Create Border
January 2021
Whilst a project may have just a few Sheets or even many hundreds of Sheets, a common unified Border which may contain a company logo, revision references, project details and contact information is desirable.
Circuit has the feature to include a Border file which you can freely create. Importantly, once selected, the Border file is loaded only once into memory and applied to every sheet in the project.
You can create as many Border templates as you need for different customers, standards and styles - though only ONE Border can be applied to a single project.
A Border file, is, in of itself nothing more than a Circuit Sheet then saved as a *.border file, and you can add any drawing objects such as lines, texts, images, plus importantly, special Text objects that can be updated by Circuit once the Border has been introduced to a project subsequently.
Border Creation Steps
create a "Borders" project to contain all the Borders you'd likely create
set the Border Sheet to match the Sheet size of your project, then add a new sheet
add static lines, text objects and images to suit your company image or customer's
use the grid feature to help align everything to suit your target project
add dynamic Text objects with details that can be updated "on the fly" within your Circuit project later
save your Border with a *.border file extension into your selected Borders Folder
load your target project and apply the required Border
show/hide and change Border colour dynamically within Circuit
apply project specific values to dynamic Text objects in the imported Border
Create A Borders Project
From Options > Project Manager create a new project, for example "BordersProject"...
TIP: If you use a Cloud synchronised folder such as OneDrive... best to disable syncing whilst working with Circuit Folders, as there are many saves going on whilst the app is in use.
Once your project is created select it, and then press the [Add] button to add it to your Project Explorer...
TIP: To customise the font, fore and back colour of the Project Explorer, use these menu items...
Set Sheet Size
From Options > Environment set the required Sheet Width and Height to suit the target project Sheet dimensions...
Note: All the Sheets in the Borders project will be of the same dimensions - if you need another Sheet size then you will have to create a separate Borders project!
Add New Sheet
Select the BordersProject node, right-click then select New Sheet...
You can choose any reasonable number or even a text, but we'll choose 1 for now...
Now right-click the new sheet added to the Project Explorer, and after choosing Text, enter a useful description...
When you hover over Sheet 1, you should now see a tool tip...
And when you double-click the Sheet 1 node, the Title Bar will also reflect the Sheet Title...
Adding Content
Now that we have a new sheet, use the drawing tools to prepare the background that you'd like to see...
Which literally means drawing the lines, boxes and adding images as required.
To ensure that grid columns and rows match the intended project, use the Path tool to make sure all is aligned well...
From the menu choose Display > Path (or hit F9)...
To ensure the Path matches the target project set the values of Path Divisions using Display > Path Division > default of 5, 10 or 20, or custom value using Set Value...
Add Dynamic Texts
You can add Text objects with attributes that can be adjusted once the Border is within the target project.
To see a list of such attributes, right-click on the manifest node of any project and choose Properties...
Let's use $customer as an example.
On Sheet 1 add a Text object, then set the actual text to say, "Customer" - doesn't really matter what this text is, but it helps if you use a value that indicates what the text purpose will be...
Next, on the gene row, click and then select the $customer attribute...
Press [Apply] as required to complete.
Use this method to add references to various project specific attributes that can be adjusted later once the border has been imported into a project.
Saving A Border
Once your border is ready, save the Sheet as normal, then export it as a *.border file.
To do this first ensure you are in Edit Mode (double-click into the Sheet) then choose Symbol > Create Border...
With the dialogue that appears enter a useful name for the border file...
By default the file will be saved into your Borders folder. Press [Save] to complete.
To ensure the new Border shows in preview mode (without restarting Circuit), choose Options > Reload Libraries...
New Border files will now show up under the Borders Cabinet node for preview...
Using A Border
Now open any project where you'd like to utilise a border, for example MyFirstProject, then right-click the manifest node and choose Properties... now click the Border row...
A selection dialogue will appear with all the border files in your default border folder...
Choose the desired border then press [Apply] as required to complete. The border will now be applied through-out the project.
As every Sheet can have it's own colour scheme, the border colour index can be rotated through a range of colours using ALT+C.
Also, the border can be hidden/shown by checking the Display > Border (or F12) option...
Updating Dynamic Border Text
Referring to our use of $customer as a dynamic text, let's see how that works.
Within the target project choose Edit > Globals (or CTRL+G)...
This dialogue will appear...
Use the $property pull-down to select $customer....
Enter a meaningful customer name. Also, be sure to UN-CHECK [Current Sheet Only] as this value is within a Border, not in the Sheet, so by definition it will propagate through every Sheet in the project.
However, if you want to update an attribute on the current Sheet only, and it's NOT in a Border, then CHECK [Current Sheet Only] to update the current Sheet only, and UN-CHECKED will update every Sheet in the project with the same attribute.
Press [Apply] to continue. You will be prompted to confirm...
After pressing [Yes]...
Press [OK] and you will be returned to the Global Values dialogue, where you could update more attributes or just press [Done] to finish. Customer detail updated...
That's all for creating and using Borders for now.