In this lesson, we’ll make sure we have all the necessary files for importing electrical components into Upchain.
We’ll learn how to use the Excel plugin to prepare those files before the import.
There are two ways of preparing your eCAD for import to Upchain, depending on whether you use Altium Designer as your preferred eCAD software.
Where relevant, the following titles indicate whether the content is intended for users of Altium or other eCAD software.
Let’s identify the requirements needed for importing electrical CAD into Upchain. We’ll use the Excel plugin to help us prepare the BOM for import.
Any referenced datasets can be downloaded from "Module downloads" in the module overview.
Transcript
00:03
In this video, we will discuss the following.
00:06
Some key points you need to know before you can properly import your eCAD data to Upchain and creating Excel templates.
00:13
So, let's take a look.
00:15
We have an existing eCAD BOM that we need to import into an Upchain project.
00:19
Upchain allows you to import your eCAD BOM into your project when needed.
00:23
Prior to the import, there are a few steps that need to be taken.
00:27
The first step is to have an active project, which the eCAD items will be imported to. This can either be a new or existing project.
00:35
At least one team member needs to hold professional license in Upchain.
00:39
This could be the person who is in charge of managing the electrical BOM in Upchain.
00:44
Once you have your active project and verify which project team member can do the import,
00:49
the next step is to create a spreadsheet with your eCAD items as this is what Upchain uses to build the electrical BOM in your project.
00:56
You may be able to generate the spreadsheet from your electrical CAD software. If not, you can simply create one in Excel.
01:03
This spreadsheet contains the full electrical BOM that is used by Upchain to understand,
01:07
which items need to be created as part of the electrical package.
01:11
The Excel spreadsheet will be used to import the eCAD items into your project.
01:16
There are three required columns that need to be included in your spreadsheet.
01:19
The item or component name, manufacturer, and manufacturer number or part number.
01:25
You can see here in our example that the information needed is contained in the first three columns.
01:30
It is suggested to rearrange your columns for simplicity as these column headings will be used to map to the fields in Upchain and create a template.
01:39
We will discuss creating a template in a moment.
01:41
Note, if you have a manufacturer in your spreadsheet, but it does not exist in Upchain, to avoid an error at import,
01:48
you must have your tenant administrator create the manufacturer in Upchain before creating the item.
01:54
In other words, all the manufacturers must already be in Upchain before you import.
01:60
To identify if a manufacturer exists in Upchain, select the drop down menu beside your user profile icon.
02:06
Select "Manufacturers" from the menu.
02:08
The Manufacturers tab will activate and you will see a list of manufacturers.
02:13
To quickly identify if the required manufacturer is available, each column has a Search option.
02:18
To activate it, click on the filter icon to the right of the Name column.
02:22
A search dialog will appear. Choose the search parameter then simply type in the manufacturer name.
02:28
In this example, I'm just going to type in TT for TT electronics, then press "Enter" or the "Filter" button to see your results.
02:37
You can include additional columns of information in your spreadsheet such as quantity or item description.
02:43
These are highly recommended if already populated as these can be used directly in Upchain as well.
02:50
For this chapter, the final piece is to have your eCAD items uploaded to Upchain and the rest of your Electrical Project files.
02:58
Here, you simply combine the required files into a zip folder to prepare them for the upload.
03:04
While a PDF of the drawing or drawings of your electrical project is not required to create the electrical items in Upchain,
03:11
having them as part of the files is recommended.
03:14
If you have more than one PDF image, it is recommended to also combine them into a multi-page PDF, so your only working with one file.
03:24
By including the PDF of the drawings, other project team members would be able to view the drawings using the PDF viewer within Upchain.
03:32
Again, to reiterate, the project files need to be zipped together while the PDF of the drawing will remain separate.
03:40
So, for your import, the Excel file and the zip project file are required and a PDF of the drawing is recommended.
03:49
Now that we have these files prepared,
03:51
our next step is to create an Excel template that will associate the columns in the Excel file to the item attributes in Upchain,
03:58
which is required for the import process.
04:01
To do this, you first need to make sure you have the Excel plugin, which is part of the Upchain for Office plugin.
04:07
Reminder, any plugin is available by clicking on your user profile in Upchain and then selecting "Plugins".
04:14
This will take you to a list of available plugins.
04:17
Download, in this case, the Upchain for office plugin, which is used for PowerPoint word and Excel.
04:24
Then it's a simple process of double clicking the file to apply the plugin.
04:28
We then need to open the Excel document and view our data. We can see there is a lot of information.
04:34
Again, however, item name, manufacturer, and manufacturer number are the required fields.
04:40
If there are any other populated columns used by your company, it is highly recommended to include these as well.
04:46
For example, quantity and description.
04:49
To create the template, we need to click on the Upchain menu in the ribbon. Then activate the Toggle Pane to launch the Upchain plugin.
04:56
Here, we can click on the BOM icon.
04:59
We now need to click on the ellipsis and choose the Manage eCAD templates option. This will then launch the eCAD template dialog.
05:06
Notice the Source column on the left, which are the current columns in Excel. Here, we need to match to the Destination column on the right.
05:15
From here, we need to select the columns that would be mapped to the destination fields in Upchain.
05:20
Again, we want to ensure that we are including the three required fields.
05:24
Item Name, Manufacturer, and Manufacturer Item Number as well as any others you may require.
05:32
Once we have all the columns mapped, we can click on "Save" to save our template.
05:36
Note, since it is a template, make sure you enter a descriptive title.
05:40
As this template will be available tenant wide and you want other people to know exactly what the template is for.
05:47
In other words, only one person needs to set up this template, and then everyone else can use it.
05:54
As we are creating a template, you will not need to create it again unless the mapping requirements change.
05:59
Should this happen, you will need to overwrite the current template or create a new one.
06:04
To view the template, select the drop down from the Load saved template. Note here that the template list is empty by default.
06:11
But as new templates are generated, they will be seen tenant wide.
06:15
Now simply find the required template and select it. As we have saved the template, you can now cancel out of this dialogue.
06:22
So we have seen how to access the Excel plugin for Upchain and how to create a template for importing our electrical BOM components.
06:30
The next step is to import these components into Upchain.
00:03
In this video, we will discuss the following.
00:06
Some key points you need to know before you can properly import your eCAD data to Upchain and creating Excel templates.
00:13
So, let's take a look.
00:15
We have an existing eCAD BOM that we need to import into an Upchain project.
00:19
Upchain allows you to import your eCAD BOM into your project when needed.
00:23
Prior to the import, there are a few steps that need to be taken.
00:27
The first step is to have an active project, which the eCAD items will be imported to. This can either be a new or existing project.
00:35
At least one team member needs to hold professional license in Upchain.
00:39
This could be the person who is in charge of managing the electrical BOM in Upchain.
00:44
Once you have your active project and verify which project team member can do the import,
00:49
the next step is to create a spreadsheet with your eCAD items as this is what Upchain uses to build the electrical BOM in your project.
00:56
You may be able to generate the spreadsheet from your electrical CAD software. If not, you can simply create one in Excel.
01:03
This spreadsheet contains the full electrical BOM that is used by Upchain to understand,
01:07
which items need to be created as part of the electrical package.
01:11
The Excel spreadsheet will be used to import the eCAD items into your project.
01:16
There are three required columns that need to be included in your spreadsheet.
01:19
The item or component name, manufacturer, and manufacturer number or part number.
01:25
You can see here in our example that the information needed is contained in the first three columns.
01:30
It is suggested to rearrange your columns for simplicity as these column headings will be used to map to the fields in Upchain and create a template.
01:39
We will discuss creating a template in a moment.
01:41
Note, if you have a manufacturer in your spreadsheet, but it does not exist in Upchain, to avoid an error at import,
01:48
you must have your tenant administrator create the manufacturer in Upchain before creating the item.
01:54
In other words, all the manufacturers must already be in Upchain before you import.
01:60
To identify if a manufacturer exists in Upchain, select the drop down menu beside your user profile icon.
02:06
Select "Manufacturers" from the menu.
02:08
The Manufacturers tab will activate and you will see a list of manufacturers.
02:13
To quickly identify if the required manufacturer is available, each column has a Search option.
02:18
To activate it, click on the filter icon to the right of the Name column.
02:22
A search dialog will appear. Choose the search parameter then simply type in the manufacturer name.
02:28
In this example, I'm just going to type in TT for TT electronics, then press "Enter" or the "Filter" button to see your results.
02:37
You can include additional columns of information in your spreadsheet such as quantity or item description.
02:43
These are highly recommended if already populated as these can be used directly in Upchain as well.
02:50
For this chapter, the final piece is to have your eCAD items uploaded to Upchain and the rest of your Electrical Project files.
02:58
Here, you simply combine the required files into a zip folder to prepare them for the upload.
03:04
While a PDF of the drawing or drawings of your electrical project is not required to create the electrical items in Upchain,
03:11
having them as part of the files is recommended.
03:14
If you have more than one PDF image, it is recommended to also combine them into a multi-page PDF, so your only working with one file.
03:24
By including the PDF of the drawings, other project team members would be able to view the drawings using the PDF viewer within Upchain.
03:32
Again, to reiterate, the project files need to be zipped together while the PDF of the drawing will remain separate.
03:40
So, for your import, the Excel file and the zip project file are required and a PDF of the drawing is recommended.
03:49
Now that we have these files prepared,
03:51
our next step is to create an Excel template that will associate the columns in the Excel file to the item attributes in Upchain,
03:58
which is required for the import process.
04:01
To do this, you first need to make sure you have the Excel plugin, which is part of the Upchain for Office plugin.
04:07
Reminder, any plugin is available by clicking on your user profile in Upchain and then selecting "Plugins".
04:14
This will take you to a list of available plugins.
04:17
Download, in this case, the Upchain for office plugin, which is used for PowerPoint word and Excel.
04:24
Then it's a simple process of double clicking the file to apply the plugin.
04:28
We then need to open the Excel document and view our data. We can see there is a lot of information.
04:34
Again, however, item name, manufacturer, and manufacturer number are the required fields.
04:40
If there are any other populated columns used by your company, it is highly recommended to include these as well.
04:46
For example, quantity and description.
04:49
To create the template, we need to click on the Upchain menu in the ribbon. Then activate the Toggle Pane to launch the Upchain plugin.
04:56
Here, we can click on the BOM icon.
04:59
We now need to click on the ellipsis and choose the Manage eCAD templates option. This will then launch the eCAD template dialog.
05:06
Notice the Source column on the left, which are the current columns in Excel. Here, we need to match to the Destination column on the right.
05:15
From here, we need to select the columns that would be mapped to the destination fields in Upchain.
05:20
Again, we want to ensure that we are including the three required fields.
05:24
Item Name, Manufacturer, and Manufacturer Item Number as well as any others you may require.
05:32
Once we have all the columns mapped, we can click on "Save" to save our template.
05:36
Note, since it is a template, make sure you enter a descriptive title.
05:40
As this template will be available tenant wide and you want other people to know exactly what the template is for.
05:47
In other words, only one person needs to set up this template, and then everyone else can use it.
05:54
As we are creating a template, you will not need to create it again unless the mapping requirements change.
05:59
Should this happen, you will need to overwrite the current template or create a new one.
06:04
To view the template, select the drop down from the Load saved template. Note here that the template list is empty by default.
06:11
But as new templates are generated, they will be seen tenant wide.
06:15
Now simply find the required template and select it. As we have saved the template, you can now cancel out of this dialogue.
06:22
So we have seen how to access the Excel plugin for Upchain and how to create a template for importing our electrical BOM components.
06:30
The next step is to import these components into Upchain.
Altium Designer users should use the Altium Exporter plugin to prepare their eCAD files for import. Let’s learn how to use the Altium Exporter.
Any referenced datasets can be downloaded from "Module downloads" in the module overview.
Transcript
00:03
This video is intended for users of a supported version of Altium Designer.
00:07
For all other users, please see the other preparation video, which has a more generic workflow.
00:14
In this video, we will discuss the following. Using Altium to create files required to import into Upchain and creating Excel templates.
00:23
So let's take a look.
00:26
We have an existing Altium eCAD BOM that we need to import into an Upchain project.
00:31
Upchain allows you to import eCAD BOM into your projects when needed.
00:36
Prior to the import, there are a few steps that need to be taken.
00:39
Firstly, it is required that you have the column's Name, Manufacturer, and PartNumber. Any others you need can also be included.
00:47
Next, we'll make sure to have the Altium Exporter plugin, which can save you some time.
00:54
This plugin is available through the plugin menu option under your profile in Upchain.
00:58
Activate the drop down, then select Plugins.
01:01
The Plugin dialog opens, then choose a "Download" button for the Upchain Altium Exporter.
01:07
An MSI file will download to your local machine. Double click the file to install the plugin.
01:12
The Altium Exporter plugin helps in the preparation of data by creating a package file, which can then be imported into Upchain.
01:21
Finally, it is recommended to create a directory for the exported files prior to activating the process.
01:27
We've created one here on our local drive, just simply "D:\Altium Export for Upchain".
01:32
So let's take a look at what this plugin does.
01:36
On the menu bar, we'll now see an Upchain icon. Simply click on it.
01:41
The project must be opened to create the files needed for the import into Upchain.
01:46
Select the folder to where they would be exported, then select which projects are to be exported.
01:52
Once that is done, we simply need to click "OK" and let the exporter go ahead and create the files needed.
01:59
The files that we will see include a zip file, a PDF of our drawing schematic, and an Excel file of the BOM structure.
02:08
After the files are created, we will see a confirmation message that the export was created successfully.
02:14
So here, we have used the Altium Exporter plugin and created the files required to import our eCAD components into Upchain.
02:22
Now that we have these files prepared,
02:24
our next step is to create an Excel template that will associate the columns in the Excel file to the item attributes in Upchain,
02:31
which is required for the import process.
02:34
To do this, you first need to make sure you have the Excel plugin, which is part of the Upchain for Office plugin.
02:41
Reminder, any plugin is available by clicking on your user profile in Upchain and then selecting "Plugins".
02:48
This will take you to a list of available plugins.
02:51
Download, in this case, the Upchain for Office plugin, which is used for PowerPoint, Word and Excel.
02:58
Then, it's a simple process of double clicking the file to apply the plugin. We then need to open the Excel document and view our data.
03:06
We can see there is a lot of information. Again, however, item name, manufacturer, and manufacturer number are the required fields.
03:14
If there are any other populated columns used by your company, it is highly recommended to include these as well,
03:19
for example, quantity and description.
03:23
To create the template, we need to click on the Upchain menu in the ribbon. Then, activate the Toggle Pane to launch the Upchain plugin.
03:30
Here, we can click on the BOM icon. We now need to click on the ellipsis and choose to "Manage eCAD templates" option.
03:37
This will then launch the eCAD template dialogue. Notice the Source column on the left, which are the current columns in Excel.
03:45
Here, we need to match the columns to the Destination column on the right.
03:49
From here, we need to select the columns that would be mapped to the destination fields in Upchain.
03:54
Again, we want to ensure that we are including the three required fields, Item Name, Manufacturer,
03:60
and Manufacturer Item Number as well as any others you may require.
04:05
Once we have all the columns mapped, we can click on "Save" to save our template.
04:10
Note, since it is a template, make sure you enter a descriptive title as this template will be available tenant wide,
04:17
and you want other people to know exactly what the template is for.
04:21
In other words, only one person needs to set up this template and then everyone else can use it.
04:27
As we are creating a template, you will not need to create it again unless the mapping requirements change.
04:33
Should this happen, you will need to overwrite the current template or create a new one.
04:38
To view the template, select the drop down from the Load saved template. Note here that the template list is empty by default.
04:45
But as new templates are generated, they will be seen tenant wide. Now simply find the required template and select it.
04:52
As we have saved the template, you can now cancel out of this dialogue.
04:56
So we have seen how to access the Excel plugin for Upchain and how to create a template for importing our electrical BOM components.
05:03
The next step is to import these components into Upchain.
00:03
This video is intended for users of a supported version of Altium Designer.
00:07
For all other users, please see the other preparation video, which has a more generic workflow.
00:14
In this video, we will discuss the following. Using Altium to create files required to import into Upchain and creating Excel templates.
00:23
So let's take a look.
00:26
We have an existing Altium eCAD BOM that we need to import into an Upchain project.
00:31
Upchain allows you to import eCAD BOM into your projects when needed.
00:36
Prior to the import, there are a few steps that need to be taken.
00:39
Firstly, it is required that you have the column's Name, Manufacturer, and PartNumber. Any others you need can also be included.
00:47
Next, we'll make sure to have the Altium Exporter plugin, which can save you some time.
00:54
This plugin is available through the plugin menu option under your profile in Upchain.
00:58
Activate the drop down, then select Plugins.
01:01
The Plugin dialog opens, then choose a "Download" button for the Upchain Altium Exporter.
01:07
An MSI file will download to your local machine. Double click the file to install the plugin.
01:12
The Altium Exporter plugin helps in the preparation of data by creating a package file, which can then be imported into Upchain.
01:21
Finally, it is recommended to create a directory for the exported files prior to activating the process.
01:27
We've created one here on our local drive, just simply "D:\Altium Export for Upchain".
01:32
So let's take a look at what this plugin does.
01:36
On the menu bar, we'll now see an Upchain icon. Simply click on it.
01:41
The project must be opened to create the files needed for the import into Upchain.
01:46
Select the folder to where they would be exported, then select which projects are to be exported.
01:52
Once that is done, we simply need to click "OK" and let the exporter go ahead and create the files needed.
01:59
The files that we will see include a zip file, a PDF of our drawing schematic, and an Excel file of the BOM structure.
02:08
After the files are created, we will see a confirmation message that the export was created successfully.
02:14
So here, we have used the Altium Exporter plugin and created the files required to import our eCAD components into Upchain.
02:22
Now that we have these files prepared,
02:24
our next step is to create an Excel template that will associate the columns in the Excel file to the item attributes in Upchain,
02:31
which is required for the import process.
02:34
To do this, you first need to make sure you have the Excel plugin, which is part of the Upchain for Office plugin.
02:41
Reminder, any plugin is available by clicking on your user profile in Upchain and then selecting "Plugins".
02:48
This will take you to a list of available plugins.
02:51
Download, in this case, the Upchain for Office plugin, which is used for PowerPoint, Word and Excel.
02:58
Then, it's a simple process of double clicking the file to apply the plugin. We then need to open the Excel document and view our data.
03:06
We can see there is a lot of information. Again, however, item name, manufacturer, and manufacturer number are the required fields.
03:14
If there are any other populated columns used by your company, it is highly recommended to include these as well,
03:19
for example, quantity and description.
03:23
To create the template, we need to click on the Upchain menu in the ribbon. Then, activate the Toggle Pane to launch the Upchain plugin.
03:30
Here, we can click on the BOM icon. We now need to click on the ellipsis and choose to "Manage eCAD templates" option.
03:37
This will then launch the eCAD template dialogue. Notice the Source column on the left, which are the current columns in Excel.
03:45
Here, we need to match the columns to the Destination column on the right.
03:49
From here, we need to select the columns that would be mapped to the destination fields in Upchain.
03:54
Again, we want to ensure that we are including the three required fields, Item Name, Manufacturer,
03:60
and Manufacturer Item Number as well as any others you may require.
04:05
Once we have all the columns mapped, we can click on "Save" to save our template.
04:10
Note, since it is a template, make sure you enter a descriptive title as this template will be available tenant wide,
04:17
and you want other people to know exactly what the template is for.
04:21
In other words, only one person needs to set up this template and then everyone else can use it.
04:27
As we are creating a template, you will not need to create it again unless the mapping requirements change.
04:33
Should this happen, you will need to overwrite the current template or create a new one.
04:38
To view the template, select the drop down from the Load saved template. Note here that the template list is empty by default.
04:45
But as new templates are generated, they will be seen tenant wide. Now simply find the required template and select it.
04:52
As we have saved the template, you can now cancel out of this dialogue.
04:56
So we have seen how to access the Excel plugin for Upchain and how to create a template for importing our electrical BOM components.
05:03
The next step is to import these components into Upchain.
