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This question has been asked 8 years ago, but I'm hoping for a new answer.

In the past if I have wanted to create a 0402 resistor and have several different values, I have created several different components and just reused the footprint.

It is now 2022 and I am wondering if there is a better way of doing this? Can I create a generic XR XW 0402 resistor and then just specify a resistor and wattage value when I use the component?

When generating the BOM, it should cause no issues (like this has in the past).

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Are you talking about the footprint or the schematic part ? \$\endgroup\$
    – citizen
    Commented Jan 7, 2022 at 13:17
  • \$\begingroup\$ Sorry, I'm talking about the schematic part. The footprint should be reused (ie the same) for each schematic \$\endgroup\$
    – novastorm
    Commented Jan 7, 2022 at 13:41
  • \$\begingroup\$ Generally speaking you use any generic schematic resistor and add any footprint that you want to use. The value, wattage etc you set that yourself, then copy the same component and change the value and wattage and/or footprint for another resistor... \$\endgroup\$
    – citizen
    Commented Jan 7, 2022 at 13:57
  • \$\begingroup\$ Given that you may decide to use different suppliers of resistors, say becuase of availability and/or cost, its best to use the suppliers' data for a particular component and add that to your schematic component. I generally use Digikey as a supplier source for component parameter, and if you right-click on the supplier you can add the parameters to your schematic component which will also reflect in your BOM \$\endgroup\$
    – citizen
    Commented Jan 7, 2022 at 14:01
  • \$\begingroup\$ For a different value you need to make a copy of the component, then delete the paramaters etc, and add different parmeters from the supplier with right-click copy to your new schematic component ... and repeat as necessary as soon as you need a new component ... hope this helps. \$\endgroup\$
    – citizen
    Commented Jan 7, 2022 at 14:02

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This is very much possible, but does not really match with Altium's philosophy of "supply chain management as design data".

You could argue that for generics like most resistors and caps, dedicated MPNs and supply chain management is not an issue. As long as your BOM template includes the Value or Comment fields (whichever you end up using to specify values and tolerances), you'll be fine. You could also add custom parameters to your part to be extra clear.

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