Altium Schematic Pin Grouping

Question

I have a schematic symbol for a micro-controller (40pin) created by a different person. On their schematic, they have pins grouped together in specific order, for example, say pins 1, 5, 23 and 36 are together since they go off to one specific device, then pins 21, 28 and 30 are next, because they go off to a second device, and so on.

I want to configure the pin groups in a different way. How is this done?

I imagine I can edit the schematic drawing itself, and manually move the pins, but is there an alternative way to do this?

Thanks.

Answer 1

You will have to go into the schematic component library editor and move the pins (if you want to change the default grouping). Alternatively, if you only want to change it for one schematic, you can open the properties for the component (double-click on it) and uncheck "Lock Pins". This will allow you to move the pins around in the schematic, rather than the schematic library and all future parts created from it.

Answer 2

The best way to do this is to edit the symbol using the schematic library editor. If you simply edit the symbol to your preference then the next time your colleague uses the same part he will be stuck with your symbol.

The way around this in Altium is to use "modes". Modes are just alternative symbols with the pins swapped around, etc. Find the symbol in the library using the schematic library editor, then go to Tools-Mode-Add to add a new mode. You can now draw your new symbol. A better way to do this is to copy the original symbol, go to the new symbol and paste it in. This way you get exactly the same pins, with the same names. The names of pins in an alternative mode must match the pins in the original (called Normal). Once you have all of the pins you can arrange them as you prefer.

To use the new mode in a schematic, add the part as usual. Double click on the part, and look for the mode drop down box near the bottom left of the window. This should list the Normal and alternate modes for the symbol.