At 03:56 PM 10/6/2005, Dave Roseman wrote:
I have an ASCII file generated from a PCB design, designed in a DOS
version of Protel, which I am trying to get through an In Circuit
Test procedure, and I need to decode what the data in the file
denotes, specifically the layer information for test pads. It seems
that all of the testpads have been placed on Drill Layer 0, and
should be on layer Bottom A snippet of the file is shown below:
COMP
TP523
PINNE
PINNE
9630 14734 60 16 10 8
9630 14734 60 16 10 8
9630 14734 1 2 2
CP
9630 14734 40 25 1 32 1 13
PIN
ENDCOMP
Is anyone able to help me out with identifying the elements in this
file, or can point me to somewhere which will give me a detailed breakdown
I don't recall the specific syntax, but I did have to figure it out
at one time, because I wrote a Protel Autotrax to Tango Series II
translator. I can tell you a little about the file.
The Refdes for the component is TP525. I'd guess that there is only a
single pin, and it is located at 9.630, 14.734. But that, I'd guess,
is the *component* location, which could be different.
However, as I recall, the pad information is not part of the
component definition. If not, there will be other primitives
described elsewhere in the file. I know that Tango was this way, I'm
not sure about Protel.
In Tango, a single-pad test point would have the following elements:
COMPONENT definition, assigns a number to the component that is used
to define what primitives listed elsewhere in the file belong to the
component. The component definition will include the position of the
reference point in the component, rotation of the component
(orthagonal only in Tango), layer of the component (top or bottom).
PAD, which will specify pad characteristics including location, pad
number, and a number for the assigned net, referencing NET primitives
which would give the name of the net.
TEXT records associated with the component.
LINE records associated with the component.
In any case, there is a generic method to determine the meaning of
the primitives in your file. Change them and see what happens! If you
don't have the necessary program, never fear. Protel version 2.5 is
widely available in a demo version, quite adequate for the instant
purposes; it will import the older Protel files, if I am correct.
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