Advanced PCB Design System Version 2.7 - README.

TXT file This file covers the following products: Basic 32-bit PCB 2.5 series design system, plus Advanced PCB option; Advanced Place option; Advanced Route option. Note: When using this README file, please refer also to your Advanced PCB User Guide, Advanced PCB Reference and to the On-line Help system. --------------------------------------------------------------------------Copyright Notice Software, documentation and related materials: Copyright (c) 1992-95 Protel Technology Inc Copyright (c) 1991-92 Protel Technology Pty Ltd All rights reserved. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Advanced PCB version 2.7 -- Fixes the following problems: 1 At some zoom levels, very small arcs of 2 to 10 degrees displayed as full cir cles on the screen & the printer. (Gerber output was correct). 2 If the Autorouter failed to complete a route when the 'C' key was pressed dur ing Autoroute Manual -- the net was incorrectly set to 'No Net'. Unpredictable behaviour could result. 3 Several Current System Settings were not updated when the User pressed TAB du ring placement, and the Tab_Pops_Dialog Option was set : Current Track Width Current Text Height Current Text Font Pad Start Value 4 Repeated save in binary format of files which contained only ONE Text Line Wi dth would result in the Text Line Width of all text being set to Zero when the fi le was re-loaded. 5 Gerber In sometimes failed to load all primitives for p-CAD generated Gerber files. 6 Pick'n'Place Pin reference points were not always pin 1. 7 When the pads of two components on opposite layers were exactly aligned, and the Display Nets Option was set -- only the Net Names of one of the components wa s ever visible. 8 Loading earlier versions of Aperture Libraries (*.apt) would result in an err or if those Libraries contained Relief Shapes.

Advanced PCB version 2.6 -- Changes: 1 The Demo Version is now able to save small files (in Binary format only): up to 20 Components; 50 Nets; 200 Connections; 200 Pads. The demo version now also has full Library Edit and Save features, except th at unlike the full version the demo is unable to save components which are made up of seve ral other components. The Demo Version is only liscensed for Evaluation and Educational uses. 2 Hyperlinx made a few small changes to their file format. PCB 2.6 exports Hyp erlinx 1.06 format.

Advanced PCB version 2.6 -- Fixes the following problems: 1 2 3 4 5 6 , 7 Gerber of large rotated pads had small gaps in the corners Gerber Import of Metric Files was scaled incorrectly Loading Tango files with more than 1000 nets crashed the system Loading Tango files created pads with incorrect expansion values Select Net highlighted through Pads on the Solder Mask .LEGEND could generate two entries if one holesize was specified in Imperial

and the other in Metric DXF Import didn't handle Metric files NOTE: To Import a Metric DXF file in 2.6, set the units to Metric BEFORE Imp orting 8 Libraries were limited to 64000 total primitives 9 DXF Output generated lines with Z 'width', instead of X 'width' 10 Print With Holes didn't work for round pads 11 NC Drill reported duplicate at 0,0 if the relative origin was in the center of a pad 12 The Gerber generated for Embedded apertures was incorrect 13 Gerber sometimes missed tracks when Apertures were specified as 'Drawing Onl y'

Advanced PCB version 2.5 -- Changes For a detailed description of changes and new features refer to online help 'About Advanced PCB 2.5'

New Access Code: Advanced PCB 2.5 requires a new access code. Make sure you have entered the ne w code by using Help About - Set Access Codes. If you do not enter the code, or if you enter it incorrectly, the PCB module will be enabled, but the Advanced Mod ule will not. Global editing, Place Polygon, and some other commands will be disab led.

Component Rotations

Advanced PCB version 2.5 includes a rotation field for components. When loadin g old files the system will attempt to update this field based on the components current position relative to its orientation in the Library. If you do not have the relevant libraries loaded the fields will be set to zer o. Selected Components can be updated later using Edit Convert Component Rotation s. Or individual Components can be Edited and the Rotation Field can be Manually Res et.

Limitations of Embedded Apertures: 1 Octagonal Apertures must be symmetrical. If they are not Advanced PCB genera tes a 'Rounded Rectangle' Aperture and warns the user. 2 Relief Apertures do not include a field for the number of entries (4 is assu med). 3 Import Gerber doesn't warn the user if there is not an Aperture Library open . It is assumed that the Gerber will have Embedded Aperture Definitions. If this is NOT the case all apertures will be assumed to be 1 mil diameter circles.

Changes in Creating Library Components: In Advanced PCB 2.5 the sequence for creating Library Components is as follo ws: 1 Choose Components from the Library Menu 2 Select or Create the Library to which you wish to add the new component 3 Click the 'New' Button. This will create an empty Edit window with the compo nent name you specify. 4 Click 'Close'. (Or press ESC). 5 Create the component by placing primitives in the edit window (using Place, Move, Copy/Paste,...). 6 Make sure you set the Component Origin by using Edit-Set Origin. 7 Choose Save from the File Menu (or Double Click the control box in the top-l eft corner of the window). If you already have the primitives placed on an existing board, you can use Copy and Paste to copy them to the New Edit window, ready for saving.

Advanced PCB version 2.5.4 -- Fixes the following problems: 1 he 2 3 Routing Density Test is more accurate on boards positioned a long way from t origin. Setting the Relative Origin didn't mark the board as having been changed. Move Selection sometimes had wierd behaviour near the top right edge of the

work space 4 Library Component Edit didn't always set the focus correctly to the Edit win dow. 5 Keep Out Layer Pads didn't always keep the router out. 6 Gerber primitives were sometimes out by 1 mil if 'Center on Film' was set. 7 The report from Netlist Compare stopped early if it encountered nets which d idn't match. 8 Undo of Delete Track which was created by Re-Routing a component Track didn' t always put the track back into the component. 9 Gerber of a pad when the only matching aperture was 'Stroke Only' generated a zero length stroke. 10 Add Teardrops could occasionally generate a teardrop which violated the clea rance rules. 11 Break Track on a Component Track, when the Component had its Primitives Lock ed, could repeatedly display the Primitive Locked Error Dialog. 12 The total track distance displayed on the staus line during Place Track was incorrect after the user hit Backspace to remove a placed segment. 13 Edit Primitive could select Component Primitves on hidden/other layers. 14 Embedded Octagonal Apertures always used the maximum X/Y Size for both dimen sions. 15 TAB while placing primitives (with Tab Pops Dialog on), didn't set the Layer to the Current Layer. 16 Aperture Table files had incorrect Hole Sizes. 17 When Printing Vias didn't have the correct expansions on solder & internal p lane layers. 18 Pasted Components always had their rotation set to zero. 19 Gerber of a Drill Drawing could crash if the .LEGEND height was not 10 times the width.

Advanced PCB version 2.5.4 -- Has the following new features/changes: 1 Options Preferences includes an option for Duplicate Removal when generating Output. 2 When calculating Component Rotation relative to the Library, if there are no t two unique pads then the angle of the Designator Text is used as the Component Rotation . 3 Polygon pour is cleaner around teardrops. 4 Import Gerber now handles Embedded apertures created by Advanced PCB. 5 Alt-END has been added as a hot key to redraw the Current Layer ONLY (Zoom-R edraw Current). 6 In the Setup Autoplace dialog, the fields for Bypass Nets have been enlarged . 7 Library Component Dialog has extra fields for Component Size. 8 The user is warned when generating Gerber with Non-Symmetric Octagonal apert ures and the Embedded Aperture Option is enabled. 9 The Primitive Locked Warning no longer highlights the locked component. 10 The Edit Pad dialog has a new hot key -- 'P' for Edit Padstack.

Advanced PCB version 2.5.4 -- Has the following known problems: 1 DXF Out exports rotated pads as though they were not rotated

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Hot Keys do not work during Global Autoplacement Global Autoplace can crash if it runs out of memory during setup

Advanced PCB version 2.5.3 -- Fixes the following problems: 1 Polygon Pour was sometimes a little unclean. 2 Loading p-CAD files -- polygons on signal layers were not repoured to avoid obstacles. 3 AutoRoute Manual used the Current Via HoleSize instead of the Route Setup Ho leSize 4 Move Comp Didn't move touching connections which were unrouted using Unroute Track 5 It was possible for Options Preferences to Crash on OK 6 If the User aborted a Maze Route (using 'X') the cell map could be corrupted slowing the router down 7 Loading TEXT Files with Polygons poured with Fills would corrupt the Net Inf ormation in those Fills 8 Occasionally incorrect Rotations were calculated when updating Component Pat terns which had multiple Pads with the same name 9 Couldn't print very large boards (>32 inches) using the Scaled to Fit Option 10 Pre-Route of a single net cleared the Net info for all Primitives of other N ets 11 Netlist Load gave a File Not Open Error if the PFW.XRF file was Read-Only 12 Aperture and Access code lists used to lose their 'focus' when an item in th e list was Edited or Deleted 13 It was possible to Enter an Aperture Code of D1, D2 Or D3 in Aperture Librar y Edit Dialog 14 Density Map and Line Probe could generate an error if part of the board was outside the workspace 15 Shape Based Route -- Advanced Do files used Exponential Number format which was not always recognised correctly by the Shape Based Router 16 When Moving or Editing Components Pads were redisplayed without Holes, Numbe rs or Nets 17 Polygon Pour could (rarely) place Horizontal or Vertical tracks outside the polygon 18 Place Pad didn't redraw a complex Multilayer Pad correctly when it was place d 19 Undo of Show or Hide Designator/Comment didn't redraw the Designator or Comm ent 20 Validation reports gave track, text, and arc coordinates in internal units i nstead of mils 21 Global Autoplace crashed if the board was already partially routed 22 Netlist Generate didn't display percentage complete feedback 23 Display of very small arcs (0.5 degree) showed a full circle at low zoom lev els 24 Paste didn't Mark the Board as changed 25 Multiple (embedded) calls to Zoom Window/Zoom Point could crash the system 26 Library Pad Rename warned of duplicate D-Codes instead of duplicate Pad Name s 27 Library Pad Edit didn't warn of duplicate names 28 The User Couldn't Cancel Library Aperture Rename, or Library Pad Rename 29 Pre-Route sometimes gave incorrect results on boards with DRC Errors 30 Polygon pour was very unclean if Via Clearance was lareger than Pad Clearanc e

31 Move selection could only rotate 90 degrees (instead of using Preferences Ro tation Step) 32 Exporting a board with Partial routes to Shape Based Router resulted in zero sized vias at the end of the partial routes 33 Netlist Clear gives more warning of the consequences of PERMANENTLY deleting connection information from the boards primitives -- You will be unable to perform: Autoroute Manual of existing routes, Unroute Connection, Unroute Track.

Advanced PCB version 2.2.0 -- Fixed the following problems: 1 Loading PDIF files crashed when polygons had more than 500 points 2 Net track size & via size were incorrect when saved in TEXT format 3 Round pads now exported as Circular when saved in Autotrax format 4 CSV Pick and Place Report, each field was seperated by two quotation marks i nstead of one 5 Netlist Load cleared net information from free pads (eg stringers) 6 DRC could flag Connection terminators as being in error 7 Draft mode Plotting of rounded pads which are less than three times the pen size only draws a line 8 Maximum allowable Track Width is increased from 255Mils to 1000Mils 9 Tracks were randomly added to the PCB when Move Component 'dragged' more tha n 500 Tracks 10 During Netlist Load -- Shorted nets in a netlist gave "Component not found" error 11 During Netlist Load -- "Delete Unused Components" deleted all components wit h no pads 12 Edge Connectors always displayed the Net names of the Top Layer pads last 13 During Online DRC -- Error markers were not 'hidden' until the screen was re drawn

Advanced PCB version 2.1.3 -- Fixed the following problems: 1 This version allows the restoration of connection information when loading an RTE file from Advanced SB Route. This then allows the user to manually edit the PCB us ing Autoroute Manual and Loop Removal. If you use an Advanced Do File make sure that you include the rule 'tjunction off'. If you do not (or if you load RTE files generated with previous versions), so me of the connections may not translate back correctly (the tracks and vias will be correct but they will not contain connection information). 2 Exported Design Files had incorrect size for Blind/Buried Vias 3 The default DO File for Shape Based Router included a Report for Crosstalk, e ven when the ADV10 Option was unavailable. rev 1/feb/95 (end)