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- PADS-2000 3.12
-
- This version resolves these PADS-2000 3.10 problems:
-
- Thermal Reliefs
-
- Versions of PADS-2000 prior to 3.10 generated thermal
- reliefs on vias in copper pour regardless of the route
- status. In version 3.10 the via rule was modified to
- match the rule for generating thermal reliefs on plane
- layers. The 3.10 rule is that only vias which have an
- unrouted connection attached to them will receive a
- thermal relief in copper pour.
-
- Changing this rule had a greater impact than expected,
- and users received no indication of the rule change
- from PADS Software. Therefore, the 3.12 release was
- modified to reverse the rule for vias back to the
- previous rule and generate thermals on vias in copper
- pour regardless of the route status.
-
- Abnormal Termination In The Shove Router.
-
- PADS-2000 3.10 was released with some incorrect
- security code that resulted in abnormal termination
- when exiting and re-entering the shove router without
- exiting to the Route menu first. This code has been
- corrected.
-
- Changes in PLIB.DAT
-
- The USR library appeared first in the PADS-2000 3.03
- PLIB.DAT file. PADS-2000 3.10 was released with the USR
- as the last library. The new release will have the USR
- library back to being the first.
-
- CAMplus
-
- The first release of PADS-CAMplus contained a few minor
- problems which have been corrected with this release.
-
- PINSTALL
-
- PADS-2000 version 3.10 was released with a Pinstall
- installation program that did not provide the ability
- to modify the error message re-direction for PADS-2000.
- This 3.12 release is shipped with a corrected
- version. Additionally, pinstall was revised not to overwrite
- PLIB.DAT if it exists in the PADS directory. Therefore,
- if you wish to re-order the library search sequence of
- the USR library, it will have to done from within PADS-
- 2000 by modifying the sequence numbers in the Setup-Lib
- Path routine.
-
- ************ New Advisories for 3.10 *************
-
- The advisories below have been issued for PADS-2000 version
- 3.10. These situations could not be properly addressed in
- time for the 3.12 release. They will be corrected in
- version 4.0 of PADS-2000 which will be available by the end
- of this year.
-
- Check Continuity
-
- Thermal reliefs in copper pour are ignored by the
- Check-Conti routine.
-
- Move Of Angled Segment
-
- As a result of implementing an enhancement for moving
- angled segments with arcs, movement of angled segments
- without arcs was affected. Prior to version 3.10,
- angled segments could only be moved in an orthogonal
- mode. In PADS-2000 version 3.10, angled segments can
- only be moved in an angle mode.
-
- This feature will be revised in PADS-2000 version 4.0
- to match the angle/orthogonal feature of Route-Modify-
- Move Corner.
-
- Metheus Graphics Drivers
-
- The Metheus graphics drivers are not 100 percent
- functional with 3.10 and the 3.12 release.
- 1104 - The color palette is not working properly.
- All Drivers - Angled line segments may not display
- properly when zoomed in.
-
- Route Copy Limit
-
- The Route Copy feature has a limitation of 250 route
- segments in one copy. If the user exceeds this
- limitation, an program abnormal termination may occur.
-
- CAM
-
- Using a 90 degree rotation in the Transformation Option
- of the CAM routine may result in finger pads not being
- output to the CAM file.
-
- *******End New Advisories fro PADS-2000 3.10 **********
-
- Previous PADS-2000 3.10 Advisories still in affect
-
- PADS-CAMplus
-
- This release of PADS-2000 includes the initial relese
- of PADS-CAMplus, an interface tool for use with
- automatic part insertion machines. For more details on
- PADS-CAMplus see the command reference manual included
- with this package.
-
- Aperture Lists
-
- The photo plotter aperture list found in the CAM-
- Defaults-Photoplot portion of PADS-2000 is stored in
- the current database units. However, the units of the
- gerber file can be assigned independently of the
- current database units. The aperture list report file
- (.REP) created during the processing of a gerber file
- is reported in the current database units, not the
- units of the resulting gerber file.
-
- Net Names
-
- When assigning a name to a net, avoid using the "$"
- character. This character is reserved for a special
- case in PADS Products.
-
- CAM Device Configuration
-
- Metric values in the CAM-Devices portion of the program
- are rounded off to the nearest mil when the database
- units are changed from metric to mils or inches.
-
- CAM
-
- A gerber file using the new Circular Interpolation
- feature of the CAM routine cannot be verified using
- CAM-Verify.
-
- When processing a plot in postscript format, use the
- lowest scaling ratio possible. For example, use a
- multiplier of 1 and a divisor of 2 (1/2), to produce a
- 1/2 scale plot. If a scale of 100/50 were used, the
- result would be a larger plot file that could exceed
- the memory limitations of your printer.
-
- Copper Pour
-
- A new feature implemented for this release will allow
- CAM processing when a database contains copper pour
- areas which are not flooded or hatched. When this
- situation exists, you will be prompted to confirm the
- continuation of the processing.
-
- Pad stacks containing a drill diameter greater than
- .250" must use a circular cut-out to get the proper
- clearance in a copper pour area. This limitation will
- be removed in version 4.0 of PADS-2000.
-
- Thermal reliefs are recognized as tracks by the DRC
- routine. Therefore, the track-to-track spacing
- parameter in Setup-Params is used to verify the minimum
- spacing.
-
- When creating copper pour polygons, avoid using arcs
- with a very large radius. Isolated cases have resulted
- in unusual hatch outlines.
-
- Copper pour areas that are not associated with a net
- are regarded as being associated with each other.
- Therefore, when the flooding and DRC routines are used,
- spacing violations may occur and not be reported by the
- DRC routine. For best results always associate the
- copper pour area with a net.
-
- Part Type and Part Decal Names
-
- Previous versions of PADS-2000 allowed the use of
- spaces in part type and part decal names. This resulted
- in improper error reporting during ASCII IN of a file
- containing these types of names. This release will not
- permit part type and part decal names to be entered if
- they contain a space. Part types or part decals with
- spaces in their names must be edited with the PLIB
- library editor prior to using them in PADS-2000 version
- 3.10.
-
- Part Decals
-
- When creating a part decal that is to contain circular
- copper items, add the part outline to the decal prior
- to adding the circular copper. Failure to do so may
- result in the copper outline being recognized as the
- part outline.
-
- When changing a part decal from an SMD footprint to a
- through-hole footprint, it may be necessary to unroute
- all route segments that terminate on the components
- pins prior to making the change. This can be performed
- easily with the Group-Unroute command.
-
- Group
-
- When grouping items using the Place-Group command it is
- important to note how the bounding box of a component
- is defined. For the purpose of the group command, a
- bounding box is defined by calculating the space that
- the component uses including its reference designation.
- When the reference designation is placed away from the
- component the bounding box stretches to include the new
- location of the reference designation. If the group
- definition intersects this bounding box, the component
- will be included in the group.
-
- DRC
-
- A clearance value entered in the Setup-Net-Attributes
- list that is less than the minimum distance specified
- in Setup-Parameters will be ignored, and the spacing
- values in Setup-Parameters will be used.
-
- When Check-Spacing is selected, all of the visible
- error markers are removed and any remaining violations
- are tagged with a new error marker. Should error
- markers persist after corrections are made, zoom out
- until all error markers are visible and select Check-
- Spacing again. This will ensure that all of the desired
- checking area has been checked.
-
- Pad Stacks
-
- Avoid creating a pad stack containing a range
- assignment which includes all of the components pins.
- Improper pad stack assignments may occur if additional
- terminals are added to a part decal with this type of
- pad assignment.
-
- Routes With Arcs
-
- When creating routes with arcs limit the angle of the
- arc to a maximum of 180 degrees. When it is necessary
- to create an arc greater than 180 degrees, create two
- arcs with the first being a 180 degree arc, and the
- second as the remainder of the arc.
-
- Check Continuity
-
- To create an electrical connection with copper (NOT
- copper pour), be sure to use a closed polygon. Open
- polygons of copper are treated as a special case and
- may not be properly verified in the Check Continuity
- routine.
-
- Graphics
-
- PADS-2000 will no longer support the Number Nine
- Computer, Pepper SGT. Card.If you are currently using
- this graphics device contact your local PADS dealer.
-
- Due to inconsistencies among graphics card
- manufacturers, support for the standard TIGA graphics
- driver may vary. Specifically, arcs and diagonal lines
- may not display properly at different zoom levels. PADS
- Software will continue to research these
- inconsistencies and modify our graphics driver to
- address these situations.
-
- The Metheus and Elsa Graphics devices that are
- supported by PADS-2000 are not functioning properly
- with new large cursor option.
-
- Copper
-
- When splitting a net that has associated copper, the
- copper must be renamed manually after the splitting of
- the net is completed.
-
- Security Devices
-
- Previous releases of PADS-PowerRouter were secured with
- a black security device manufactured by Glenco Inc.
- Recently, we have discovered that these devices are
- incompatible with 80486 50 MHz computers. Any user who
- is experiencing this incompatibility should contact
- their local PADS dealer.
-
- End
-
-