I suppose I could add new components to only my own personal libraries, but if I add, for example, an Analog Devices ADF4106BRUZ, to some personal library instead of to the DipTrace-supplied AD library, then in a month or two, I don't remember whether to go looking for it in the AD library or my own personal libaray. Thus, I'd prefer to add it to the AD library. But...then if I update my libraries from the DipTrace website, because Novarm has added a bunch of new parts I want, my additions to the original Novarm libraries are lost. It would be nice to have a "merge" feature, so that you can easily keep the parts you've added. I can imagine setting a couple of parameters, like "Transfer parts from old library to new if they are not in the new library" and "Only add new parts from downloaded library to the existing library--do not replace existing parts." The second one is for cases where I have changed something in the existing library--such as added things to the "assembly" layer of patterns. (Which begs the question, why are those blank in the supplied libraries? It makes for a rather uninteresting assembly drawing.)

Cheers,
Tom

Hi Tom,

Thank you for the request, we will take it into account. However we don't plan to change our policy of updating libraries in near future. We add a lot of new components and fix known mistakes in every new version, it is much safer for us to overwrite existing files to prevent possible problems.

I suggested a couple of years ago to move to an Internet shared component database that would permit dynamic updates using the web. The idea was to leverage user support to upload components that they created. Users could sync with a central database to add and get new components. This would remove the current manual process Novarm uses to update the libraries, which are very infrequent. If there was a shared Internet based component database the number of components would grow substantially.

In my opinion not have an extensive component library is holding back Diptrace from become mainstream.

Thanks for the reply, Alex. I guess the answer, since it's relatively easy to import parts from one library into another, is for me to put all the parts I create (components and patterns) in my own private libraries to begin with, and then import them into other libraries as appropriate. That way, when I update my libraries from the DipTrace website, I will still have all the parts I've built for myself. I suppose that works also for sharing parts that I've built with the rest of the DipTrace community--having them in private libraries makes it easy to insure that I'm posting just my own contribution. It's always good to be cautious about parts you get from unknown users anyway. You wouldn't necessarily want user-contributed parts to be in the "official" libraries. There can be errors from honest mistakes, as well as the possibility of malicious postings.

I do agree with TechGuy's comment that extensive, accurate libraries are one of the keys to having an electronics CAD program widely adopted.

Cheers,
Tom