Managing Templates

You can manage CAD design templates in the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform to ensure that your organization maintains consistent standards and styles in your CAD files.

The following object types are supported for templates:

  • Altium PCB Project: Any project (*.PrjPcb). While creating a template, all the files of that project are zipped. All files in a project must reside in the same folder as the project file or in a subfolder.
  • Altium Schematic: Any schematic file (*.SchDoc).
  • Altium layout: Any layout file (*.PcbDoc).

This task shows you how to:

List Templates

You can list existing templates using the Manage Templates option.

  1. In Altium Designer, click 3DEXPERIENCE > Manage Templates to open the Template Management dialog box.
  2. Click the tab corresponding to each supported object type to list the existing templates of that type in the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform.
    Attributes such as the title, name, maturity state, description, and target 3DEXPERIENCE type are displayed for each template.

    The Template Management dialog box contains the following options:

    Option Description
    Create template Create a new template. For more information, see Create a Template.
    Edit template Opens the Edit Template dialog box where you can edit the title, description, and also select an updated or another template-specific file for the selected template.
    Download template Downloads the template of the selected template entry to the products checkout folder. The template files are processed to allow you to edit the files in Altium Designer. For example, extracting the Altium PCB Project zip container.
    Change maturity Open the Change Maturity dialog box. You can change the maturity state of the dialog box.
    Delete template Deletes the selected template entry if you have the access rights to do so.
    Reload template Refresh the list of listed templates.

Create a Template

You can create a template using the option in the Template Management dialog box.

  1. From the top bar of the Template Management dialog box, click Create template.
  2. In the Create Template dialog box, enter the following fields:
    Fields Description
    Name Enter a name by which the template is saved in the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform.
    Description Enter a description for the template.
    File Click Browse to select a file. Ensure that the file is of a supported template type specific.
  3. Click Create as Released to create the template in the Released maturity state or click Create as Private to create the template in the Private maturity state.

The new template is added to the list of template entries.

Create New from Template

You can create a new design from an existing template.

  1. In Altium Designer, click 3DEXPERIENCE > New from Template to create a design without a project context, or right-click a project and click 3DEXPERIENCE > New from Template to create a design with a project context.
  2. In the New from Template dialog box, enter the following:
    Fields Description
    CAD Type Select a CAD type from Altium Schematic, Altium PCB Project, or Altium Layout.
    Note: If Altium Schematic is selected, only the Templates and the Name field is available.
    Templates Select a template. Existing templates for the selected CAD type are available for selection.
    Title Enter a title for the design.
    Description Enter a description for the design.
    Name Enter a name for the design. The name should not contain special characters such as, \:/*?"<>|

    The name must not match the file name. For Altium Schematic,

    • without project context: must not match <checkout_folder>\<name>.SchDoc
    • with project context: must not match <current_project_location>\<name>.SchDoc

    For Altium Layout,

    • without project context: must not match <checkout_folder>\<name>.PcbDoc
    • with project context: must not match <current_project_location>\<name>.PcbDoc

    Altium PCB Project: Must not match the file <checkout_folder>\<name>.PrjPcb
  3. Click Manage Templates to open the Template Management dialog box.
  4. Click OK.

    For Altium PCB Project, the template file is checked out and a new project is created at the configured checkout location with the name <name>.PrjPcb.

    For Altium Schematic and Altium Layout, the target file depends on the current project in Altium Designer. If an Altium PCB Project is open in Altium Designer and is current, the new file is created in the folder of the project.

    The template file is checked out and a new file is created at the determined checkout location with the name <name>.SchDoc|PcbDoc. If there is a current Altium PCB project, the newly created file is added to the project.