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 Sorry, but library management is a mess

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Scazon Posted - 03 Dec 2008 : 11:00:20
Please can we get the library management system sorted out as a matter of priority. The way it is at the moment is a mess. If a duplicate exists in a higher priority library, we need a simple way of determining which is the one we wanted to use, not just a bald message, and a way of fixing it- by promoting or demoting the library, by transferring the desired component, by renaming (automatically?) the duplicated symbol or footprint, etc. etc.- interactively at the point of use.

I suspect the scheme was conceived from the point of view of a fresh installation, without the requirements of the long-time user- whose libraries necessarily have a great deal of history- being taken much into account. Simply ordering alphabetically is not fine enough- it needs to be by a user selectable file order.

Like I asked for back in May, look at how it's done when you add paths to a linker. The paths (library files) are examined in the order specified.
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Peter Johnson Posted - 04 Dec 2008 : 16:17:44
I agree that the different system for managing libraries is causing not a little confusion, but the underlying structure is still rational, and the management tools have improved.

With library paths now being fluid (as has been requested repeatedly for most of the program's life so far), the hard bond between component and symbol simply cannot be maintained. There is no guarantee that a symbol library will remain in the same folder as the matching component library, and given the fluidity of the library paths, even storing a relartive path isn't adequate. The only remaining option is to scan for symbols matching the one required. This has been done, but as you are aware, it brings a different set of issues.

Because of these inevitable issues, the new folder tab, in the library management screen, contains provision for enabling and disabling libraries, not just by folder, but also on a specific library by library basis - including symbol libraries. This should be adequate for most management purposes. The find function has been restructured to clearly identify default components and symbols.

If the situation arises where two components are using different symbols with the same name simultaneously, this has never been supported in designs, as a design has never been able to containg more than one symbol with a given name. The only reasonable way of handling this is to save one symbol to a different name. and edit the relevant component to link to the different symbol. By using the properties of the relevant symbol in the component editor, this can be done without rebuilding - just re-saving once the new symbol name has been assigned.

A user selectable file order is a possible enhancement, but the underlying structure would still have to default to a predictable selection order (which, incidentally, was not the case on earlier versions - to that extent there's already been a vast improvement), but it would require a user maintained file designating variations from alphabetical order. Given the amount of misunderstanding that the (now redundant) libnames.txt file caused, this is a step to be approached with caution.

We're always happy to consider suggestions, but please make them as specific as possible. Vague suggestions will usually produce an answer other than what you expected.
jmathew Posted - 03 Dec 2008 : 17:15:01
Hi Scazon,

Yes, lot of mess presently. Many years of my library become scrap after updated V.12

If add automatic version numbering to each entry in library by adding one more column in the library, then user can update to the latest instead of duplicating, which creating the situation very mess.

Hope to solve this mess earliest.