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Commenting in your BOM

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The ability to leave comments in the bill of materials (BOM), create tasks, and tag project stakeholders in the design context facilitates better communication throughout the design process. Comments can be added to the lines in BOM not only by designers but also by other roles that contribute to the project, such as supply chain professionals, buyers, PCB librarians and managers.

Once you share a project, interested parties can view and comment on the BOM within Altium Designer or through the Altium web browser interface. Project participants unfamiliar with Altium Designer can review and leave comments by accessing the design via their web browser without having to install Altium Designer. All comments will sync across and appear in both the web view and within Altium Designer, always in the context of your design.

If you need to add a new ActiveBOM document to the project, select File > New > ActiveBOM. A new document will appear in the project tree, and a new tab will open with a list of all components.

Fig. 1 - Creating a new ActiveBOM document
Fig. 1 - Creating a new ActiveBOM document
Fig. 2 - The ActiveBOM editor
Fig. 2 - The ActiveBOM editor

There are four ways to comment in BOM in Altium Designer:

  1. By using the shortcut Ctrl + Alt + C. A comment icon will replace the mouse cursor, and you can position it on any BOM line.
  2. By right-clicking over a BOM line and selecting Comment Comment Icon.
  3. By selecting Tools >> Comment in the top toolbar. A comment icon will replace the mouse cursor, and you can position it on any BOM line.
  4. Through the Comments and Tasks panel. Click the Comment button Comment Icon 2 and position the cursor on any BOM line.

BOM Commenting in the Altium web interface 

All project stakeholders can access a design via the web browser without needing to download, install, and license Altium Designer (you have full control over who has access to the project and can revoke access at any time).

To place a comment in a BOM via the web interface, you have three options:

Use the Ctrl + Alt + C or Alt + C keyboard shortcuts.
Use the Place a Comment button Comment Icon.
Use the Comments and Tasks panel icon at the right top corner:Comment Icon. The Comments and Tasks panel shows a dedicated section for BOM comments. This is where the BOM comments and tasks appear when you choose to show them all.
Fig. 3 - BOM Comments section in the Comments and Tasks panel
Fig. 3 - BOM Comments section in the Comments and Tasks panel
The comment indicator is the white triangle (or blue if the row is selected) positioned in the top left corner of the cells containing the BOM line number. The comment (or task) will be displayed when you hover over the cell.
Fig. 4 - Comment displayed when hovering a BOM line
Fig. 4 - Comment displayed when hovering a BOM line
Click the comment to open it, and it will pop up over the top of the BOM line.
Fig. 5 - Comment displayed
Fig. 5 - Comment displayed

If the BOM has not yet been generated in Altium Designer, but comments have already been created in the Altium web interface, the following steps will show you how to access those comments in Altium Designer:

  1. In the Comments panel in Altium Designer, a BOM section displays BOM comments generated in the Altium web interface.
  2. A dialog window opens when a comment is clicked and automatically shows the following message: Add BOM document to the {projectname}? Yes/No.
  3. After the BOM generation, you'll find comments to the right of your screen.
Fig. 6 - ActiveBOM not generated in Altium Designer
Fig. 6 - ActiveBOM not generated in Altium Designer
If the user deletes a row in the BOM to which a comment was added, the comment remains in the Comments and Tasks panel indefinitely, even if it is not associated with any BOM line.
Fig. 7 - Comment from a removed row
Fig. 7 - Comment from a removed row

 

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