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New Features

Copyrights
Software, documentation and related materials: Copyright 2004 Altium Limited

This software product is copyrighted and all rights are reserved. The distribution and sale of this product are intended for the use of the original purchaser only per the terms of the License Agreement. This document may not, in whole or part, be copied, photocopied, reproduced, translated, reduced or transferred to any electronic medium or machine-readable form without prior consent in writing from Altium Limited. U.S. Government use, duplication or disclosure is subject to RESTRICTED RIGHTS under applicable government regulations pertaining to trade secret, commercial computer software developed at private expense, including FAR 227-14 subparagraph (g)(3)(i), Alternative III and DFAR 252.227-7013 subparagraph (c)(1)(ii). P-CAD is a registered trademark and P-CAD Schematic, P-CAD Relay, P-CAD PCB, P-CAD Pro-Route, P-CAD QuickRoute, P-CAD InterRoute, P-CAD InterRoute Gold, P-CAD Library Manager, P-CAD Library Executive, P-CAD Document Toolbox, P-CAD InterPlace, P-CAD Parametric Constraint Solver, P-CAD Signal Integrity, P-CAD Shape-Based Autorouter, P-CAD DesignFlow, P-CAD ViewCenter, Master Designer and Associate Designer are trademarks of Altium Limited. Other brand names are trademarks of their respective companies.

Altium Limited www.altium.com

Table of Contents
Introduction to P-CAD 2004 ........................................................................................................... 1 Situs Topological Autorouter .......................................................................................................... 2 Design Rule compliance ........................................................................................................ 2 Sophisticated BGA and Surface Mount Component Fanout strategies................................. 2 Multiple Routing strategies..................................................................................................... 2 User-definable Routing strategies.......................................................................................... 2 Understanding queries........................................................................................................... 3 CAMtastic....................................................................................................................................... 3 Bi-directional ODB++ ............................................................................................................. 3 Advanced Panelization ..........................................................................................................4 Enhanced data verification features ...................................................................................... 4 NC drill and route ................................................................................................................... 4 Circuit Simulation ........................................................................................................................... 5 Libraries Update for ISO9001:2000 Standard................................................................................ 5 Top New PCB Layout Features and Enhancements ..................................................................... 6 Advanced Route Tool ............................................................................................................6 Min/Max Net Width................................................................................................................. 9 User-defined Layer Pairs ....................................................................................................... 9 Load Netlist Improvements .................................................................................................. 10 Matched Net Length Support ............................................................................................... 11 Layer Stackup ...................................................................................................................... 11 Trace Clean-up Improvements ............................................................................................ 12 Unroute ................................................................................................................................ 12 Text Style Support in DTP Files........................................................................................... 12 Smart Rotation of Attributes................................................................................................. 12 Large Diagonal Cross Cursor in Options Display ................................................................ 13 Draw Copper Pour Fill in Options Display............................................................................ 13 Increment Refdes in Edit Paste Circuit ................................................................................ 13 Copper Pour Backoff From Cutout....................................................................................... 14 Select Tool Updated for Escape Key ................................................................................... 14 Output/Exporters Update ..................................................................................................... 14 IDF Export Update ............................................................................................................... 14 General Improvements ........................................................................................................ 14 P-CAD 2004 Shortcuts................................................................................................................. 16 PCB Shortcuts ..................................................................................................................... 16

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P-CAD 2004 New Features

Introduction to P-CAD 2004


Welcome to Altiums P-CAD 2004 release, a complete PCB design system that can be used to capture, layout, simulate, verify and implement electronic designs targeted for PCB platforms. P-CAD 2004s design capabilities now include: Situs Topological Autorouter CAMtastic Circuit Simulation Library Update for ISO9001:2000 Standard Advanced Route Tool Min/Max Net Width User-Defined Layer Pairs Load Netlist Improvements Matched Net Length Support Layer Stackup Trace Cleanup Improvements Unroute Ability Text Styles in DTP Files Smart Rotation of Attributes Large Diagonal Cross Cursor in Options Display Draw Copper Pour Fill in Options Display Increment Refdes in Edit Paste Circuit Copper Pour Backoff From Cutout Select Tool Updated for Escape Key Output/Exporters Update IDF Export Update General Improvements/enhancements.

P-CAD 2004 New Features

Situs Topological Autorouter


Design Rule compliance
Situs offers complete design rule compliance for all electrical and routing design rules, including via style and blind and buried vias.

Sophisticated BGA and Surface Mount Component Fanout strategies


Situs includes a number of sophisticated fanout strategies, supporting all surface mount packaging technologies including BGA, QFP and LCC fine pitch components. These can be run during autorouting, or used interactively to pre-fanout components, nets, connections and so on. Select the required fanout option in the Tools Autoroute Fanout sub-menu. The fanout behavior is controlled by the Fanout Control design rules. Define the required number of rules to suit the surface mount components used in the design.

Multiple Routing strategies


Situs comes with a number of default routing strategies, each focused to route well in a specific situation. Situs will automatically select either the default two layer or the default multilayer strategy automatically, but you are free to select a different strategy. The main difference between the two default strategies is that the default multilayer strategy includes a signal fanout pass. Select the preferred routing strategy before launching the router.

User-definable Routing strategies


The default strategies cannot be edited. They can be duplicated and any number of userdefined strategies can be created. Choosing the optimal combination of strategies is highly dependant on the characteristics of the board being routed. It is recommended that you start by duplicating one of the default strategies, then experiment by adding, removing and reordering routing passes.

P-CAD 2004 New Features

Understanding queries
The application of rules controlled by Situs (as translated from P-CAD 2004) can be controlled by the use of queries. Querying capability can be found in the PCB Rules and Constraints Editor (found through the menu Options Rules). A query is a combination of symbols keywords, object identifiers, operators and values that are analyzed and then applied to every object in the workspace to see if the object complies with that query. The results of the query is the set of objects that the rule will apply to. Some tips on becoming familiar with Queries include: Use the Query Helper When you know what sort of keyword you are looking for, but are not sure what the exact syntax is, try typing it; the type-ahead prompts will help. Also, use the Mask field, for example, if you are looking for footprint related keywords, type *footprint in the Mask field, then click on each of the categories to list only those keywords that include the string footprint in the keyword or description. Use the Filter panel to test a query Type the query in the editor at the top of the Filter panel and click Apply to visually check to see if it is targeting the correct objects. You can also review the current rule scopes at any time by setting the PCB panel to Rules, so when you click on an individual rule in the panel, it will filter the workspace to show only the objects to which the rule will apply.

CAMtastic
CAMtastic is included as part of P-CAD 2004 to allow both board designers and fabrication engineers to verify critical manufacturing information quickly and easily. CAMtastic 2004 comes with a complete range of import/export options, a host of PCB design check/fix analyses and all the graphical and geometrical tools you need to edit and modify any design for fabrication and assembly. With a single mouse click, the program will analyze your entire design, locating and automatically repairing 18 of the most common manufacturing design flaws such as solder bridging, power/ground shorts, netlist shorts, and silkscreen over soldermask.

Bi-directional ODB++
CAMtastic 2004 now imports and exports ODB++ files and netlists (IPCD356), and introduces a new QuickLoad feature that allows you to load all supported file types simultaneously. With full support for fabrication design rule checking, you can detect manufacturing issues early and be sure of the accuracy of your designs before production.
Refer to the CAMtastic articles and tutorials for more information about using CAMtastic.

P-CAD 2004 New Features

Advanced Panelization
Designers and assembly houses alike will benefit from the advanced panelization tools provided in CAMtastic 2004. A straightforward process allows a single board to fill a panel according to the border and spacing information you provide. Additional data such as drill coupons and tooling holes can be defined as individual steps and inserted into the panel alongside the array of board data. As well as an array of the same board, CAM data from different boards can be loaded as steps into the same panel, meaning that you can fill your panel with any boards you want. Combined with powerful commands that support rotating and flipping of steps, CAMtastics panelization features allow panels to be optimized for both cost and assembly techniques.

Enhanced data verification features


Data verification has been strengthened in CAMtastic 2004 through additional Design Rule Checks (DRCs) as well as increased sophistication of netlist extraction capabilities. CAMtastic 2004 includes an extensive range of data verification checks for potential fabrication problems such as silkscreen over mask, solder bridging, net antennas or starved thermals. Its netlist extraction supports any board configuration including blind and buried vias as well as split power planes using both thermal relief and direct power plane connections.

NC drill and route


Core to any effective CAD/CAM software is the ability to create both regular (drilled) and irregular (routed) holes in the PCB panel. CAMtastic 2004 includes a broad range of Numerically Controlled (NC) route capabilities, including autorouting, route tabs and automatic mill path definition. With CAMtastic 2004, NC route paths can be defined manually or automatically (by edge tracing existing objects), with full control over tool parameters, plunge/retraction points and route direction. Other feature highlights in CAMtastic 2004: Netlist extraction supports multilayer boards, blind and buried vias, and split power planes. Workspace boundary limits have been increased from 64 to 256 inches. Reloading of PCB data is now possible into the same CAM file.

P-CAD 2004 New Features

Circuit Simulation
The circuit simulator uses an enhanced version of Berkeley SPICE3f5/Xspice, allowing you to accurately simulate any combination of analog and digital devices, without manually inserting D/A or A/D converters. This mixed-signal simulation is possible because the simulator includes accurate, event-driven behavioral models for its digital devices, including TTL and CMOS digital devices. All SPICE-compliant analog simulation models are supported. The circuit simulator includes the standard analyses operating point, transient and ac small signal as well as a number of advanced analyses including DC sweep, temperature sweep, parameter sweep, noise, pole zero and Monte Carlo analysis.

There are over 40 circuit simulation examples, covering a wide range of circuit examples and analysis types.

Libraries Update for ISO9001:2000 Standard


P-CAD 2004 board-level design libraries have been updated and developed according to the ISO9001:2000 standard. For this release, many of the libraries were re-worked, particularly the PCB footprints, increasing the reliability and consistency of the component libraries. Approximately 40,000 new components have been added, including over 600 connectors and around 4,000 passives, making a total of almost 70,000 components. Additionally, this release introduces 19 new manufacturers, including libraries from Agilent, AMP, Cypress, Maxim, Molex, ON Semiconductor, Panasonic, Philips and Zilog. The new expanded library suite features many popular microcontrollers; a comprehensive coverage of FPGAs and PLDs; a wide range of Amplifiers, Discretes and numerous other devices commonly found in a wide range of PCB projects.

P-CAD 2004 New Features

Top New PCB Layout Features and Enhancements


Advanced Route Tool
New Advanced Route Tool will plow around copper pours, board cutouts, board edges, and keepouts. Vias are supported in the following manner: Advanced Route will attempt to contour around the via. If that fails, then Advanced Route will attempt to move the trace or jump over it to the other side. As a last resort, vias will be pushed back. Arcs, odd-angle lines, and polygons cannot be pushed and are treated as fixed obstacles. Pushing of traces is limited to orthogonal lines. Easier trace placement You no longer have to hold down the left mouse button while rubber-banding the route segments. Left-click (down & up) would initiate new rubber-banded routed segments from mouse down point to current cursor position. Placing of elbows improved. The O key will still flip through the different orthogonal modes which can be used to change the orientation of elbow and will respond to the mouse. The F key still flips the orientation of the rubber-banded traces. Holding down the Ctrl key restricts the rubberbanded trace to either horizontal, vertical, or 45, depending upon the current orthogonal mode. Easier viewing of traces while routing Rubberbanded routed segments are now shown in the highlighted color rather than ghosted. Rubber-banding by default now extends from existing trace in a consistent forward direction. Improved Graphics Support for routing Objects are now redrawn in the correct layer color.

Allows Route To Start At Any Net Object You can Plow Effort set on High. now start routing from any net object, regardless of grid or connection line (visibility or otherwise). The route can begin or end over a trace and it will snap to the trace's centerline, regardless of grid. You no longer need to start on a centerpoint to route. The new route tool snaps to the electrical object beginning the route and at the end, regardless of the connection line. Notice that there are blue lines when a net is being routed. Active Layer Automatically Switched Now when starting a new trace and the closest existing trace is on a different layer than the current one, the layer of that existing trace is made the active layer. For example, if the active layer is bottom and a route starts from a top trace (or arc, or polygon, etc), then the active layer will automatically be switched to the Top layer. Hugging Around Fixed Objects is supported This would include component pads, board outline, fixed traces, etc. Will hug around fixed objects with Plow Off. Avoids fixed objects if in a different net and will attempt to contour.

Interactive routing with Plow Interactive on and the

P-CAD 2004 New Features

Prompt Bar improvements The prompt bar now shows the pin-pair being routed, the routed length between the pin-pair, and the unrouted estimate (using Manhattan distance) left to complete the route. New Route Options Menu Available when in Advanced Route mode and invoked as a right-click popup dialog. Most route options are available with shortcut keys. The following commands are accessible through this dialog: Complete Use this command to have Advanced Route tool automatically complete the current route to the destination node. The remaining trace segments will be added in accordance with the current placement mode/routing angle. Fixed obstacles will be avoided. If plowing is enabled, other routed traces may get pushed in order to allow placement of the required trace segments to the destination node. Suspend stops the current route at the last committed trace segment. Suspend w/ Via stops the current route and places a via at the cursor end of the uncommitted trace segment, subsequently placing committed trace segment up to the via. Add Arc Arcs can now be added to traces as you route, by right-clicking and selecting the Add Arc command. Drag the radius of the arc to the required location and click to place. The arc is based on the current placement mode/routing angle being used. For example, if the current routing angle is 45, the arc would size in 45 increments. Swap End Point allows you to reverse the direction of the route. Instead of routing from the source to the destination node, you will jump to the destination node ready to start routing back to the source. If trace segments from the original source node have been committed already, a connection line will rubber-band from the destination node to the end point of the last routed trace segment. Unwind allows users to unwind routing segments as they have been placed. Ignore Rules mode (no pushing, no hugging) will ignore all rules when routing, i.e. will not push obstacles, will not hug obstacles or change routes in any way. This means you can place route segments anywhere you want. If Online DRC is enabled and a clearance or short occurs, the DRC violation point is added immediately. Hug Obstacles mode (honors all design rules) enables the Advanced Route tool to hug around fixed objects (component pads, board outline, fixed traces, etc) when plowing is turned off. Fixed objects that are part of a different net to the one currently being routed will be avoided. In such cases, the Advanced Route will attempt to contour around these objects. Design rules are checked when an online DRC is run. Plow After Click (push obstacles after click) This mode turns plowing on and allows you to commit the next trace segment for the current route and then apply the required plowing, pushing existing traces to make room for the current trace. Plow Interactive (push obstacles interactively) This mode turns plowing on and allows you to see the effect of plowing how routed traces will be pushed before committing the next trace segment for the current route.

P-CAD 2004 New Features

Plow Effort Use this to specify the effort exerted by Advanced Routing tool when plowing is enabled. Choose from either Low, Medium or High effort levels. Arcs, odd-angle lines and polygons cannot be pushed and are treated as fixed obstacles. The Advanced Route tool will plow around copper pours, board cutouts, board edges and keepouts. Gloss Effort Use this to specify the extent of glossing the immediate clean-up of routed trace applied by the Advanced Route tool as you place the current route. Three effort levels are available None, Weak and Strong. With glossing applied, Advanced Route will always try to minimize the amount of committed copper used (and therefore the total net length). So, for example, if you place meandering trace segments from a point A to a point B, the tool will replace the redundant routing with a single trace segment between the two points, where possible. With strong glossing effort enabled, the time required for clean-up of traces at a later stage will be greatly reduced. Width Control sub-menu provides access to the following line-width commands: Min, Nominal and Max Width displays the constrained values of the relevant Min Width, Width and Max Width design rules that are applicable to the net currently being routed. Choose these commands to apply the line width to subsequently placed trace segments of the route. Next Constrained Width and Previous Constrained Width Use these commands to cycle forwards (backwards) through all constrained line width values found in all defined Min Width, Width and Max Width rules for the current design. Next Unconstrained Width and Previous Unconstrained Width cycle forwards (backwards) through all unconstrained line width values for the current design. The list of available unconstrained line widths can be viewed in the Options Current Line dialog and also from the corresponding dropdown list on the Status Line. Line Widths provides access to the Options Current Line dialog, from where you can define the current line width, as well as additional widths.

Layer Control sub-menu enables you to quickly change the current routing layer to any of the defined signal layers for the design. The layers will be listed in accordance with the layer stackup. Clicking on an entry will cause a via to be dropped at the end of the last committed trace segment and routing will continue on the chosen layer. Use the Options Layers command to access the Options Layers dialog, from where you can view and modify layers for the active design, define layer sets and layer pairs, view and manage the layer stackup and specify the display of the title block, design boundary and zones. Options provides access to the Advanced Route page of the Options Configure dialog, from where you can define various options with respect to the Interactive Route tool, such as Routing Angle, Route Mode, Miter Mode, and Plow and Glossing Effort levels. Switch Routing Layer includes a T shortcut key that allows you to change layers without adding a via. This will only work when the ghosted route originates from a pad or via, and the pad or via has a hole that spans to the target layer. It is a very helpful command in the event that you switched to the wrong routing layer, or started a route from a through-hole pad on the wrong layer using the L key. If you use

P-CAD 2004 New Features

the L key, you will get a via dropped, which may not be what you intended (remember the L key still changes layers, but has been updated to place a via at the end of the current trace). This new T shortcut expects a pad or via to already exist to be able to facilitate the layer change whereas the L key commits the currently ghosted route, drops a via, and changes layers. Via Style provides access to the Options Via Style dialog, from where you can choose the current via style to be applied when dropping vias during the route process. The dialog also provides access to a series of additional dialogs, enabling you to create, rename, modify and delete via styles, as well as modifying hole ranges and purging any unused styles that are currently defined. Fix Routes either fixes or unfixes the placed routes of the route tool. Show Routable Area analyzes the design rules and displays the available routing area on the workspace. Remove Loops When Reroute When this option is selected, it attempts to remove redundant loops on the current pin-pair being routed. Close Menu Close the right-click menu and return to the design workspace without action. The current route is not affected in any way. Cancel Route cancels the current route and removes all trace segments and vias that have been placed during the route.

Min/Max Net Width


New design rules to better support unrouted nets for simulation and impedance results. For example, when used, if Net A is unrouted and the user performs an SI analysis, P-CAD creates simulated tracks for that net. To determine what width these simulated tracks should have, the min/max width rule is used. Note that the rule for the top layer is used if present as simulated tracks are always put on the top layer. These new rules have been added to existing design rules and can be found under the Routing Section.

User-defined Layer Pairs


User-defined Layer Pairs now bring more intelligence to our flipping of pads and vias. When the layer pairing is set up correctly the shapes of the pad/vias on specific layers will flip to the opposite layer when the pad/via is flipped. For example, the pad definition of the Top layer will flip to the Bottom layer when the pad/via is flipped. The same applies to any other layer where a layer pairing has been specified. Hole range should also flip. The Options Layers dialog now has another tab on it named Pairs. On that tab you have a list control of two columns. On the left are the layers listed in layer order, on the right are their partner pairs. All the predefined layers that were previously paired already show their matching partners (Top Assy - Bot Assy, Top Silk - Bot Silk, etc).

P-CAD 2004 New Features

The predefined layers cannot have their layer pairing changed as these are the defaults. However, the Board layer cannot be paired since it is unique in itself and contains items that reside only on it. If you have the Board layer selected, then the Combine button will disable. Any user-defined layer may be paired up to any other user layer, with the exception that only layers of the same type may be paired, i.e. signal-signal, plane-plane, and non-signal-non-signal. To combine two layers, select the two layers in question and click on the Combine button. To remove a layer pairing, select any one layer and click on the Separate button.

Load Netlist Improvements


In Utils Load Netlist and Utils Reconnect Nets, an option has been added called Unpour Copper Pours. This option allows the user to cause all the copper pours in the design to either be unpoured with the command (default setting, which matches the behavior of 2002 and older), or to leave the copper pours alone (do not unpour them), which is the new optional behavior. Using this new option to leave the copper pours intact is a bit dangerous and the burden is on the user to make sure it is OK to do this. The main problem that could occur is that the filled copper pour backoff from neighboring objects may no longer be valid after loading a new netlist OR reconnecting nets. This could happen because of rule changes, or perhaps a net object (component pad) was moved to a different net that has different rules applied to it.

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P-CAD 2004 New Features

The user should really do a compare netlist and inspect any differences carefully before using this new option. Otherwise, unless the user really knows what they are doing, it should be strongly recommended that the user keep this option in its default state of Unpour copper pours.

Matched Net Length Support


The new Matched Net Length capability allows you to designate that the routed lengths of individual nets in a net class are intended to be within a specified length of each other. To achieve this, add the new MatchedLength rule attribute from the Nets section of the Place Attribute dialog to the desired net class, and specify its value as a scalar distance. P-CAD 2004 uses the MatchedLength net class rule attribute to produce appropriate errors for batch mode DRC, and also to export the net length consistency specification to SPECCTRA autorouters.

Layer Stackup
A new feature for managing layers has been added to P-CAD 2004 called Layer Stackup. It can be found through the Options Layers dialog on the Stackup tab. The list control shows the physical stack-up of the board including plating layers (non-real layers for specifying plating or coating thickness), copper layers and substrate layers. Each layer has four parameters Name, Material, Thickness and Dielectric. The names are automatically generated by P-CAD and cannot be changed on this tab (the copper layers of course can have their names changed on the Layers tab). Material specifies what the layer consists of, for example, copper, FR-4 fiberglass, PrePreg, etc. Thickness specifies the thickness of each layer and can be in mil/mm/oz (oz realistically should only pertain to copper layers). Dielectric specifies the dielectric constant of the material. To change the Material, Thickness and Dielectric, select a row by clicking on the name. The values are then reflected in the three edit boxes to the right. You can then enter new values and press Apply. The stackup is listed in layer order from top to bottom.

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P-CAD 2004 New Features

Additionally, the DocTool Layer Stackup diagram has also been updated to reflect the data in the Stackup tab, so if you place a Layer Stackup diagram you will notice the difference.

Trace Clean-up Improvements


An improvement has been added that removes trace segments that reside completely inside a pad or via. If you have a trace that enters a pad and several segments and connect it to the center of the pad, those segments will be removed and a single segment will be added that connects the entering trace to the center of the pad. This fixed a bug where the entering trace had its endpoint moved to the center of the pad, but that sometimes caused the trace to become non-orthogonal and messed up clearances.

Unroute
Unroute as a command has been added to the Edit menu. Its options include the following: All unroutes all nets. Net is a popup dialog allows you to choose the net to unroute. Pin-pair uses objects that are already selected to work. If you select a trace, arc, or via, then all the objects connected to this selected object that make up the route between two net pins are unrouted. This command works also with multiple selections. Selected unroutes only the selected route objects (trace, arc, and via); nothing else is altered. Selected Nets unroutes only the selected nets and their respective objects; nothing else is altered.

All of the above actions are undoable, with the exception of the Unroute All command. You are warned that this command is not undoable and is given the option to leave it. One other item to note is that fixed objects are not unrouted; you must unfix these before they can be unrouted.

Text Style Support in DTP Files


Users can now add a Text Style section to their DTP Files simply by clicking the Text Styles check box from a New Section Type dialog just like any other sections. Once a Text Style section is added to the group, then a user can add a new text style to the Text Style section. Once a new item is added, a user can delete or rename it. A user can change any property of selected text style through a property dialog. However, a user can't change the default style property. Additionally, users can see the statistics of text style from statistics dialog. In addition, a user can copy all existing text styles from DTP to current design as well as copy all existing text styles from the current design to DTP text styles.

Smart Rotation of Attributes


Users will now have an option to choose the right reading of text for attributes during rotation or flipping, with the check box for this new feature available in the Component Properties dialog and Attribute Properties dialog. When a user chooses the right reading option, then the attribute will be read right to left and bottom to top while rotating or flipping. For example, if it is a 180 or 360 position, then it will be shown "C1" , and if

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P-CAD 2004 New Features

it is 90 or 270, the "C1" will be rotated by that angle. This is especially useful for component attributes such as Reference designator (Refdes), Type, and Value attribute. This option is saved to the design and will apply to the following output: Print; Gerber; ODB++ and DXF. For example, from the Pattern tab of the Component Properties dialog, you can set the Right Reading check box for Refdes. Then when a user needs to flip or rotate the pattern, the text of Refdes will be readable, i.e. it will be sideways but the "C" will be the bottom and "1" will be the top.

Component C1 rotated with Right reading

Large Diagonal Cross Cursor in Options Display


New now in the Options Display Misc dialog in the Cursor Style group, is the option for a Large Diagonal Cross cursor style to help align objects on the 45 angle. If this option is checked and when the cursor is moved into the workspace, it will display in a similar manner as the Large Cross except with the lines rotated 45. The cursor style is available in PCB, Relay, and Pattern Editor only.

Draw Copper Pour Fill in Options Display


Since some designs that contain a lot of copper pours can draw very slowly, especially during the use of specific tools such as Advanced Route, this new option allows the user to control if the fill of a copper pour is drawn or not. The option can be found in Options Display Misc and is called Draw Copper Pour Fill and default setting is on or checked. Keeping this option checked off will also dramatically improve scrolling and moving around in designs that have many copper pours. A shortcut setting has been added for this option and can be set in Options Preferences, then click on Shortcuts radio button to see the setting called Draw Copper Pour Fill Toggle. The default setting does not have any hotkey assigned to this shortcut but will allow the user to choose the one they want. Please note that if the copper pour fill is not drawn, the outline of the copper pour can sometimes look like traces. The user can alleviate this display confusion by assigning a unique color to Polygons on these layers. This provides a visual distinction between copper pour outlines and real tracks on a layer.

Increment Refdes in Edit Paste Circuit


Certain design files in the past sometimes necessitated the need for manually editing ASCII or ECO files a very time consuming process. Newly available through the Edit Paste Circuit dialog in both PCB and SCH, is an new option called Create new refdes by incrementing value that allows the user to increment the refdes by a value that the user can specify when they copy the refdes from Paste Circuit. This must be a positive integer value greater or equal to 1, with 1 set as a default value. Within the Reference Designators group, only one option can be checked at a time, so the Example group will only display and update changes for the option that is checked. This new setting will be saved to the .ini file.

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P-CAD 2004 New Features

Copper Pour Backoff From Cutout


A new manufacturing option in Options Configure Manufacturing, whereby a user can select a copper pour backoff option for cutouts. The default is Regular backoff from cutouts that can result in the copper pour a little way into the cutout. By selecting Complete backoff from cutouts, the user can now avoid this problem, and the copper pour will back out completely from the cutout without any overlapping. This option will be saved in the .ini file, and will be applied only to cutouts during the copper pour backoff.

Select Tool Updated for Escape Key


Select Tool behavior has been modified in all P-CAD applications except Library Executive to include the Esc key when pressed. If objects are selected but there is no active operation, the objects will become deselected. If objects are selected, but there is an active operation (drag or paste), then the active operation will be cancelled (same as a right-click), and any objects that were selected remain selected.

Output/Exporters Update
1. Gerber When drill symbol output is specified and output style is RS274-X, a layer for drill symbols is created to ensure that they are drawn using dark layer polarity. Pad and via shapes that are defined specifically to achieve clearance from planes now do not have their hole offset parameters misapplied. 2. Print / Print Preview When drill symbols are specified for printing, non-signal graphic objects embedded in component patterns are also printed. 3. PDIF Out (PCB) Now properly writes layers with layer number greater than 99 (no more GPF). 4. ODB++ Output Netlist data that would produce errors when loaded into CAMtastic now load properly. Output of rotated pads and vias is corrected. The Matrix file output path is also corrected.

IDF Export Update


IDF will now support customer specified units for its output, and the IDF Export Dialog setting will be saved to the.ini file. Both .brd and .pro files will be generated using the same unit that user selected from the Export dialog.

General Improvements
1. Change Add Node To Net/Remove Node To Net has been expanded to include all net objects Add To Net and Remove From Net functions on single pad/via's right-click popup menu have been expanded to work with all net objects. Objects currently supported include pad, via, line, arc, copper pour, plane and polygon. These two commands now also work with single object selection as well as multiple selection. Preconditions for the Add To Net command are that the object must not be on a non-signal layer and does not belong to a net. Preconditions for the Remove From Net command are that objects must not be on a non-signal layer and belongs to the net.

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P-CAD 2004 New Features

For multiple selections, only objects satisfying the preconditions will be changed. For example, a user multi-selects the following: a line on a signal layer belonging to net A; an arc on signal layer that has no net and a polygon on non-signal layer. If the user then tries to add to net B, only the arc on the signal layer that has no net will be added to net B. 2. Selection Mask now maintains its filters in the .ini file. 3. DBX Improvements The following functionality has been added to the DBX interface: Add Layer/Sheet to design Retrieval of layer stackup data.

4. Cross Referencing Print Off-sheet references will now print without having to toggle off and on the check box each time. 5. Symbol Editor, Renumbering Pins Using an increment value other than 1 now works when renumbering pins.

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P-CAD 2004 New Features

P-CAD 2004 Shortcuts


PCB Shortcuts
U Shift + U Ctrl + S Ctrl + X Ctrl + C Ctrl + V Shift + T Delete S Left-Click Right-Click Left-Click, Hold & Drag Left-Click & Hold Left Double-Click Ctrl + Left-Click Undo Redo Save current document Cut Copy Paste from Clipboard Move to Layer Delete Enable Select tool Select/deselect object under cursor Popup floating menu, or escape from current operation Create area for block selection Move object/selection under cursor Edit object Add/remove object from selection set. Ctrl key is used by default but can be changed to use Shift key by enabling the relevant option in the Options Preferences dialog Access Options Layers dialog Toggle cursor style Toggle Draft Mode Jump to X coordinate field in Status Line Toggle grid between relative and absolute Cycle to next (larger) grid defined for the design Cycle to previous (smaller) grid defined for the design Cycle to next layer in the design Cycle to previous layer in the design Enable Layer Set 1

Y X Q J A G Shift + G L Shift + L Ctrl + 1

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P-CAD 2004 New Features

Ctrl + 2 Ctrl + 3 Ctrl + 4 Ctrl + 5 Ctrl + 6 Ctrl + 7 Ctrl + 8 Ctrl + 9 Ctrl + 0 M E Space Esc Ctrl + L PgUp PgDn Ctrl + PgUp Ctrl + PgDn Mouse Wheel Shift + Mouse Wheel Ctrl + Shift + U Shift + C W Shift + W + (Numeric Keypad) - (Numeric Keypad)

Enable Layer Set 2 Enable Layer Set 3 Enable Layer Set 4 Enable Layer Set 5 Enable Layer Set 6 Enable Layer Set 7 Enable Layer Set 8 Enable Layer Set 9 Enable Layer Set 10 Record temporary macro Execute temporary macro Emulate Mouse left-click Emulate Mouse right-click Toggle Current Layer Only option on the Single Selection tab of the Options Selection Mask dialog Scroll Up Scroll Down Scroll Left Scroll Right Pan Up/Down Pan Left/Right Move cursor one grid increment in direction of arrow key Move cursor ten grid increments in direction of arrow key Toggle Use Fixed Color option, on Miscellaneous tab of Options Display dialog Toggle Use Net Color option, on Miscellaneous tab of Options Display dialog Cycle to next (larger) line width defined for the design Cycle to previous (smaller) line width defined for the design Zoom in Zoom out

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P-CAD 2004 New Features

C Z Ctrl + Mouse Wheel R Shift + R

Zoom Center Zoom Window Zoom in/out Rotate object by 90 anti-clockwise Rotate object anti-clockwise by value defined for Rotation Increment, on the General tab of the Options Configure dialog Flip Object

Advanced Route Shortcuts


Enter / Shift + Click Ctrl + A Tab Backspace M N Ctrl + M W Shift + W Ctrl + W Ctrl + Shift + W Esc O F Complete route Suspend Suspend w/Via Add Arc Swap End Point Unwind Select Min Width from rules for net currently being routed Select Nominal Width from rules for net currently being routed Select Max Width from rules for net currently being routed Cycle to next constrained line width Cycle to previous constrained line width Cycle to next unconstrained line width Cycle to previous unconstrained line width Cancel route Cycle to next Routing Angle mode Toggle style for current orthogonal-based Routing Angle mode.

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P-CAD 2004 New Features

Revision History
Date 01-Dec-2004 06-Dec-2004 Version No. 1.0 1.1 Revision New product release Update to PCB shortcut keys

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