Extracting libraries from your design files.

Have you got a schematic and PCB created in CADSTAR 11 onwards but no libraries to enable you to modify them?
If so then you can easily recreate the libraries as CADSTAR keep a local copy of the parts library in the design files themselves. This makes it simple to extract and create a design specific library.

Here is how it works:.....

Using a BOM spreadsheet to quickly add parts into a CADSTAR design.

Recently a colleague has been spending his time reverse engineering an old design that someone only has Gerber's, schematic diagram as PDF and a parts list for so that it can be reworked, modified and bought up to current standards.

At best this is a time consuming task requiring a printout of the schematic, a search of the spreadsheet for a component, copy the part name then paste it into the slide out library search field and then left drag the found part into the schematic, hit escape once then select the symbol properties and change the component name to suit the schematic.  Then join the symbols up with connections etc.

I have gone mobile!

Just a note to say - I noticed that in the blog setup there was an option for a mobile theme, so I have enabled it to allow the blog to be read better via a mobile.

Now I just need to pull my finger out and make enough posts to warrant you visiting it on your phone :)

Check your dangler shape!

Hey folks, I thought I would share a warning with you about danglers.

The dangler is that little blob that gets left dangling when making a schematic connection and you double click in free space. It is designed to allow you to temporarily leave a connection dangling while you sort out something for it to connect to.

Simply put - Danglers are created when you terminate a connection in space.

I.E. you bring a connection from an IC in one corner of your schematic sheet to the other corner only to discover that you have forgotten to add the part it connects to, you double click and drop a dangler leaving the connection there - saving having to redraw it all while you add your part then continue adding the connection from the dangler.

Apart from junctions, signal references and global signals, a dangler is the only way to leave a connection without it being connected to a symbol terminal. 

So what is the warning?

Well, if you are drawing your schematic on a very fine grid, (I.E. 1th) you have to be extremely accurate connecting to symbol terminals or other connections, if you miss and inadvertently double click then you can leave a dangler instead.
Unfortunately if your dangler is the same shape as a junction then it looks the same and you do not notice that the connections are not actually the same net.

E.G



This is actually a mis-connection near the

vertical net and a dangler.







Here the vertical connection has been
pulled to the right to show the dangler.



OMG! you think - why does it let you do this? Well it lets you do this because you are not using a proper grid system and it thinks you are just dropping a dangler.

I have had designs that others have drawn that have had danglers like this and there have been net disconnects which would have made the circuit a failure had I not changed the dangler shape as one of the first things I do in a schematic.

The default shape is a circle, I disagree with this due to the above possiblilities of errors so urge you to read on and change it.

So what is the answer to this?

Well its two fold.

Firstly, do not draw your schematics on a fine (1th) grid, speaking from experience it allows them to look awful, connections are not straight as they do not line up - symbols are all on different levels etc.

Use a decent grid, if your symbols are drawn on a coarse (100th) grid then place them on that, connect to them on a minimum of 25th. (Or whatever your metric version is).

Secondly, and this is the most important bit - Change the shape of the dangler!

Do not have it the same shape as a junction point (circle) make it something obvious like a square.

Use some colour and make them Red. This way they are immediately obvious and can be immediately corrected.

From the file menu, choose Settings\Assignments\Terminal tab - in the Dangler shape box, select it and from the drop down choose square and OK that.

In Colours, select Danglers then Change Colours, select the word Danglers on the left then choose a highlight colour different to your junctions on the right.

Now you can see the difference when you have made this mistake.







Remember to make this change in your templates and symbol library assignments.





Wow, has it been that long since I last posted anything on here?

It's been a tad hectic at work & home, however as no one has posted any comments asking anything I had nothing to lose.

How about a nice long piece on post processing?
(that will give me an excuse to disappear for a while :)

Recycling your old electronic components or IT equipment?

With current environmental legislation preventing a lot of simple throwing away of old electronic components and equipment it can often be costly to dispose of, requiring licensed waste disposal contractors and so on.

However, if the components or equipment is still in a perfectly usable condition - for example an old slow laptop/pc/monitor - or perhaps you have found some non ROSH components at the back of the stores. There are still people that will reuse these without costing you a penny.

How?

Further neat tricks for using the signal reference zone links.

Now that you are using signal references and the zone links - are you finding yourself restricted because they do not appear on other items such as Block Terminals, Bus Terminals etc.

However we are still able to use them by creating a signal reference that has no symbol - so it can be placed on the same net and terminal of any other item.

Importing a sheet border via DXF from another system.

Someone asked on one of the web forums how to import his sheet borders in from another piece of software where they have been saved as a DXF.

I'll type a response here...

Further improving your schematic templates.

If you have followed the posts on setting up a schematic template to use documentation symbols and zone links there are a few other things that can be done to further improve them.

You may have noticed a little selection box when starting a new design entitled

"View New Design Settings".

By selecting this you will get an intermediate configuration box before your new schematic opens where you can configure initial settings for the schematic such as the units, grid step and style, colour scheme etc.

Now its time to actually use the zone hyperlinks.

Now that you have a schematic template prepared, we can start creating a massive schematic over many sheets with oodles of links in them, where by viewing or clicking on the links you can easily find where it goes. I can remember having to draw all over my schematics - marking up what sheet I can find the other end of linked signals - thankfully no more.

Preparing a schematic template with zone link support.

Now that we have documentation symbols (See here) we can start to use them, however in order to not have to setup the symbols & the zones for every schematic we should make a schematic template so that it is setup for each new schematic.

Creating a zoned document symbol set.

When adding a border to your designs, in order to not be redrawing it every design it should be created as a document symbol. This can be added to both Schematic or PCB designs and easily scaled to fit around the design so it can fit another paper size. Let me explain how to make one that you can use for your drawings.

Using zoned drawings and signal reference hyperlinks

One of the little known features to come into CADSTAR in recent versions is the ability to identify from a pair of signal reference symbols where the each corresponding reference is.

Although only a small thing, this does make it a lot easier to work with diagrams that have lots of signal references shooting off to various parts of other sheets in your drawing set.

Prior to this we would have to put text to identify where you can find the other part of the signal, well now
we have a link that you can click on and it will take the screen to centre in on the other part of the signal.

Its been a busy few months.

I have been a bit busy of late, things I wanted to blog about I have held off because of a few technical issues I did not feel I should post.

Hopefully the next few days posts should make up for those.

How High?

Depending upon what external applications you use with CADSTAR, your heights

may end up being all setup wrongly.

Why do I need a drill drawing?

A question I often get asked when I mention drill drawings is "why bother when the drill sizes are in the NC data" they say.

Busy Busy, Busy....

Sorry folks - its been a busy time recently with the run up to Christmas and I have not had time to put anything together.

Any better?

OK I have had a little play with what default templates are available, hopefully this looks a little better now.

Wish I had some pictures I could use though.

OOPS! what have I done...

Oops - I was looking at the templates to try and find one to make the posts wider.

Now it looks awful  -I'll play with the settings some more when I get a chance to see if I can make it better.

Having trouble with components with thermal vias in heatsink pads?

Are you having trouble figuring out how to prevent your components that have a heatsink pad with thermal vias in causing errors when you run a DRC?

The type of package I am talking about is for example the QFP style with a large square middle heatsink pad that also has some vias that go through to copper features on other layers.

Dangerous Diodes!

Just a little something that I noticed in a CADSTAR library I was browsing through.

How do you draw your diodes? Although there is an obvious choice of whether you want them filled or clear some disastrous mistakes have been made because of bad choices made when creating the simple diode symbol.

Assignments - what are they then?

So what are the "Assignments" in CADSTAR for?

Basically assignments is the term given to they settings for all the route, line, pads, text, copper, via codes amongst others. You assign values to them.

They are all kept within the assignments in CADSTAR, it is worth noting that CADSTAR keeps its assignments in each individual design file, within each schematic and documentation symbol and PCB library also the default files used for new design files.

Who said what?

Hey folks - if your going to post comments could you please leave a name?
Otherwise all posts come from  "Anonymous"  and it gets confusing who is asking what. :)

Layers in CADSTAR.

As requested - some information on setting up your layers in CADSTAR.

(Pull up a chair and make a coffee - its a long one).

What is all this layer stuff about then?...

So you are designing a printed circuit board - this is generally a fibreglass inner core with copper tracks on the outside. Although the inner core can be made of many different laminate materials depending upon the boards use, FR4 (Fibreglass) is the most common.

On the outside copper layers, which are completely covered in copper before the board is made - the tracks that you design will be what is left on the board when it is manufactured.

How to manage board Mounting holes in your PCB designs.

Recently I have seen comments on the web recently from people asking "how do I do mounting holes in CADSTAR?".

There are a few methods that you can use to implement mounting holes in CADSTAR.

Which one you choose is dependant upon the type of hole you want and how you want to use it.

CADSTAR Spacing Classes and what they do.

What are Spacing Classes and why use them?

A spacing class is a way of identifying that a net should be treated different to other nets with regard to spacings. A spacing class will overrule your design rules.

Life is much better with multiple monitors.

Something that really puzzles me is why so many designers are still using a single monitor to design with.

A 2nd monitor will cost about £100 with another £30-40 on a video card and you open a whole new world of visualisation of your designs.

I wonder?

.... If ayone is actually looking at this blog?

Does anyone know it exists?

Suggestions on how to get more reading it would be most welcome.

EDIT: If I knew that someone was reading I might post more.

A simple report listing testpoints and attached nets

Here is a simple report that can be run from the report generator that will list your test points as added in the design editor using "Add Testpoint"(not the ones added in PREditor) and the names of the nets that they are attached to.

Comments and Questions?

Hey folks, if anyone is reading this blog and has any comments or questions - or anything that you want to know about in particular that may give me a subject to blog about then by all means, please ask or comment.

That way I can help you after you have helped me by giving me something to blog about.

So what is CADSTAR then?

CADSTAR is part of a printed circuit board design suite that provides a solution
to the needs of anyone that needs a printed circuit board for their electronic products.

What am I proposing to blog about?

OK, enough of the waffle, what the heck am I going to say about CADSTAR?

How about starting with what CADSTAR is, who makes it, who sells it & why it is one of the top PCB design packages used in Europe.

Then perhaps I'll muse about the things I find out daily, little hints & tips on how to use certain features, how to make CADSTAR easier to work with & how to make your installation more productive.

Yep, as soon as I have figured out some of that lot I'll be back to let you know. :)

OK who am I and what did I do?

Although it's not hard to guess, I think I will remain anonymous for now, but in my past employment I was tasked to specialise in taking fag packet circuits and drawings and create decent and informative schematics then PCB packages that were easy to manufacture, test and repair (as well as working well).

My very first blog!

You know....

It's actually been over 18 months since I actually completed a PCB design, and I'm pretty sure that I do not miss it one iota!

Not because I don't like connecting up hundreds of components and thousands of connections over many layers to make an electronic circuit work (and work well), but because I don't miss the dark place that I was in when I was doing it.