Using Library Designer - Beginner's Guide
Microvellum's Library Designer provides users with an impressive amount of power and control over their product data. It's a tool used by engineers to quickly make sweeping changes to groups of prompts, sub-assemblies, parts, products, and more. It's a tool unlike any other for managing your data. Take control and expand the intelligence of your cabinet catalogs.
This beginner's guide provides information for working in Library Designer and covers the overall interface and features of Library Designer. Before getting started, ensure that the Library Designer database has been configured and test to make sure it's communicating with the factory database. For help setting up Library Designer for the first time see
Setting Up Library Designer
Make a backup copy of your factory database before experimenting with Library Designer
The Library Designer Tool is used for editing existing products and NOT for creating new products from scratch.
Tree View
All of the products and subassemblies from the Factory Database appear in a tree view on the left side of the Library Designer interface. Every product, subassembly, category, part, prompt, draw token, machine token, and formula from the factory database is listed.
Fig. 01 – Library Designer Interface – Tree view
The Tree View can be organized to view by Product, Part, or Prompt using the buttons in the General tab.
Fig. 02 – View Products, Parts, Prompts
Database Path
As you navigate the Database Tree View, the Database Path is updated and displayed in blue text directly above the Tree View window.
Click on any segment of the path to return to that location in the database.
Fig. 03 – Library Designer Interface – Database Path
Record Details
Once selected, data specific to each library object will display in the central panel of the interface. Modifications to the record can be entered directly into the fields listed.
Fig. 04 – Library Designer Interface – Record Details
If your data value or formula is too long to read in its entirety, click the
button on the far right side of the cell. This opens a text editor window allowing the full value to be viewed and modified.
Unlike the Edit Design Data and Microvellum Workbook Designer Interfaces, Library Designer only displays
RAW data in each of the data fields. Only the formula will be visible and not the evaluated value.
Parts, Products, and Prompts Using This Item
All items associated with the selected item in the database will be listed in the “…Using This Item” windows at the bottom of the interface. There is one window for each of the following three categories.
- Parts
- Products
- Subassemblies
Fig. 05 – Parts, Products, and Prompts Using This Item
Because these lists are tied to the database, all parts, products, or subassemblies using the item are displayed. Each Part, Product, or Prompt listed uses the exact same record from your database, so any modifications made will be inherited by all listed in these windows.
Fig. 06 – Products Using This Item - Checked Items
To unlink listed Parts, Products, and Prompts from the record:
Select the item from the list so it is highlighted > Click on the item once more to toggle the checkbox > Select Click to Apply
Once applied, unchecked objects will be unassociated with the item being edited, and removed from the list.
Fig. 07 – Using This Product – Unchecked Item
Commit, Revert or View Changes
When working in Library Designer, modifications are not written instantly to the database. Instead, they are saved to a list. This Edited Items list can be viewed by selecting the View All Changes button.
Details like for each modification (ie. User Name, Property Name, Previous Value, and New Value) are displayed in The Edited Items list window.
Fig. 08 – Edited Items List Window
The Revert My Change button also displays the Edited Items list window, but with the option to Revert Selected Items. Simply highlight the record(s) you wish to revert and click the Revert Selected Items Button. All highlighted edits will be undone and removed from the list.
Fig. 09 – Edited Items List Window – Revert Selected Items
After reviewing the changes in the Edited Items list, click the Commit Changes button to apply all changes to the database records in Library Data
We recommend not allowing a large number of edits to accumulate in the Edited Items List as this can cause unexpected results. To keep your list manageable, periodically view changes, and either commit to your library or revert them.
Library Designer Tools
The Library Designer Tools Tab is divided into the following six categories: Parts, Prompts, Subassemblies, Hardware, Machine Tokens, and Drawing Tokens
Each category contains its own set of the following controls:
- Adds a new entity from scratch
- Deletes an existing entity from the Library
- Move an entity up or down in the tree view
- Copies an entity
- Pastes a copied entity
Each Library Designer Tools control will activate or dim depending on the type of object selected.
For more information on these controls
see the Library Designer articles in the
Product Creation & Editing Tools
section of the Knowledge Base.
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