Implementation button. The Attach Implementation dialog box appears.
    
3. In the Schematic text box, select Schematic View from the Type drop-down list box.
    
4. Specify the name of the child schematic folder in the Name text box.
    
5. If the child schematic folder is not in the current design, specify the path and library where the schematic folder is located.
    
6. Click OK twice.

To attach a schematic folder to an existing hierarchical block or part:

1. Select the hierarchical block or part on the parent schematic page, and choose Edit – Properties. The property editor appears.
    
2. Click the Implementation Type property cell, and choose Schematic View from the drop-down list.
    
3. Click the Primitive property cell, and select No from the drop-down list. Using this setting you can ascend and descend the hierarchy.
    
4. Enter a name in the Implementation property cell.
    
5. If the child schematic folder is not in the current design, specify the path and library where the schematic folder is located using the Browse button in the Implementation Path property cell.
   
   
6. Click Yes on the Undo Warning message box.
    
7. Click Apply and close the property editor.
   
   

Recommendations on Attaching a Schematic Folder

• It is recommended that, rather than editing parts in libraries provided by OrCAD, you copy the part and make changes in a custom library. If you do edit a library provided by OrCAD, it is important that you assign a new library name (choose File – Save As) so that your changes are not overwritten when you update or upgrade your software.
   
• Ensure that you do not create recursion in your design. Capture cannot prevent a recursion, and the Design Rules Check command does not report it.
   
• If you attach external schematic folders or other files to hierarchical blocks in a design or parts in a library, be sure to include the attachments when you pass the design or library to a board fabrication house or to another engineer. Attached schematic folder and other files are not carried along automatically when you copy or move a part, a schematic folder, or a schematic page to another library, design, or schematic folder. Only the “pointers” to the attached schematic folders and files— their names and the names of the designs or libraries that contain them— are carried along.
   
• Attached files work much like their counterparts in mail as they do not provide an alternative definition of the part (as do the attached schematic folders). If you attach a schematic folder to a homogeneous part, it is attached to each part in the package and not to the package itself. You cannot attach a schematic folder to a heterogeneous part.
   
• When you attach a schematic to a part or a hierarchical block, you can specify a full path and filename in the Library text box. So, although you can specify a library that has not been saved, you should not try to descend into the attached schematic folder until the library that contains the schematic folder has been saved.
   
• If you do not specify a full path and filename in the Library text box, Capture expects to find the attached schematic folder in the same design as the part of the hierarchical block to which it is attached. If the specific schematic folder does not exist in either the design or the library, Capture creates the schematic folder when you descend hierarchy on the part or hierarchical block.
   
• Capture preserves the case of the path and filename as you specify them in the Library text box for compatibility with future versions of Windows.