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Several symbols for one component

mulfycrowh , 02-15-2022, 12:41 PM
Hi everyone,

Is it possible to have several symbols for a same component ?
Thanks.
qdrives , 02-16-2022, 09:19 AM
I have seen this remark more, but tell me: why do you want multiple symbols for one component?
Is it for US / EU variant like resistor, (electrolytic) capacitors, gates? If so, why not choose one and stick to it?
mulfycrowh , 02-16-2022, 11:51 AM
I am working with TI's HD3SS214 which is a DisplayPort 1:2/2:1 differential switch.
I find convenient to have two different symbols: one for the mux, one for the demux.

I renamed the component HD3SS214_MUX, copied it and renamed it to HDSS3SS214_DEMUX.
I changed the symbol for the demultiplexer and it works !
WhoKnewKnows , 02-16-2022, 08:30 PM
Yes, this is a multi part symbol. Commonly done on large parts like MCUs. One bank of GPIOs per symbol, RAM interface pins on another symbol, power pins on another symbol, and so on. Robert's open rex and other designs illustrate this.
mulfycrowh , 02-17-2022, 12:41 AM
No. That's not multi part symbol.
As you can see on the attached screenshot, this is 2 components with multi part.
The demux has U83 for designator.
The issue is that it doesn't show up in the BOM.
Any reason ?
WhoKnewKnows , 02-17-2022, 05:05 AM
How to create multi-part components and symbols in Altium Designer®. Build a symbol manually or use an advanced symbol generator to do the heavy lifting of symbol creation for you.
WhoKnewKnows , 02-17-2022, 05:08 AM
The example I gave about how MCUs are broken down into a variety of smaller symbols is just the same as when a logic IC is broken down to individual gates.
qdrives , 02-17-2022, 09:07 AM
As far as I know, Altium does not have the ability to have two (multiple) representations of a single component or symbol, like EU / US resistor symbol.
A quick look at the datasheet does not give me a reason to create two symbols, but then I did not look at the details, usages and your design.
As for not showing up in the BOM:
- Multi part components are a bit annoying
- What are the designators of all (4) sections?
- Standard part? [vs Standard (No BOM)]
- Variant? (Not fitted)
robertferanec , 02-19-2022, 01:47 AM
From discussion, I see you are probably talking about Multipart symbols.

But I still would like to react also about multiple symbols for one component. I was not really investigating this, but maybe the Mode could be something like that? I could not find any info about it in help. Some CAD systems does provide symbol alternatives (e.g. you can specify different symbols for different symbol rotation) - maybe that is how the mode is used? I am just guessing, maybe I am totally wrong
mulfycrowh , 02-19-2022, 04:00 AM
I defined several parts for the component I am using.
But this component can be used as a multiplexer or a demultiplexer.
For me it was convenient to change the symbol according to the mode used.
I renamed the name of the component from HD3SS214 to HD3SS214_MUX.
I copied this new component and renamed it to HDD3SS214_DEMUX.
I changed the symbols (for each part) of this component according to my wish.

Both components do show up in the BOM, it is the same reference, so I get 2 components instead one.
Perfect !
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