Advanced PCB Design System

Version 2.8 - 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 2.8 -- Changes:

1 File Report Board Statistics has been expanded to include counts for used val
ues of
Pad Expansions, Sizes, etc...
Advanced PCB version 2.8 -- Fixes the following problems:
1 Polygon Pour was not avoiding text
2 Polygon Pour could generate very small angle arcs
3 Gerber & Print of very small angle arcs could generate a complete circle
4 Export HyperLynx had a few missing fields
5 Component Pattern Match could fail on unrouted components which had been part
ially routed.
6 Export DXF now generates POLYLINE's instead of LINE's
7 Very large files could give a negative percentage complete value during DRC
8 Keep Out, Drill Drawing, and Mechanical layers could not be flipped during ou
tput.
9 Pad Expansions and Relief settings were not saved in the Component Library.
10 NC Drill of a pad with either coordinate at the origin would generate a drill
command
with no coordinate
11 Automatic Aperture generation could generate a negative sized aperture if via
s had
large negative expansions.
12 SMD Stringers were placed with Relief to Plane regardless of the net settings
.
13 Using 'C' to complete a manual route could result in a 'gap' if the Snap Grid
and
the Routing Grid were different.
14 During Place Track -- pressing the TAB key and changing the Layer in the dial
og box
before placing the first track of a segment did not change the current layer.
15 Cancelling Netlist load could result in primitives and components being delet
ed from

the board. Netlist load cannot be cancelled in this version.

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

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

5
6
,

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'
7

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 Routing Density Test is more accurate on boards positioned a long way from t
he origin.
2 Setting the Relative Origin didn't mark the board as having been changed.
3 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
2
3

DXF Out exports rotated pads as though they were not rotated
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 24/apr/95
(end)