The SYMBOL_DESCRIPTION_FILE holds the Symbol Description Language (SDL) required to describe the symbols which will be generated to represent the part. It can be a plain text file or a comma separated values (csv) file which is easy to edit and manipulate in a spreadsheet editor. If the selected SDL file is a plain text file, partBuilder will create a .csv version of that file in the OUTPUT_FILES directory can be copied up to the part directory and used for future editing. The user might want to take advantage of this if they prefer to edit in a spreadsheet.
The SYMBOL_DESCRIPTION_FILE can be named anything, but is typically named symbolOrder.txt or symbolOrder.csv. If the user wants to experiment with a new symbol layout, they can copy the existing file and change the name and then select the new one using the file browse button.
EXPANDED SYMBOL DESCRIPTION FILE
If the SDL in the SYMBOL_DESCRIPTION_FILE contains LOOP_DIRECTIVES, PartBuilder will create an expanded copy of the file prefixed with exp_{file_name}. The user should be careful not to edit the expanded file because it gets regenerated each time the MAP_PINS_TO_SYMBOLS operation is run. The expanded file is a good place to look to make sure the SDL LOOP_DIRECTIVES are doing what they are intended to do. The expanded file has been moved to the OUTPUT_FILES directory in the v2.1.2 version of the PartBuilder tool to avoid confusion.
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