Fifty: Elektronik/FIFTY Elektronik (PS_Computer_Vertrieb).iso/ps8/fty1048/gepackt.exe/PCB.DOC

Text File | 1991-07-19 | 10.0 KB | 284 lines

              PADS-PCB Version 4.X ADVISORIES



USER LIBRARIES:
In order to support all of the new Library features that we
have incorporated into the software, you are going to be
required to convert any library items that you have created
into the new Library format.  This section will explain how
to use the Library Conversion Program CONV3TO4 to accomplish
this.

If you are a new user, you will not have any customized
library shapes, therefore you can disregard this letter.

Customers Converting V 3.0X or 3.1X PADS-PCB Libraries to V
4.0 Format:

1.  Go into the PLIB program and select User Library.  For
each category (Part Type, PCB Decal, Schematic Decal, and
Lines) use the WRITE routine to convert these sections to an
ASCII equivalent file.
When the system prompts you for a name for each of these
ASCII files, respond with USR.  Do not specify an extension,
as the WRITE facility will add one for you.  When the prompt
for entries to output appears, enter an asterisk <CR>.

2.  Load the Version 4.0 Update.  (See PINSTALL Letter)

3.  Type:  CD  \PADS  <CR>  to change to the \PADS
directory.

4.  Type:  CONV3TO4  <CR>
This will bring up the Conversion menu with five selections.

5.  Select Item #2 on the menu.

6.  Select the type of library that you are converting.

7.  Enter the drive letter (followed by a colon) and the
path to your old PADS Library.  (<CR> defaults to the
current drive and the \PADS\LIB directory.)

8.  Enter the destination drive followed by a colon <CR>
(<CR> defaults to the current drive and the \PADS\FILES
directory.)

9.  Confirm the selection.

10. Select Item #3 on the menu.

11. Repeat steps 6 and 7 above.

12. Initialize or add to existing V 4.0 Library? I/A.  "I"
should be used if no other V 4.0 Libraries exist.  "A"
should be used if you are adding to an existing V 4.0
Library.

13. Overwrite duplicate items? (This prompt only appears if
you have answered "A" to the #12 question.)

14. Confirm the selection.

Customers Converting V 3.2X or 3.3X PADS-PCB Libraries to V
4.0 Format:

1.  Load the Version 4.0 Update.

2.  Type:  CD  \PADS  <CR>  to change to the \PADS
directory.

3.  Type:  CONV3TO4  <CR>

4.  Select Item #4.

5.  Select the version of the package that you are
converting.

6.  Select the type of library that you are converting.

7.  Enter the drive letter (followed by a colon) and the
path to your old PADS Library.  (<CR> defaults to the
current drive and the \PADS\LIB directory.)

8.  Initialize or add to existing V4 Library? I/A.  "I"
should be used if no other V 4.0 Libraries exist.  "A"
should be entered if you are adding to an existing V 4.0
Library.

9.  Overwrite duplicate items? (This prompt will only appear
if you have entered the letter A to the #8 question.)

10. Confirm the selection.

Keep in mind that one of the new features with the Library
is that you can have not just a User and a Standard Library,
but up to 30 different libraries.  As an example, CAD
Software has split the Standard Library into two libraries,
an STD Library and a TTL Library.

To do this with your User Library, once you have finished
converting the libraries, go to the User Library and write
out the Part Type and Decal information that you wish to
make a separate library from.  Then, create the new Library
through PLIB\INITIALIZE and feed the ASCII files back into
the new Library using PLIB's WRITE.
Once the Library Conversion is complete, you may also want
to remove nonessential files located in the Library
directory.  Files with .DAT and .IDX extensions are old
library data files which can be removed.


NUMBER OF PADS PER COMPONENT:
The PADS-PCB software can only understand components with
255 pads or less.  If you come across a part, with the
browsing feature, which has more than 255 pads (i.e. a
component created in PADS-2000), then the software will not
recognize the decal information.


New PADS Shell:
The PADS shell has a new look, as well as, additional
features.  We have added extra select boxes at the bottom of
the shell window.  These boxes can be programmed to execute
other pieces of software.  NOTE: These boxes will only work
on executable files.

To program these boxes, place the cursor over the desired
box and select the right mouse button.  You will notice the
following prompt: PROGRAM NAME.  Enter the drive, the
path, and the base name of the executable.  When the entry
is complete, type a <CR>.  Notice the base name of the
executable will appear in the box previously selected.  To
execute the program, place the cursor over the box and
select the left mouse button.


LARGE OPTION:
If a user does NOT have the LARGE option installed, but does
have expanded memory, this expanded memory will be accessed
ONLY for library cache and NOT to expand the system limits.

If a user has the LARGE option installed, then the first
640k of Expanded Memory is used for expanding the system
limits.  The second 64k of Expanded Memory is allocated for
macros, and any remaining Expanded Memory is used for
library cache.


LIBRARY CACHE MEMORY BREAKDOWN:
If available, each library is allocated 128k of Expanded
Memory for library cache.  This 128k is equally divided
among parttypes and decals (lines library receives no
cache).  For the following examples let's assume 256k of
Expanded Memory is available for library cache.

Example 1: FOUR LIBRARIES OPEN
All libraries would receive 64k of Expanded Memory (64k +
64k + 64k + 64k = 256k).

Example 2: THREE LIBRARIES OPEN
The first library would receive 128k of Expanded Memory and
the second and third libraries would receive 64k each (128k
+ 64k + 64k = 256k).

Example 3: FIVE LIBRARIES OPEN
The first four libraries would receive 64k of Expanded
Memory and the fifth library would receive 0k of Expanded
Memory or no cache.


NETWORKING APPENDIX CORRECTION:
If you are installing PADS-PCB on a network and you are
referring to the networking appendix (Appendix A8, page 7)
in your manual, please make the following change: At the
bottom of the page where it says to load the libraries and
respond with the letter "A", the response should be "B) to
the server".


APERTURE MODIFICATION:
PADS-PCB version 4.0 has a new way of scrolling through the
aperture selection defined in your aperture table. You no
longer select PROCEED to scan through the existing
apertures, instead the PAGE-UP and PAGE-DOWN commands must
be selected in order to move to the next window containing
the second list of apertures.


GRAPHICS
An aspect ratio has been introduced to modify the graphical
X and Y data associated with a 45 degree angle route.  By
adding a /F:.XX suffix to the PCB statement, you can help to
reduce the number of steps found on a 45 degree trace.
(Example: PCB<space>/F:.85, where .79 = EGA (640 X 350), .80
= 640 X 400, .85 = VGA 640 X 480, .90 = HI-RES 800 X 600,
.90 = HI-RES 1024 X 768.


TEXT
PADS-PCB now uses proportional text which is different from
the text used in the past.  Please be advised this could
change the way items appear when they are displayed and/or
plotted.


SR PARAMS
For customers using PADS-PCB, Version 4.X and PADS-
SUPERROUTER, Version 3.37, please be advised the SR PARAM
fields inside PADS-PCB are not recognized.  The .STP files
should still be used to define specific details prior to
entering the router.


PREVIOUS VERSION JOB FILES
If you have job files that were created on PADS-PCB versions
prior to Version 3, you will be required to convert them
from Version 1 to Version 2, then Version 2 to Version 3,
prior to loading them into Version 4.  If you do not have
the interim version of PADS-PCB, you should contact our
technical support staff.


DECALS
We have recently discovered a situation which could cause
problems with copper created inside a decal.  If a copper
polygon is created inside a decal, added to the design, and
for some reason, a component pad is placed inside the copper
spot, and the distance from the edge of the polygon to the
edge of the pad is greater than the minimum spacing
required, the system will not flag it as an error.  This is
only a temporary problem which will be addressed in a later
release.


MINC LIBRARY
Customers receiving PADS-PCB will notice a new library
called MINC.  This library comes standard on our library
diskette and should only be used with PADS-LOGIC and the
MINC PLDesign package.


POSTSCRIPT ADVISORY
If you have selected the PostScript driver during the
hardware setup, you should redirect error messages to the
error file.  If you leave error messages directed to the
printer, you can encounter problems when post processing
your board.  For example, a DRILL DRAWING will not be
plotted while error messages are directed to the printer,
but it will plot when error messages have been redirected to
the error file.


DOS 5.0 ADVISORY
DOS 5.0 is functioning fine on two systems here at CAD
Software, Inc..  The hardware configurations are as follows:
                 386/25 MHz CPU
                 VGA graphics/Number Nine SGT Pepper Card
                 386MAX Memory Manger/QEMM Memory Manager
                 80 MB hard drive
                 4 MB of extended memory
Both systems are loading all available drivers into high
extended memory which provides a large additional amount of
DOS 640K memory to our programs.  This additional DOS memory
allows for larger numbers of parts, as well as connections.
We have, however, run into several cases where certain
statements when executed through the CONFIG.SYS file would
cause the programs to lock up or act unpredictably.  We
advise customers to strip their CONFIG.SYS file down until
they find which statements are causing the problem.  One
known statement is:
                   DOS = HIGH, UMB
If customers would like additional information, they can
contact our Technical Support Staff at [phone].


NOTE:
We do not support the migration of software files from a
lower version to a higher version (i.e. DEFAULTS.PAD,
BATCH.DAT, DEVICES.DAT).


07/19/91