Library Classes

Dynamic Library Factory

pyAltiumLib is a reader and renderer for Altium Library files implemented in Python.

pyaltiumlib.read(filepath: str, libfile_obj=None) → SchLib | PcbLib

Reads an Altium library file and returns the corresponding library object.

This method determines whether the given file is a schematic library (.SchLib) or a PCB library (.PcbLib) and returns the appropriate class instance.

Parameters:

filepath (str) – The path to the Altium library file.
libfile_obj (BytesIO) – An optional binary stream (BytesIO) of the Altium library file. Used when the file is read from memory instead of disk.

Returns:

An instance of either SchLib or PcbLib, depending on the file type.

Return type:

pyaltiumlib.schlib.lib.SchLib or pyaltiumlib.pcblib.lib.PcbLib

Raises:

FileNotFoundError – If the specified file does not exist.
ValueError – If the file type is not recognized as .SchLib or .PcbLib.

Generic Library File (Base)

class pyaltiumlib.base.GenericLibFile(filepath: str, oleobj)

Base class for handling Altium Designer library files.

This class provides fundamental functionality for reading library files in Altium Designer format.

Parameters:: oleobj (io.BytesIO) – A file-like object containing the altium library file binary stream
Raises:: FileNotFoundError – If file is not a supported file.

ComponentCount: int with total number of components in the library.

FileName: string that contains the name of the library.

FilePath: string that contains the file path to the library.

LibHeader: string that stores the header information of the library.

LibType: string that specifies the type of the library.

Parts: List[any] is a collection of components derived from pyaltiumlib.libcomponent.LibComponent in their specific class contained in the library.

__repr__() → str

Converts public attributes of the high level file to a string.

Returns:: A string representation of the content of the object
Return type:: str

get_part(name: str) → Any | None

Get a part of the library by its name.

Parameters:: name (string) – The name of the part.
Returns:: The part class derived from pyaltiumlib.libcomponent.LibComponent if found, otherwise None.
Return type:: Optional[Any]

list_parts() → List[str]

List the names of all parts in the library.

Returns:: A list of part names
Return type:: List[str]

read_meta() → Dict

Converts public attributes of the high level file to a dictionary.

Returns:: A dict representation of the content of the object
Return type:: Dict

Schematic Library File (SchLib)

class pyaltiumlib.schlib.lib.SchLib(filepath, oleobj)

Bases: GenericLibFile

Schematic class for handling Altium Designer schematic library files. During initialization the library file will be read.

Parameters:

filepath (string) – The path to the .SchLib library file
oleobj (io.BytesIO) – A file-like object containing the altium library file binary stream

Raises:

FileNotFoundError – If file is not a supported file.
ValueError – If library data or header can not be read

PCB Library File (PCBLib)

class pyaltiumlib.pcblib.lib.PcbLib(filepath, oleobj)

Bases: GenericLibFile

PCB class for handling Altium Designer PCB library files. During initialization the library file will be read.

Parameters:

filepath (string) – The path to the .PcbLib library file
oleobj (io.BytesIO) – A file-like object containing the altium library file binary stream

Raises:

FileNotFoundError – If file is not a supported file.
ValueError – If library data or header can not be read

Layers: Collection with default PCB Layer Definition