Allegro pcb editor training manual book 1

For this example, we will create a user-defined function that will print the reference designator and XY location of all the components in the PCB Editor. Each element in the PCB Editor database has a unique database identifier that allows you to refer to that object and each element type has a specific set of member attributes.

The SKILL programming language provides functions to allow you to easily read ASCII data from text files by opening a file, reading data from the file, and then closing the file when done. The SKILL programming language provides functions to allow you to easily write ASCII data to text files by opening a file, writing data to the file, and then closing the file when done.

This temporary redisplay represents what will be the new work area. Your work area is redrawn to match the current zoom. Using the World View Window 1. When you move your cursor over this tab, the WorldView window will be displayed. The white rectangle defines your view relative to the board outline. Note The WorldView window by default is unpinned. If you have left the windows in the default condition, this window will already be displayed.

Right-click in the World View window. Choose the Resize Display option. Left-click in the World View window. As you move your cursor, a white rectangle representing a new window forms. Click again to complete the sizing of the outline for a new window. The work area zooms to display just the area within the white rectangle you specified.

Repeat the Resize Display command and create a small rectangle within the board outline. The work area zooms to display that portion of the design you have outlined. Note There is a quicker way to resize the white rectangle in the World View window. As you move your cursor, a white rectangle representing the new window is formed. Release the LMB to designate the size of the new window.

Right-click in the World View window, and select the Move Display option from the pop-up menu. The PCB Editor message area prompts you to pick in the World View window to reposition the white rectangle, currently attached to your cursor. Click in the World View window to reposition the white rectangle somewhere else on the design. The work area zooms to display just the area within the white rectangle that you have specified.

Note There is a quicker way to move the white rectangle in the World View window. The white rectangle snaps to your cursor location, and the content of the work area changes accordingly when you release the MMB.

The work area zooms to display that portion of the design you specified. Using Strokes PCB Editor allows you to use strokes, or specific cursor movements, to perform common commands. You can try these strokes on your own now: 1.

Place your cursor in the work area, then press and hold the Ctrl key on the keyboard while you press and hold the RMB. Draw the letter W with the cursor. This W stroke has been aliased to a command that zooms to fit the entire layout drawing on the screen. This Z stroke has been aliased to a command that zooms in to an area of the design.

The extents of the zoom area are defined by the diagonal line connecting the upper left tip to the lower right tip of the Z. Customizing Your View and Toolset 1. Choosing Drawing Options 1. Zoom into the area around the U7 component in the upper left part of the board. The Design Parameters Editor dialog box appears. Notice the five tabs near the top of this dialog box.

Click the Display tab to bring it forward if it is not already in the front. Enable the Display plated holes, Display non-plated holes, Filled pads, Connect line endcaps, and Grids options, as shown in the figure, then click OK.

The drawing now shows the U7 pin pads filled in, grid points, and the holes in the pads. After viewing the changes on the U7 component, reset the Display options in the Design Parameter Editor dialog box to their previous disabled unchecked status. This is an alternate method to open the Design Parameters Editor rather than using the menu sequence you performed earlier.

Changing the Cursor Appearance with User Preferences 1. The User Preferences Editor displays. Select the UI folder in the Categories box. Notice that the Summary Description area states that this variable is used to set the cursor shape. Click OK to save the change and close the dialog box. Notice that the cursor appearance has changed. Reverse your choice if you wish to change the cursor back to a cross. Do not exit out of the Editor.

We will use this board for the next lab. In this section you will familiarize yourself with the user interface and understand how you can streamline repetitive tasks. A design file is a composite of a number of drawing layers. The drawing elements of each of these layers can be selectively colored and turned on or off as visible or invisible layers. The PCB Editor organizes drawing layers into a hierarchy of classes and subclasses. Folders are classes that have been combined together to aid you in controlling the color and visibility.

All graphical items are stored in what is basically a two-level database scheme. The first level is referred to as a class. There are predefined classes inside the PCB Editor database. You cannot delete or add folders or classes. Under each class there are many subclasses. These subclasses are the second level of the database.

Subclasses are often referred to as layers in the design. You cannot delete predefined subclasses, although you can add and delete your own user-defined subclasses. For example, when you want to create the outline for your printed circuit board, you draw it on a class called Board Geometry, with a subclass called Outline. All of the board routing will appear on the subclasses under the class called Etch.

This subclass has special DRC checking properties that other classes and subclasses do not have. You need to create a subclass for each layer of the printed circuit board. Thus, if you have a six-layer printed circuit board, you need to have six subclasses under the class called Etch.

Folders categorize the classes into different sections. This is used for display purposes only and only appears in the Color form. Note that under the Etch class there is a subclass called Top and a subclass called Bottom. These names cannot be changed, nor can these two subclasses ever be deleted.

You use this form to turn on or off the visibility for subclasses, as well as to set colors for subclasses. To turn on or off the visibility of a specific subclass, you simply click the box to the left of the subclass. An x in this box indicates that the subclass is currently visible. If there is no x in that box, that subclass is currently invisible. To change the color of a subclass, first you select the desired color from the bottom portion of the Palette dialog box, and then you select the color icon to the right of the desired subclass.

At the top right of this dialog box you see the Global Visibility buttons. With these buttons you can make all subclasses visible or invisible in the design at one time.

Remember that in order to turn a subclass off or on, you must first select the appropriate folder in the left side of the form. Information about colors assigned to individual layers, and which layers are visible and invisible, is stored in the PCB Editor database.

The ALL columns and rows can be used to turn on all of the visibility for the classes or subclasses, and can also be used to set the same color for all of the classes or subclasses.

Using the Control window is a quick way to turn on or off layers or elements contained in a design. Conductor Controls The Conductor check boxes let you individually turn on or off all etch, pin, vias or DRCs for all layers defined as conductor. By selecting the All check box, you can turn on and off all etch, pins, vias and DRCs for all conductor layers.

Plane Controls The Planes check boxes let you individually turn on or off all etch, pin, vias or DRCs for all layers defined as plane. By selecting the All check box, you can turn on or off all etch, pins, vias or DRCs for all plane layers.

If you check the Include Planes Box, you will see all the plane layers listed in this visibility form. Individual Layer Control By selecting the check box under the All column in the individual layer row, you can turn on or off all etch, pins, vias or DRCs for that layer.

Individual Element Control You can turn on or off a single element etch, pin, and so forth by selecting the element. The Graphics Dimming or Shadow Mode option gives you the ability to provide distinct levels of visibility that are based on the importance of the object.

The main control for shadowing is located in the Color Dialog form under the Display folder. With Shadow Mode turned on, the brightness slide bar controls the color intensity of the non-important objects. The higher the brightness percentage, the less difference in color between the important and the non-important objects. You use the Shadow Toggle icon to turn on and turn off the shadowing feature.

Objects of importance are defined as follows: Items that have been highlighted using the Highlight command Items that are highlighted by the current active command The current Active layer as defined in the Options window The default is to have Shadow Mode disabled. When Shadow Mode is first enabled, the default brightness is 50 percent. With scripts, you can have the PCB Editor record and save all your menu selections and mouse picks in a text file.

You initiate such script recording by clicking Record. While a script is recording, the script file name appears in the Status window. All your executed commands will be recorded in a text file, until you stop the recording. You can then replay the file in the same design or a different design to quickly execute repetitive operations.

Browse displays a script file browser that lets you choose a script file to replay. Library displays a script file browser that opens your script path location env file and lets you choose a script file to replay.

Generate displays a file browser from which you can choose a. Macros are like scripts in that they let you perform repetitive actions, such as complex geometric operations, on a drawing. The difference, however, is that scripts record from absolute coordinates while macros record from relative coordinate positions in a drawing. To start recording a macro, you enable the Macro Record Mode check box.

A parameters file can be exported from one database and imported into another. This allows you to have the same look and feel from one database to another. Design Setting - Global values and grid settings. This includes the settings in the Design Parameters Editor form and the grid settings.

Artwork - Artwork film definitions. This includes the film record definitions and the parameters for each film record. Color - Color parameters and color table. Text Size - Text size settings. This includes the total number of text blocks and their text size parameters, such as text block width, text block height, and so on.

Application or Command Parameters - All other supported parameters, including those for auto rename, auto assignment, auto silkscreen, global dynamic fill, autovoid, export logic, drafting, gloss line fattening, gloss dielectric generation, Options window tab settings, test prep, automatic placement, auto swap, thieving, backdrill, interactive flow planner PCB Editor only , and Signoise analysis.

Lab Script Files and Controlling Visibility and Color Objective: Set up a script file to control color and visibility of graphical elements of a design.

In this lab you will change the default visibility and color assignments on each new layer to suit your personal preferences. Changing layer visibility and assigning colors is a procedure you will want to use over and over again.

You can use script files to capture repetitive procedures. From the time you enter recording mode until the time you stop the recorder, all your activities are captured into the script file. Starting a Script File Recorder 1. The Scripting dialog box appears. Place the cursor in the File text field and type the following: colors.

The Scripting dialog box disappears, and you are ready to begin recording. Each command you execute from this point forward will be entered into the script file colors. Notice that in the Status window at the lower right corner of the Editor you will see the words Rec colors while you are in record mode for creating a script. In this case, colors is the name of the script. Later you will be instructed when to stop the recording. Controlling Visibility First you can set the visibility and color assignments for the design.

Click the Color icon. The Color and Visibility dialog box appears. Near the top right of the Color dialog box, select the Global Visibility Off box. When an alert message appears asking if you want to change all classes to invisible, click Yes. This action resets all the visibilities to OFF, so you can begin turning on the layers that you wish. Expand the Components folder, and select the Ref Des class as shown. A x in the box indicates the subclass is turned ON.

Expand the Stack-Up folder and select the Conductor folder. Enable visibility for subclasses in this group, as shown in the figure, then click Apply. We will use the Palette section next. Controlling Colors To change the colors of some of the subclasses in the Stack-Up folder, follow these steps. It is recommended that these subclasses all be set to the same color. Stopping the Script File Recorder Notice the words Rec colors in the Status window lower right corner of the work area window.

You are still in the script record mode, recording a script named colors. Click Stop to stop the script file from recording. All the visibility and color assignments you made have been captured in the colors. Click Cancel to close the Scripting dialog box.

View the colors. The file should be located in your play working directory. Select colors. Take a look at the file. Close the colors. Testing the Script File colors.

When a warning appears asking if you want to change all classes to invisible, click Yes. Click OK to close the Color Dialog box. Because the visibility for all classes is turned off, nothing is displayed in the work area. At the PCB Editor command line, enter the following move your cursor over the Command tab to make the window visible if it is not already displayed : replay colors. This command replays the script file you created, and sets the visibility and color assignments automatically.

Toggle on Colors and enter a name of colors in the Output File Name field. Your form should look as follows:. Select the Export button to run the Export command. Upon the completion of the command, the file colors. Select Close to close the Export form.

Select No to not save changes made to the current design. This action resets all the visibilities to Off. Enter colors in the Input parameter file field. Select Import to start the Import Parameters command. Notice how the colors have been set to the changes you previously made, and that the visibilities have also been changed.

Select Close to close the Import Parameters form. Using the Shadow Mode Option 1. Select Display folder.

Select On for the Shadow Mode option. Select and drag the Brightness slide bar. Click Apply to see results on the screen and stay in the form. Click OK to apply and close the Color and Visibility menu. Notice how the color of the current Active Class and Subclass as defined in the Options folder tab is displayed in the normal color, while all others are drawn in the dimmed color.

Notice now that the board outline is drawn in the normal color and everything else except the highlighted net is displayed in the dimmed color. Select the Shadow Mode toggle icon to turn off shadow mode. Find window when selecting database elements with the mouse. Challenge: Given the settings to the right, when the Delete command is executed, what will be selected for deletion in the following two scenarios note the cursor location? The Find window is more commonly referred to as the Find Filter.

This is one of the more important forms used in the PCB Editor. It is critical that you pay attention to and understand the settings. The top section of this form contains the Design Object Find Filter box. This section determines what types of objects in the design are to be acted upon when you select elements with the mouse.

If the pick occurs at a point where there are multiple items displayed, the system prioritizes the selection by going from the top left object in the column to the bottom right and finding the first checked item. In both instances of the examples shown, the entire part would be deleted. This is because the Symbols item would be the first check box found in the Find Filter.

Some of the boxes will be greyed out, depending on the active command. If you drag with the LMB and create a rectangle, all elements that match any item checked in the Find Filter will be selected.

Use the pull-down field to set which type of a name you will enter. Use the More button to display a scrollable 1 list of all elements matching the desired type. The bottom section of the Find Filter contains the Find by Name box. You use the Find by Name section to select elements by a name rather than graphically. For example, if you wanted to highlight the net called GND, you would execute the Highlight command, go down to the Find by Name section, click the down arrow and select Net.

The net named GND would then be highlighted. The More It should be noted that when you use the Find by Name section, the check boxes in the Design Object Find Filter section are ignored, unless the Property pull-down option is used.

When you select the Property option and click the More button, all properties are gathered that are attached to the checked items. A scroll list is generated specifying all the unique properties that were found. An application mode provides an intuitive environment in which commands used frequently in a particular task domain, such as etch editing, are readily accessible from RMB pop-up menus, based on a selection set of design elements you have chosen.

This customized environment maximizes productivity when you use multiple commands on the same design elements or those in close proximity in the design. Application mode configures your tool for a specific task by populating the RMB pop-up menu only with commands that operate on the current selection set.

The different application modes available are:. General Edit Mode - This is the default mode when the tool is first launched. It allows you to perform editing tasks, including place and route, as well as moving, copying, or mirroring items.

Etch Edit Mode - This application mode customizes your environment to perform etchediting tasks. Examples are adding and sliding connections, delay tuning, and smoothing clines or cline segments. Interconnect Flow Planner IFP - This mode customizes your environment to perform route planning for complex highly constrained, high pin-count high-speed designs. For example, it enables you to bundle rats and perform bundle flow analysis.

The Allegro PCB Editor defaults to a pre-selection use model, which lets you choose a design element noun , and then a command verb from the RMB pop-up menu. This preselection use model lets you easily access commands based on the design elements youve chosen in the design canvas, which the tool highlights and uses as a selection set, thereby eliminating extraneous mouse clicks and allowing you to remain focused on the design canvas.

While base elements such as cline segs, pins, and vias cannot be parents of other elements, they are the building blocks of which hierarchical elements such as nets, clines, and components are made. A pin is a child of a net, as well as that of a symbol and a function.

Similarly, a cline could be a child of a symbol and a net. For a symbol with a shape containing a void, for example, the hierarchy may span five levels. If you enable more than one base or hierarchical element in the Find Filter, the base element determines the hierarchical elements you may choose.

You navigate through the hierarchy by using the following or any other predefined hot key:. Tab or Shift-Tab for all hierarchical elements Note: The Tab key is unavailable when you select by window, which chooses only toplevel hierarchical elements.

Clears previous selection set and adds highlighted element at the mouse location to the selection set. Adds highlighted element at the mouse location to the selection set. Adds the highlighted element at the mouse location if not already in the selection set.

Removes the highlighted element from the selection set if the selection set already contains it. Clears previous selection set. Adds elements enabled in the Find Filter and that overlap the window to the selection set. Removes elements enabled in the Find Filter, overlapping the window or already in the selection set. In application mode, the tool highlights design elements you have chosen in the design window as a selection set. Commands applicable to an application mode operate on this selection set.

You modify the elements in the selection set by using any of the mouse operations described above. The commands that are shown in the RMB pop-up menu depend upon where your cursor is when you select with the mouse.

In the left picture, the mouse was hovered over a Horizontal line segment. The RMB contains four sections. The top and bottom sections will be discussed shortly. The second section contains commands that can be executed on the element s that was selected when the RMB was pushed. These commands are pre-configured in the software and cannot be customized. In the case shown, because a Horizontal line segment was selected, some of the commands that can be executed are Delete, Change width, and so on.

The third section of the pop-up menu contains sub-menus that contain commands that can be executed on the hierarchical members of the selected item s. In this case, because a Horizontal line segment was selected, the hierarchical parents could be either the connect line or the net. In the right-hand picture, because the RMB was not hovered over any database element, only the top and bottom sections are displayed. In the pre-select mode, the top and bottom sections of the RMB pop-up menu are the same.

This is true no matter what type of a database element your mouse is hovered over, including nothing. The top section of the menu contains the following options:.

Undo - Performs the standard undo command. Design Parameters - Displays the Design Parameters form as described earlier. Grids - Displays the form to set grids. This form will be discussed later. Change Active Subclass - This allows you to change the current active subclass to a different subclass, as defined in your layer stackup.

The bottom section of the menu contains the following options:. Super Filter - Allows you to set filtering that supersedes the standard Find Filter. This will be discussed shortly. Customize - Contains the following options: Enable Single Click Execution - lets commands execute with a single rather than double click, such as add connect in Etch Edit application mode. Disable Automatic Drag Operations - initiates select by window rather than slide functionality.

Enable Shape Selection through Shape Fill - By default, you can only select a shape in the Pre-Select mode when you hover your mouse over the shape boundary. With this option enabled, you can select a shape in the Pre-Select mode whenever your mouse is over any part of the shape.

Reset to Defaults - Resets the above three options to their default state. Object Browser - Allows you to search for elements by name or by property. Select - Appears only if elements are available to choose at the current mouse position.

Narrow Select - Allows you to refine your selection when multiple elements have been chosen during an editing session. Toggle Select - Allows you to further refine the elements in the selection set after you select by window. Clicking an element with a minus sign next to it removes it from the selection set; clicking an element with a plus sign adds it to the selection set.

The Super filter lets you choose a particular element type to refine your selection set and temporarily disable all other elements from the RMB pop-up menu rather than the Find Filter. You can only choose one database element type using the Super filter. For example, lets suppose you want to move many parts in your design. Without using the Super Filter, you would need to hover your mouse over a part, use the tab key to select the symbol, then move the part.

By using the Super Filter and turning on only symbols, as soon as you hover your mouse over a part, the symbol is immediately selected and ready to move. Application-mode commands are accessible from a RMB pop-up menu based on the current selection set. The commands that populate the context-sensitive, RMB pop-up menu depend on the location of your cursor and whether you have already created a selection set. The RMB pop-up menu features several choices that appear whenever you work in an application mode:.

Quick Utilities allows access to frequently used functions. Super filter confines your work to a particular element type, such as all nets. Selection Set Clear All Selections empties the selection set. Object Browser lets you search for elements by name or by property. Select appears only if selectable elements are available at the current mouse position. Narrow Select lets you refine your selection when multiple elements have been chosen during an editing session.

Toggle Select lets you further refine the elements in the selection set after you select by window. You can also select the element with the LMB to select the element and clear the selection set.

If the selection set contains a mix of elements, the RMB pop-up menu displays sub-popup menus of commands applicable to those elements.

In the pre-selection use model, you can automatically execute a default command with a click, drag, shift-drag or Crtl-drag on an element. In the Etch Edit application mode, the default commands are as documented above.

You can set an option so that the double-click column commands can be executed using a single click. Note When you execute a command by dragging in any application mode, use the Esc key to allow the LMB to be released, yet continue dragging. In the General Edit application mode, the default commands are as documented above. Start the command. Activate the Find Window. Click the All Off button. Toggle on desired element s.

Select desired color. Select the elements in the design window to highlight. The Highlight command is used to display a database element in a certain color.

The type of database element highlighted is based upon the Find Filter. You have a choice of 32 different colors to choose from in the Options window. In order to highlight different objects in different colors, change the Permanent highlight color in the Options window before selecting the next object to be highlighted. Once highlighted, the elements remain highlighted until they are dehighlighted using the Dehighlight command.

Select the elements in the design window. You can use the Show Element command, also referred to as the Display Element command, to ascertain information about an item in the design. Remember that the Find Filter is used to determine what type of information will be displayed. Based upon the Find Filter settings, you can determine a net name, a components reference designator, which padstack a pin uses, and so forth. If you highlight an X Y coordinate in the Show Element form, the object will highlight and be centered in your display window.

If the class and subclass settings are incorrect, the Display Measure command may not return the desired results. After the two points have been selected, a window is displayed detailing information about the distance between the two elements. Information displayed includes total distance, manhattan distance, the delta X and delta Y, and the air gap.

The air gap will only be displayed if the two selected elements reside on the same class and subclass, and if that class and subclass are active in the Options tab. Again, it is important to remember that the Find Filter settings determine which database elements will be selected by this command. If the selection point contains no items that match the Find Filter settings, then the closest grid point will be used for determining the distance.

You will notice that the parameters change from command to command. The parameters and values you set in the Options window take effect immediately. They override definitions for the same parameters and values that may exist elsewhere in the PCB Editor software.

If you place a different value in the Options window, however, the tool uses the value you enter instead of the default values. The following labs will teach you how to select elements in the PCB Editor database by graphically selecting items, selecting items by their names, and selecting items by their properties.

You will also learn how to use the Highlight and DeHighlight commands. Here is how to use these options. Hover your mouse over the Find tab to display the window, if it is not already displayed. Press the Tab key. Part U3 snaps to your cursor and the display is redrawn to be zoomed around this part. Whatever you enter in the Find By Name field is selected for manipulation by the active commandin this case, Move. Right-click and choose Cancel from the pop-up menu. Part U3 snaps back to its original location as you exit the active command.

You can toggle different objects either ON or OFF to prevent inadvertently selecting something you dont want to edit. Hover your mouse over the Find tab to display the window.

In the Find window, click All On. This ensures that check boxes of all appropriate objects are toggled on, as shown in the figure. Click on the reference designator text characters U3. Part U3 snaps to your cursor. In the selectable objects section of the Find window, Symbols is checked, or toggled ON. The reference designator you selected is seen as part of the package symbol. Because Symbols is higher in the selection hierarchy than the reference designator Text, the PCB Editor selects the item at the higher level.

With the cursor in the work area, right-click. A pop-up menu appears with options for the active Move command. Select Oops from the pop-up menu. Part U3 snaps back to its original location. Create your free account to read unlimited documents. The SlideShare family just got bigger. Home Explore Login Signup. Successfully reported this slideshow. We use your LinkedIn profile and activity data to personalize ads and to show you more relevant ads. You can change your ad preferences anytime.

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