Hi Geoff, I have been reading the tips on protell99se as well, and they are good to learn as well !
You mentioned the protell site with additional functions, I wouldn't mind getting access either. Kind regards Peter -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Geoff Harland Sent: Wednesday, 15 November 2006 1:58 AM To: Protel EDA Discussion List Subject: Re: [PEDA] Tips on using Protel 99 SE > Hi Geoff, > WOW, thanks for all this. I know I way behind the curve here but I just > have not had to move up and I can do my boards so much faster in 2.8 > since I knew it so well. I never really could afford the time to go through > the learning curve but I now have some extra time. > > -Bob Glad I could be of some help. There are a considerable number of yet other aspects which have also changed, though I'm not sure if I could recall all of them (and I also have other demands upon my time). Another change which I didn't mention in my previous message is that there have been substantial changes when it comes to manually routing connections. My recollection of version 2.8 was that you had to route from pad to pad, as I definitely recall a number of PCBs within which I had to place two or more tracks in the same locations because of that. (And I also recall that the netlisting "intelligence" had a tendency to be "frail", and even when I was accordingly very careful, the netlisting details could still get stuffed up. There was one occasion when I was directed to "clean up" the netlisting details within a PCB file, and it took me quite some time to do that, as I had to save the PCB file in ASCII format, then delve through the associated data, then make changes as required, and then confirm that I could reopen that file and that the netlisting details were then fully rectified. In short, really horrible...) In Protel 99 SE (as was also the case with Versions 3, 98, the original 99, and all versions following 99 SE), routing consists of placing tracks that interconnect *any* objects that have the same Net property, so it is no longer necessary to have to route multiple tracks in any locations. You can, if you want to, terminate a (manually placed) track at either end, *or* at *any* intermediate location, of a (previously placed) track (which has the same Net property). In addition to that, netlisting "intelligence" is substantially more robust than what it was in version 2.8. (Because of the netlisting and manual routing considerations, and the inability to customise any of the menu entries, toolbar buttons, or shortcut key assignments, I positively loathed using version 2.8. Before an initial SP was subsequently released for it, the very first fully "public" version of AdvPCB 3.0 had an assortment of reasonably serious bugs, with just one example being that hidden (Designator or Comment) strings were depicted within Composite Mode Printouts - but for all that, I still considered it to be bliss when I finally actually got to use it.) Another change is that the L key is now used (rather than the S key) to move a component to the opposite side of the PCB (and components now have a specific Layer property in their own right, whereas in version 2.8, which side of the PCB that each component resides on is inferred from the layers that its Designator and Comment strings are placed on). The L key can also be used to "swap" the Layer property of other types of objects (in the cases of layers which really are paired, to wit, the Overlay, Paste Mask, Solder Mask, and external Signal (copper) layers), but (unlike in the versions which follow Protel 99 SE), the outcome of "swapping" (the layers of) a number of objects at the same time won't necessarily give you the outcome which you might expect (vis-a-vis where each of the objects concerned ends up relative to all of the other objects concerned), so keep that in mind whenever you do use the L key. Something else to keep in mind is that in version 2.8, the dialog box listing a pad's properties *always* lists the properties of the pad on (all of) the Top, Middle, and Bottom layers. In all of the following versions up until Protel 99 SE though, that dialog box incorporates a "Uses Padstacks" checkbox whose state determines whether a similar set of (9) controls for listing the properties on each of those layers are enabled, or whether a *different* set of (3) controls are enabled which specify the X-Size, Y-Size, and Shape properties for *all* of those layers. However there is a bug in that the values which are listed in the latter set of controls *always* match the values which are specified for the *Top* layer in the former set of controls. That is indeed appropriate for pads residing on a "Top Side" layer (i.e. on either the Top Overlay, Top Paste Mask, Top Solder Mask, or Top Signal layers), but is *not* appropriate for pads residing on a "Bottom Side" layer instead (i.e. on either the Bottom Overlay, Bottom Paste Mask, Bottom Solder Mask, or Bottom Signal layers), when the values listed in the latter set of controls *should* match the values which are specified for the *Bottom* layer in the former set of controls. It is also *not* appropriate for pads residing on any of the remaining layers, when the values listed in the latter set of controls *should* match the values which are specified for the *Middle* layer in the former set of controls. As such, it is definitely preferable to keep all pads which are *not* on the MultiLayer layer to be of a "Simple" nature (i.e. to have the "Uses Padstacks" checkbox *not* checked), as/but extra care and work is required to "rectify" any such pads which are *not* on a "Top Side" layer. And unless you specifically want different properties on different layers, pads on the MultiLayer layer should also similarly be made "Simple". I have determined relatively recently that there is a bug in how MultiLayer pads are depicted within printouts within which you want the properties of such pads on the Top layer or Bottom layer to be depicted, as the properties of such pads on the *Middle* layer are *always* depicted instead... There are still many other aspects where there are differences between the 2.8 and 99 SE versions, but I would now be struggling to recall them and/or to find the time to describe them. However I have an idea that one of the other members of this mailing list has prepared a FAQ which can be downloaded from somewhere, and while it wasn't specifically written with the objective of advising users moving from version 2.8 to 99 SE, the information within it could still be of interest and value to you. Hopefully whoever did prepare that FAQ is *still* a member of this mailing list, and can either advise you of where to download it from or else provide you with a copy, but otherwise maybe some other member of this list might be able to assist in that regard. I have also created two addon servers which provide additional functionality for the Schematic and PCB servers, which can be downloaded from the "protel-users" mailing list hosted by Yahoo Groups. Only members of that mailing list can download those files though, but if you are not a member of that list and are still interested, I could send you copies of those servers. (I would also like to update those servers to provide yet more functionality, but it is a case of finding the time to do so, and especially to update and provide the associated documentation.) Regards, Geoff Harland. ____________________________________________________________ You are subscribed to the PEDA discussion forum To Post messages: mailto:[email protected] Unsubscribe and Other Options: http://techservinc.com/mailman/listinfo/peda_techservinc.com Browse or Search Old Archives (2001-2004): http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] Browse or Search Current Archives (2004-Current): http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. 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