LibrePCB

Attributes System {#doc_attributes_system}
==========================================

[TOC]

LibrePCB uses a sophisticated attributes system which makes it possible to
display dynamically determined information in schematics and boards, or to
provide additional information for the BOM.


# Example: Symbol {#doc_attributes_system_example_symbol}

Let's start with a short example. A symbol as defined in the library could look
like this:

![Library Symbol](library_symbol.png)

It contains various texts on different layers, and each of them will be replaced
by a dynamically determined text while the symbol is part of a schematic:

<table>
  <tr>
    <th>Text
    <th>Graphics Layer
    <th>In schematics substituted by following value
  <tr>
    <td>`{{NAME}}`
    <td>`sym_names`
    <td>Designator of the symbol's component in a schematic (e.g. "R5")
  <tr>
    <td>`{{VALUE}}`
    <td>`sym_values`
    <td>Most important attribute of the symbol's component
        (e.g. "100nF" for a capacitor, or "LM358N" for an OpAmp)<br>
        *Note: With which attribute's value `{{VALUE}}` is substituted is
        controlled by the corresponding component, not by the symbol itself.*
  <tr>
    <td>`{{PARTNUMBER}}`
    <td>`sym_attributes`
    <td>Part number of the linked device (e.g. "LM358N")<br>
        *Note: Such arbitrary attributes should normally not be added to symbols!
        Instead, the `{{VALUE}}` attribute should be used in most cases.*
</table>

The `{{NAME}}` and `{{VALUE}}` are the most important attributes of a symbol,
nearly every symbol will have text items to display them in schematics. They
also have their own graphics layer, so it's possible to show or hide the names
and values of all symbols in a schematic by changing the visibility of these two
layers.

For text items which display other attributes (e.g. `{{PARTNUMBER}}`,
`{{RESISTANCE}}` or `{{FOOBAR}}`) the graphics layer `sym_attributes` should be
used. There are no more layers to further distinguish between different
attributes.

Exactly the same system also applies to footprints, with the only exception that
different graphics layers are used (`top_names`, `bot_names`, `top_values`, ...).


# Built-In and User-Defined Attributes {#doc_attributes_system_builtin_userdefined}

There are two different kinds of attributes:

**Built-In Attributes:**
These attributes are automatically defined by the application and cannot be
removed. Some of these attributes values can still be modified by the user,
but some are fully defined by the application and are not editable.

**User-Defined Attributes:**
On some scopes (see next chapter), the user can also add arbitrary attributes in
addition to the built-in ones. They always have higher priority than the
built-in ones, so the user is (theoretically) able to override built-in
attributes if necessary.


# Scopes {#doc_attributes_system_scopes}

Attributes can be defined at various objects, with different scopes:

| Object of class                      | Scope                                 |
|--------------------------------------|---------------------------------------|
| librepcb::project::Project           | Whole project (global)                |
| librepcb::project::ComponentInstance | One component, its device and symbols |
| librepcb::project::Schematic         | One schematic page and its symbols    |
| librepcb::project::SI_Symbol         | One schematic symbol                  |
| librepcb::project::Board             | One board, its devices and components |
| librepcb::project::BI_Device         | One device and its package            |


# Lookup Order {#doc_attributes_system_lookup_order}

If the value of an attribute needs to be determined for one specific purpose
(for example to substitute a text in a symbol), the lookup is done in a specific
order. The red arrows of the following diagram show how this order is defined.
It also lists all built-in attributes and on which scopes it is possible to add
user-defined attributes.

![Attributes System](attributes_system.png)


# Multiple Key Substitution {#doc_attributes_system_multiple_key_substitution}

Sometimes the `{{VALUE}}` text in a symbol or footprint should be substituted by
the most exact attribute of a component or device. For example a microcontroller
symbol in the schematic should show the exact part number of the corresponding
device (Prio. 1). But if no part number is available, the device name should be
shown instead (Prio. 2). And if the component does not even have a device
assigned, the component name should be shown (Prio. 3). This table shows these
three cases for the [STM32F103C8T7TR](http://www.st.com/resource/en/datasheet/stm32f103c8.pdf):


| Prio. | Component Name | Device Name    | Device Part Number | Desired Substitution of `{{VALUE}}` |
|-------|----------------|----------------|--------------------|-------------------------------------|
| 1     | "STM32F103C"   | "STM32F103CxT" | "STM32F103C8T7TR"  | "STM32F103C8T7TR"                   |
| 2     | "STM32F103C"   | "STM32F103CxT" | N/A                | "STM32F103CxT"                      |
| 3     | "STM32F103C"   | N/A            | N/A                | "STM32F103C"                        |

To get this "best-match-attribute" behavior, the `{{VALUE}}` attribute of a
component can be set to the value "{{PARTNUMBER or DEVICE or COMPONENT}}". So
the 'or' keyword after a key means that a fallback key is following if the first
key is not set to a non-empty value. As soon as the first value of the specified
keys is not empty, all following keys are ignored.

Of course this system applies to arbitrary attributes, not only to `{{VALUE}}`.


# Allowed Characters {#doc_attributes_system_allowed_characters}

Attribute keys must only consist of the characters 0-9, a-z, A-Z and '_'. In
addition, key names must not start with a digit.


# Visibility in Schematics and Boards {#doc_attributes_system_visibility}

Generally the user wants to select which attributes of a component should be
visible in the schematic and in the board. Sometimes schematics and boards
should even show different attributes of the same component, for example a
capacitor should show the value "100nF/50V" in the schematic, but only "100nF"
in the board because of the limited space.

By default, symbols and footprints show all the attributes which are contained
in a text item in their library elements (like `{{NAME}}`, `{{VALUE}}` and
`{{PARTNUMBER}}` in the symbol above). But in schematics and boards, the user
can remove every single of these text items to hide specific attributes. Or to
show more attributes, new text items (with arbitrary values) can be added to
symbols and footprints. New text items are then added with some default
properties (layer, text size, position, ...) which the user needs to adjust
afterwards.

**Anyway, adding attributes other than `{{NAME}}` and `{{VALUE}}` to library
symbols and footprints should be used very rarely to keep them as clean and
simple as possible. For the most important attributes, the `{{VALUE}}` text item
should be used.**


# Example Use-Cases {#doc_attributes_system_example_usecases}

Here are some examples how the attribute system works for standard use-cases:

<table>
  <tr>
    <th>Use-Cases
    <th>Symbol /<br>Footprint
    <th>Component Attributes /<br>Device Attributes
    <th>Component Defaults / <br>Device Defaults
    <th>Component Values /<br>Device Values
    <th>Schematic /<br>Board
  <tr>
    <td rowspan="5">Resistor<br>Capacitor<br>Inductor
    <td rowspan="4">@image html resistor_symbol.png
    <td>{{VALUE}}<td colspan="2">"{{RESISTANCE}} {{TOLERANCE}} {{POWER}}"
    <td rowspan="4">@image html resistor_schematic.png
    <tr><td>{{RESISTANCE}}<td><td>"10Ω"
    <tr><td>{{TOLERANCE}}<td><td>"1%"
    <tr><td>{POWER}}<td><td>"5W"
  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1">@image html resistor_footprint.png
    <td>{{VALUE}}<td colspan="2">"{{RESISTANCE}}"
    <td rowspan="1">@image html resistor_board.png
  <tr>
    <td rowspan="2">Diode<br>Transistor<br>OpAmp
    <td rowspan="1">@image html diode_symbol.png
    <td>{{VALUE}}<td colspan="2">"{{ PARTNUMBER or DEVICE }}"
    <td rowspan="1">@image html diode_schematic.png
  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1">@image html diode_footprint.png
    <td colspan="3">N/A
    <td rowspan="1">@image html diode_board.png
  <tr>
    <td rowspan="4">LED
    <td rowspan="2">@image html led_symbol.png
    <td>{{VALUE}} <td colspan="2">\"{{ PARTNUMBER or DEVICE }} <br> {{COLOR}}\"
    <td rowspan="2">@image html led_schematic.png
    <tr><td>{{COLOR}}<td colspan="2">
  <tr>
    <td rowspan="2">@image html led_footprint.png
    <td>{{VALUE}}<td colspan="2">"{{COLOR}}"
    <td rowspan="2">@image html led_board.png
    <tr><td>{{COLOR}}<td colspan="2">"RED"
  <tr>
    <td rowspan="2">Connector
    <td rowspan="1">@image html connector_symbol.png
    <td>{{VALUE}}<td colspan="2">"{{ PARTNUMBER or DEVICE }}"
    <td rowspan="1">@image html connector_schematic.png
  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1">@image html connector_footprint.png
    <td colspan="3">N/A
    <td rowspan="1">@image html connector_board.png
  <tr>
    <td rowspan="2">Microcontroller
    <td rowspan="1">@image html microcontroller_symbol.png
    <td>{{VALUE}}<td colspan="2">"{{ PARTNUMBER or DEVICE or COMPONENT }}"
    <td rowspan="1">@image html microcontroller_schematic.png
  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1">@image html microcontroller_footprint.png
    <td colspan="3">N/A
    <td rowspan="1">@image html microcontroller_board.png
  <tr>
    <td>Sheet Frame
    <td>@image html sheetframe_symbol.png
    <td colspan="3">N/A
    <td>@image html sheetframe_schematic.png
</table>


# Implementation {#doc_attributes_system_implementation}

Every class which provides some attributes need to inherit from
librepcb::AttributeProvider. Please read the documentation of
librepcb::AttributeProvider to see how this class works in detail.

The substitution of attributes in strings is done by the class
librepcb::AttributeSubstitutor.