Creating an Include File

You can use an include file to have the Bill of Materials command add information that is not in the schematic folder to the final bill of materials. You can create an include (.INC) file using any text editor that saves files in the ASCII format.

The first line of the include file is a header. The bill of materials is normally keyed to the part value, so the first line begins with a pair of single quotes with no spaces or other characters between them. The rest of the first line contains any information you want to include to make the file and the bill of materials more readable—this usually consists of headers for the values in the rest of the file.

The rest of the file contains a separate line for each part. Each line must begin with the property value (as specified in the Combined property string field within the Include File group box in the Bill of Materials dialog box) enclosed in single quotes. Following the property value (and on the same line) is the information that you want added to the bill of materials. You can separate the part value from additional information by inserting any number of spaces or tab characters—Capture will align the first non-blank character in each line when it creates the bill of materials report.

You must separate the items in the Combined property string field in the Bill of Materials dialog box exactly as they are separated in the include file. For example, if you use a space to separate the part values, descriptions, and part orders, then the combined property string should look like this:

{Value}

Example

''     DESCRIPTION             PART ORDER CODE
'1K'   Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%    10000111003
'4.7K' Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%    10000114703
'22K'  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%    10000112204
'1uF'  Capacitor Ceramic Disk  10000211006
'.1uF' Capacitor Ceramic Disk  10000211007