FAQ

Common Questions

Q: Who created/maintains the library?

The library was created in 2016 by Mark Harris, an Altium Partner and one of Altium's Industry Expert team. Mark continues to maintain the library, it's back end software, servers and database in his free time. Mark has been working in the electronics industry for over 15 years, and made his library open source to make it easier to add components from either work or home - it has since grown in size considerably and is used by a large number of engineers.

Q: How can I contribute?

You can sponsor the project on GitHub, where your donation will go towards the substantial operating costs of the library. The library does accept pull requests on GitHub, however has very stringent quality requirements. You can read the ECAD Contribution Guide and MCAD Contribution Guide to get an idea of how to make symbols or footprints for the library.

The library also has a popular and active Discord community full of engineers, students and makers you're welcome to join.

Q: I'm having trouble connecting?

Please see the troubleshooting guide. You probably need to download the Microsoft SQL Native Client drivers (if you see an error about MS Access, ignore it), or need to use a port 80 dblib if your organisation blocks MSSQL's port 1433.

Q: Can the library be used in production?

Absolutely. This library is based on production tested symbols and footprints. All footprints match manufacturer recommended land patterns, or are based on IPC Nominal sizings if the manufacturer has not recommended a land pattern.

All symbols are designed to facilitate functional, readable schematic sheets that are logical to follow.