Georg Beckmann mentioned having a little utility to convert the GERBER output from CAMTASIC to PROTEL compatible Gerber.... for import to Protel. Does anyone have this file they can make available to me? I would like to test it on some boards I am plying with. Could be very useful.... thanks Bill Brooks [EMAIL PROTECTED]
-----Original Message----- From: Brooks,Bill [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Monday, December 03, 2001 9:59 AM To: 'Protel EDA Forum'; '[EMAIL PROTECTED]' Subject: Re: [PEDA] AW: imported Gerber info missing Hi Georg, Could I get a copy of the Gerber translator program you mentioned in this post? - Bill Brooks Bill Brooks PCB Design Engineer , C.I.D. DATRON WORLD COMMUNICATIONS, INC 3030 Enterprise Court Vista, CA 92083 Tel: (760)597-1500 Ext 3772 Fax: (760)597-1510 mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] IPC Designers Council, San Diego Chapter http://www.ipc.org/SanDiego/ http://home.fda.net/bbrooks/pca/pca.htm -----Original Message----- From: Georg Beckmann [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Saturday, October 20, 2001 2:17 AM To: 'Protel EDA Forum' Subject: [PEDA] AW: imported Gerber info missing Thanks for the advice, someone made me a simple program to convert the gerber files generated by camtastic that protel can inport it. The program adds the Dnn and cuts the first 3 lines of the gerber that protel don't understand. It is a simple DOS program you can start in a dos-box with the name of the source gerber to convert. The result is a file with the same name but a gbx instead of a gbr extention. So you have to rename it and preserve your source somewhere. With this I was able to import the gerber. The drills I first imported in camtastic and had to make a tool file. ( In my sources the drill tools and the apertures are only in a text-Doc ) Then I exported the drills as a gerber and imported to protel on a mech layer. With global change it was possible to add a hole of the same size then the pad on this layer. Now I can make the post processes and even make minor changes on this pcb. --> If anybody wants the program, please let me know, it's free. Georg > -----Urspr ngliche Nachricht----- > Von: Abd ul-Rahman Lomax [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Gesendet: Freitag, 19. Oktober 2001 07:57 > An: Protel EDA Forum > Betreff: Re: [PEDA] imported Gerber info missing > > > At 03:40 PM 10/18/01 -0600, Colby Siemer wrote: > >Ted, > > > >The reason Protel will not import the gerber properly is > because of the way > >the DCodes are done in the CAMTastic version being used. > > > >Protel needs to have the DCode listed each time, it does not > assume the last > >used DCode if it is missing. CamTastic only lists it one > time until the > >code changes then it lists it again. > > Note that this refers to the D-Code for flash or for draw, > which is D01 or > D02, I forget which is which. The line format, at least the > usual one, is > > X[x1]Y[y1]Dnn* > > where x1 and y1 are integers formatted according to the > settings. When you > want to examine a file, it can be useful to set zero > suppression to none, > so every coordinate will be the same length. That makes it > easy to set up > field in a database. > > Anyway, the RS-274 standard is that a parameter remains the > same unless it > is changed. So if you have, for example, two points with the same X > coordinate, you could draw a line between the two without > having to specify > the X coordinate twice. Protel reads this correctly. > > The same thing is true for the D-codes which specify the > aperture. One does > not have to specify the aperture over and over again, it > simply remains > what it was when it was last set. > > It had never occurred to me that the D-command at the end of > the line would > be the same way. But it is. A line like > X[xvalue]* > will either draw or flash depending on the last used D-code. > The asterisk > is sufficient in that case. (CR/Line Feed is irrelevant to > Gerber code as I > recall, but it is usually used, makes it much easier to read! > And Protel > might require it, I think.) > > I could not see any option in CAMtastic which would control > this feature in > the output. CAMtastic apparently assumes that it is > universally known; > indeed, it should be. It was an error for the Protel > programmers to assume > that imported gerber was Protel-generated. Yes, they might > not have wanted > to implement the full standard, but this item was trivial. It would > probably take me about twenty minutes to write a program to > restore the > D-codes, and that is long because I haven't done any > programming recently, > and I tend to make lots of dumb mistakes. > > If someone has the time and inclination to write it, we could > put up a > utility to restore the missing D-codes. The algorithm is > 1. read line, drop asterisk > 2. parse D-code, save as X$ > 3. if no D-code, write previous X$ at end > 4. add asterisk > 5. write line > back to 1 until file end. > > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Abdulrahman Lomax > Easthampton, Massachusetts USA > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * To post a message: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] * * To leave this list visit: * http://www.techservinc.com/protelusers/leave.html * * Contact the list manager: * mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] * * Forum Guidelines Rules: * http://www.techservinc.com/protelusers/forumrules.html * * Browse or Search previous postings: * http://www.mail-archive.com/proteledaforum@techservinc.com * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *