Welcome to the Bartels Group of Companies |
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Bartels AutoEngineer® |
| 1 | General |
| 1.1 | Installation |
| 1.2 | User Interface and General Functions |
| 1.3 | Symbol and Part Libraries |
| 2 | Schematic Editor |
| 2.1 | General |
| 2.2 | Symbols, Labels |
| 2.3 | Connections |
| 2.4 | Graphics |
| 2.5 | Text, Attributes |
| 2.6 | Group Functions |
| 2.7 | Plot Output |
| 3 | Packager |
| 3.1 | Error Messages |
| 3.2 | Attribute Assignments |
| 3.3 | Connection Name Assignment |
| 4 | Layout Editor |
| 4.1 | General |
| 4.2 | Display, Design Rule Check |
| 4.3 | Parts, Placement |
| 4.4 | Traces, Routing |
| 4.5 | Graphic, Copper Areas |
| 4.6 | Text, Drill |
| 4.7 | Group Functions |
| 4.8 | Automatic Copper Fill |
| 5 | Autorouter |
| 5.1 | General |
| 5.2 | Autorouter Algorithms |
| 6 | CAM Processor |
| 6.1 | General |
| 6.2 | Control Plot |
| 6.3 | Gerber Photo Plot |
| 6.4 | Insertion Data Output |
| 7 | CAM View |
| 7.1 | General |
| 7.2 | Data Import |
| 7.3 | Gerber Data |
| 8 | Utilities |
| 8.1 | COPYDDB |
| 8.2 | LOGLIB |
| 9 | Bartels User Language |
| 9.1 | General |
| 9.2 | User Language Compiler |
| 9.3 | User Language Interpreter |
| 9.4 | Index Variable Types |
| 9.5 | System Functions |
| 9.6 | BAE User Language Programs |
The
Bartels AutoEngineer® Installation Guide (file
inst_en.htm from the
baedoc directory of the BAE-CD-ROM) provides detailed
Bartels AutoEngineer installation instructions for all supported hardware and software platforms.
The third-party hardlock driver setup program
hldrv32.exe which is automatically activated during the installation of the BAE software has been updated with a version which supports
Windows Vista. With its default security settings,
Windows Vista will activate a confirmation prompt for the installation of the hardlock driver.
Notes about DDB file write and/or read access restrictions have been added to the file access error messages.
The
function for recovering damaged DDB files has been added to
/ / . Unlike the
-recover option of the
copyddb utility program,
also copies parameter settings and SQL databases.
The
bae.ini file syntax has been extended to support or'ed bitmask input values such as
1|4|8 instead of
13.
The
functions of the BAE
Windows version have been updated to support
F10 function key programming.
A tooltip facility for
.ddb files has been added to the BAE
Windows versions. The tooltips are activated with a little delay when hovering over
.ddb files in file explorer windows. The tooltips provide information about the number and names of updated SCM and layout file elements and display element comments.
The required registry entries are automatically created when installing the BAE software with the BAE
Windows setup program. Users who prefer to install software updates by unpacking the appropriate BAE zip files should use the
baereg_e.reg file which has been amended to support the required registry updates.
New controls for selecting BAE character fonts have been added to the main menu setup of the BAE Windows versions. This allows for the selection of a fixed character width font and a variable character width font. The fixed character width font is used for the BAE status line, the BAE toolbar and column-oriented BAE dialogs. The variable character width font is used for all other standard dialog box elements. The size of the toolbar controls and dialog box list entries scales to the selected character font size. This enables users to select dialog fonts/sizes which best suite their monitor setup and/or screen resolution.
The
default setting for the character font size causes the system to use the default
Windows character fonts. Usually, these are
Courier for the fixed width character font and
MS Sans serif for variable character width, both with a character font size of 13 pixels. A character font size of 11 pixels still displays reasonably well with, e.g.,
Lucida Console and
Small Fonts.
Please note that
bae.ini contains certain parameters which are defined in units relative to the system character font size. It might be necessary to adapt those entries if the system character font size is changed. The most important parameters,
DIALOGXMAX_STD and
DIALOGYMAX_STD, have been added to the
/ dialog. For information purposes, the input prompts for those entries are displaying the maximum possible dialog box size for the current settings.
The functions for calculating dialog box sizes have been modified to take the current monitor DPI setting into consideration. This wasn't the case in previous BAE versions which could cause dialog controls to overlap.
The handle bars of the graphic workarea scrollbars in the BAE Windows versions are now changing their size according to the screen size to element size ratio.
Tooltips have been added to the toolbar and some selection menus.
New
bae.ini entries for adding toolbar buttons with arbitrary command sequences have been added. These entries can be defined using
TB_ACTBUTN1_STD (first action button name),
TB_ACTBUTS1_STD (first action button command sequence)
TB_ACTBUTT1_STD (first action button text color),
TB_ACTBUTTC1_STD (first action button tooltip text) and
TB_ACTBUTBC1_STD (first action button background color) patterns. The name should consist of a single character. The toolbar supports multiple occurrences of the same character. If an empty string is specified for the command sequence, then the name is displayed as text between button rows and can consist of multiple characters.
The mode
2 for blocking the system from saving and restoring the project-specific toolbar positioning has been added to the
TOOLBAR_STD bae.ini parameter. This mode ensures that the toolbar stays in its selected position, even when loading projects from other users.
The dialog box positions of BAE session are now saved to
baewin.dat for re-use in subsequent BAE sessions.
Pressing the
Ctrl key activates the mouse and/or graphic cursor coordinate display even if no menu function is currently active.
Schematic Editor,
Layout Editor and
CAM View also provide information about the element at the mouse position. The
MOUSEINFO_STD entry for permanently activating the mouse/graphic cursor during menu idle times or for
Windows tooltip display configurations has been added to the
bae.ini file. The new parameter can also be accessed and/or modified through
/ .
The screen redraw of the BAE Windows version is now restricted to the status line if only the status line is overlapped by another window. This helps to avoid full screen redraws and/or flickering effects which were previously caused by Windows taskbar tooltips.
New options for setting menu background colors have been added to the main menu setup of the BAE Motif versions.
The pin marker symbol
labelpin has been added to the
STDSYM library.
labelpin consists only of a contact area and does not have a
$ text. The element boundaries of
labelpin are smaller than those of a marker with
$ text. The marker symbols for the pins of the labels from the
STDSYM library and the
Bartels AutoEngineer example design files have been changed to
labelpin, and the element boundaries of the labels have been minimized. With these changes, the label pick function for selecting labels which are placed very close to other labels has become more accurate and reliable.
The
att_netname,
tag_net_netname and
tag_netpin_netname symbols for net name assignments through the
$netname system attribute have been added to the
ROUTE symbol library.
A series of new symbols and part definitions have been added to the following library:
The layout library file
pdfpage.ddb with page templates for part list outputs in batch definitions for the
function has been added. The template from the
partlist layout creates a part list with an entry for each part. The template from the
partlist_cnt adds different parts with equal values into single part list entries with part counter.
The option of the setting has been changed to provide element selection of multiple pick elements sorted by their distance to the pick position.
The
DEFDYNBOUND_SCM entry for configuring class-specific fixed or dynamic element boundaries for new elements has been added to
bae.ini.
The label and marker element class assignments for the definition of file element favorites through the toolbar button were mixed up. This problem has been fixed.
The file name prompt/query for element favorites has been modified to allow for
* input to be interpreted as project file name. This allows for the configuration of file element favorites such as project file
overview.
The (empty sheet) toolbar button has been modified to distinguish between left and right mouse button clicks. Left mouse button clicks are still activating the menu. Right mouse button clicks are activating a new menu for managing and accessing favorites. Up to 28 favorites can be configured for quick access, either with fixed file names, element classes and/or element names or with file name, element class and element name prompts. Element size and origin offset settings are also supported, and it is possible to configure group elements for automatic placement at the origin of new elements. This allows for the definition of menu functions for the generation of labels in the standard SCM symbol library or the creation of schematic sheets in a predefined format/size.
The key programming sequence for the activation of the favorites menu is
favorite:"!":"n".
The / / function has been converted to a submenu. The function creates a list of all elements with sub-references for a DDB file. The submenu and the function can be used to list all elements referring to a single or all macro elements within a DDB file. This feature can be used to list all SCM sheets which are using a specific symbol macro.
The list of SQL tables has been now included to the output option. The SQL tables listings contain the number of table entries and the field names and types.
The and options for updating the library elements for all SCM sheets of a project file have been added to the / submenu.
The function has been changed to trigger a save prompt and a reload if applied to the currently loaded element to ensure that the changes are immediately applied and visible in the Schematic Editor.
The
SPICEARUN_SCM parameter for automatically activating a Spice netlist export processing tool/application has been added to the
bae.ini file. The BAE Windows version determines the Spice netlist processor using the file type association for the
.cir file name extension. On non-Windows platforms, the
SPICECMD_SCM parameter can be used to specify the Spice netlist processor.
The system has been modified to support numbered attributes
($spicepar2,
$spicepar3, etc.) in addition to the
$spicepar attribute to allow for the specification of long Spice parameter lists. The attribute values are separated by blanks when written to the Spice netlist.
The
/ / function for importing SCM plans now automatically acticates the
loglib utility program to transfer the logical library definitions from the generated
.def file into the project file.
The function was restricted to the currently loaded SCM sheet. This restriction has been removed. now searches all SCM sheets of the project and automatically loads the SCM sheet with the requested symbol if necessary.
The
/ / has been changed to sort the symbol attribute listing alphabetically or according to a sort order specified in
bae.ini.
For tag symbols, now also lists tag pins with target element types and names.
The and functions from the menu which can be activated through the e key have been modified to save pin placement parameters and modes for repeated application. This simplifies certain procedures such as the placement of text documentation for previously placed pin lists/rows.
The
function could cause system crashes when applied to internal attributes with extended content length (e.g.,
$pltfname and
$pageref).
The
function for transfering the
$rpname attribute value from one selectable symbol to other selectable symbols has been added to the
/ / submenu. If the first symbol doesn't contain any
$rpname assignment, then the name of the symbol itself is used for subsequent assignments. This function simplifies the assignment of names to parts which consist of multiple gates/symbols.
A
button for the
$rpname attribute has been added to the dialog box of the
function. The
bae.ini entry
RPNAMEAUPD_SCM can be used to activate automatic attribute value transfers not only for
$rpname but also for all other attributes of the selected symbol.
The
/ / function and the functions from the
/ / submenu are now automatically assigning the symbol macro name to the
$rpname attribute for symbol macros with a
$ default value for the
$rpname attribute.
The has been updated to check whether the selected project file contains logical netlists without SCM sheets and provides options for deleting such logical netlists. This feature is useful for cleaning up project files after importing netlists with the / / function.
The button for adding and/or removing alternative part package types from the project and layout library has been added to the dialog.
The symbol preview in the symbol selection dialogs of the function is now activated and/or updated through single clicks on symbol list entries. The preview and page up/down buttons have become obsolete and have been removed from the dialog.
A part number menu/listing with the part numbers used on the current SCM sheet has been added to the replacement key prompt of the function from the .
The function for moving labels which is available through the p key has been changed to support label connection re-routing according to the current symbol routing configuration and/or settings.
The label router unnecessarily considered invisible
$ text references on label markers as obstacles. This problem has been fixed.
The / / / has been modified to support not only symbol name swaps but also label name swaps.
The system now displays a selection list of connected layout parts with placement status for the selected SCM symbol when using the / / function on a hierarchical sub-circuit which wasn't loaded with .
The name of the first and last macro placed on each page is included as comment text in symbol and label documentation output created with / / . On default, the function adds such comments to the PDF bookmarks, thus providing a facility for easily navigating to the page of a specific marco (prefix) without having to scroll through the whole document.
The function is now automatically starting a new connection whenever a segment or pin is reached. This allows for the creation of multiple connections without having to re-activate the function. Each of the connections created with a call is subject to a separate step.
The option for forcing connectivity updates for all SCM sheets has been added to the / / selection. This feature can be used to trigger connectivity updates after renaming and/or moving pins on SCM symbol macros without subsequently loading and saving affected SCM sheets.
The function from the / submenu has been renamed to and allows now also for the selection of modes where bus taps are automatically moved and/or deleted with adjacent connections.
A bus tap pin snap has been added to the p function key operations to provide better support for interactive bus tap connections when working with low display zoom factors.
The highlight for nets with antenna segments has been extended to connection segments which are open at one end and are not connected to a segment at the other end. This highlights segments without connection to a selectable pin and also helps to identify exact antenna positions in complex nets.
The
scm_pin_drc rule for
can be used to activate the highlighting of open segments with one end connected to a pin.
The selected polygon graphic is now displayed in the polygon property dialog which is displayed when clicking the p key on polygon corners.
For arc center points, the radius is now displayed with the arc direction. Previously, arc radius queries had to be carried out through more tedious distance queries.
The / / function has been changed to support plotter pen width settings for graphic lines.
The system has been modified to support
$pltecomment:planname attribute text patterns for the display of element comments from different SCM sheets of the current project. This feature can be used on documentary sheets for displaying up-to-date comments from different project SCM sheets.
The / / function has been changed to support plotter pen width settings for texts.
The
and
functions have been changed to issue a message displaying the number of symbols which have been automatically renamed to avoid any name conflicts with already placed symbols. Please note that symbols are renamed to
# if the system can't find free symbol names matching the assigned symbol name patterns. In this case, the system activates a confirmation prompt to notify the user about the potential loss of attribute value assignments.
The new symbol name is assigned to the
$rpname attributes of all group symbols with name conflicts and
$rpname values pointing to the old symbol name. This ensures that symbols which have been assigned to the same package stay together without causing
Packager error messages.
The Schematic Editor group functions have been made available on marker level.
The option for scaling has been added to / . The mode uses the scaling factor selected with . The mode automatically scales the output element to the paper size.
Element comment are now appended to the element/page names in the PDF file bookmark section. Batch PDF outputs allow for the element name only or the element comment only to be used as page name.
The option for creating variant-specific PDF output files has been added to . The PDF output file names are automatically derived from the variant names. If the specified file name is an extension of the project file name, then this extension is also used for variant file names.
The
option has been added to the PDF output facilities. This option automatically passes the PDF output on to the application which is registered for opening
files with the extension .pdf.
Certain third-party tools such as Ghostscript and Spicer Imagination were not able to process compressed BAE PDF outputs. The BAE PDF output functions have been adapted to fix these problems. These modifications also resulted in a PDF output file size reduction of some 25 percent.
The option for PDF color assignments has been added to the / / and functions.
A number of DXF table entries have been added to DXF outputs created with the
DXF14OPT_SCM bae.ini option to support additional third party systems such as
Autosketch.
Layout part pin lists and SCM symbol pin lists have been added to the warning messages caused by driver collisions and nets which are only connected to input pins. This simplifies the location of the affected circuitry for unnamed nets.
Part package type assignments through the
$plname (Physical Library Name) attribute are now deactivating the part's alternate part macro lists from the logical library to prevent from unintentionally changing the part type in the layout.
The
$rbname (Requested Backannotated Part Name) system attribute for layout part name assignments and for controlling package assignments has been added. The
Packager treats
$rbname attributes like
$rpname attributes and assigns SCM symbols to layout parts according to
$rbname settings. The
Layout Editor allows for
$rbname part names to be changed and the
transfers changed layout part names back onto the
$rbname attributes of the corresponding SCM symbols. I.e.,
$rbname can be used for controlling symbol package assignments without prohibiting subsequent layout part name changes.
A warning message is now issued if different
$nettype attribute values are assigned to the same net, thus providing feedback about the automatic assigment of the
mixed net type in such cases.
The
option for controlling net name assignments for nets without names has been added to the
menu.
The default setting is
. This mode assigns net names
@1,
@2, etc. to nets without predefined net names. The
mode generates net names from the first connected layout part pin. With this mode, the net connected to pin
1 of part
r7 will be named
_r7_1. This naming scheme ensures that automatically generated net names stay the same as long as the nets' part and pin connectivity isn't changed during redesigns and/or circuitry modifications. Consequently, it's possible to assign such synthetically generated net names to fill areas or net colouring data sets without causing assignment problems after net list and/or circuitry modifications.
The
mode
uses the same net naming scheme, however, with the prefix
_s for single-pin nets. This allows for unconnected pins to be easily identified in the alphatetically sorted net name list.
The setting is saved with the project file for automatic re-activation in subsequent Packager runs.
The
Packager supports the new
$netname system attribute for setting net names. This net name assignment has priority over net name assignments label. This feature can be used to control net name assignments for nets with different labels which would otherwise be named after the label which comes first in the alphabet.
The
att_netname,
tag_net_netname and
tag_netpin_netname symbols for
$netname assignments have been added to the
ROUTE symbol library. For frequently used net names, the system also supports label definition with fixed
$netname assignments such as the following:
part gnd : virtual
{
pin ("#");
netattr "$netname" "gnd" : ("#");
}
The label's must be set to to force the use of the label definition.
The option of the setting has been changed to provide the element selection of multiple pick elements sorted by their distance to the pick position.
The file name prompt/query for element favorites has been modified to allow for
* input to be interpreted as project file name.
The (empty sheet) toolbar button has been modified to distinguish between left and right mouse button clicks. Left mouse button clicks are still activating the menu. Right mouse button clicks are activating a new menu for managing and accessing favorites. Up to 28 favorites can be configured for quick access, either with fixed file names, element classes and/or element names or with file name, element class and element name prompts. Element size and origin offset settings are also supported, and it is possible to configure group elements for automatic placement at the origin of new elements. This allows for the definition of menu functions for the generation of macros in the standard layout library or the creation of standard layouts with group-defined board outlines.
The key programming sequence for the activation of the favorites menu is
favorite:"!":"n".
The
DEFDYNBOUND_GED entry for configuring class-specific fixed or dynamic element boundaries for new elements has been added to
bae.ini.
The / / function has been converted to a submenu. The function creates a list of all elements with sub-references for a DDB file. The submenu and the function can be used to list all elements referring to a single or all macro elements within a DDB file. This feature can be used to list all layout part definitions which are using a specific padstack macro.
The list of SQL tables has been now included to the output option. The SQL tables listings contain the number of table entries and the field names and types.
The / function has been changed to trigger a save prompt and a reload if applied to the currently loaded element to ensure that the changes are immediately applied and visible in the Layout Editor.
The pstkdrl User Language program for listing all project padstack definitions with drill holes has been integrated to the / menu and drill classes are now included with its output.
The functions for loading layouts with automatic connectivity generation are now saving the old layout to the
.bak backup file of the current
.ddb project file to allow for fill and power area net assignments removed by the connectivity generation to be restored from the backup file.
The performance of airline calculations in BAE HighEnd has been significantly improved at the cost of slightly increased memory requirements. The performance increase is most evident during airline calculations for (partially) routed nets and for connections to/through copper fill areas.
Markers have been added at the edges of the graphic workarea to indicate the current input grid setting. This makes it easier to establish whether the input grid is different from the display grid and/or whether the graphic/crosshair cursor matches the input grid during a placement interaction.
The / / submenu with a series of functions for extending the input grid to element-specific pick points has been added. With these features, macro reference points and visible corner points of traces and polygons can be added to the list of potential input grid points. The function scans the whole of the currently loaded element for such points, scans the visible objects of the currently loaded element, and scans the visible objects and automatically updates the pick point list upon the viewport changes. The pick point list can be cleared with the function or by loading a new element.
Markers for the pick points created with the functions are added at the edges of the graphic workarea. The pick points are considered by the manual grid step operations which are activated by hitting cursor keys whilst the Shift key is pressed. Unlike the p key, these features consider elements and/or objects from lower hierarchy levels, thus allowing for off-grid pad corner points and/or part level polygons on layout level to be hit and/or picked. It also provides a useful facility for exactly connecting to off-grid pins.
The for displaying the input grid has been added to / . The input grid is displayed using the origin colour to distinguish the input grid from the display/background grid which is drawn using the workarea colour. This allows for different grids to be displayed for comparison at the same time. The background grid has priority over the input grid if grid points are to be displayed at the same position.
The
function has been modified to display part values at the graphic cursor and in the info/status window when querying parts. Part values are retrieved from either the
$val, the
$wert, or the
$value attribute.
The
TB_PLCOLCNT_LAY entry for configuring toolbar buttons for power layer color settings has been added to the
bae.ini file.
TB_ALCOLCn_LAY/TB_ALCOLTn_LAY entries for layer number and layer text can be used in
bae.ini to configure arbitrary toolbar colour fields for special layers such as
.
The
has been changed to load the color table which was loaded prior to the current color table if the user types in
.. for the color table name. This allows for quickly toggling between frequently used color tables and can be used in macros for temporariliy loading a color table and then restoring the original color table at the end of the macro command sequence.
The dialog box of the / / function has been turned into a modeless dialog, i.e., it can now be left open while work continues in the BAE window.
The
WRLARUN_LAY parameter for activating an application for automatically displaying files created with the
/ / function has been added to the
bae.ini file.
Under Windows, the WRL/VRML output is passed on to the application which is registered for opening
files with the extension .wrl. For other operating systems, the
WRLCMD_LAY command in the
bae.ini file can be used to select the WRL/VRML application.
The
WRLDRLOUTC_LAY entry for controlling drill class outputs has been added to the
bae.ini file.
The / function has been modified to include the number of layout airlines.
On layouts with unplaced parts, the / function is now adding the number of unplaced netlist pins to the open connection count to emphasize the fact that the layout has not yet been fully routed.
Information about vias and traces causing DRC violations has been added to the report produced by the / / function.
DRC-specific parameters rather than net clearance settings are now used to create DRC distance lines when routing traces with DRC distance display activated. This simplifies the location of DRC errors when working with net group DRCs.
The button for deleting the currently processed DRC data block from a layout has been added to the block distance input interface of the / dialog.
The assignment of block names in / sometimes caused the loss of layout rules and other undefined behaviour. This problem has been fixed.
The performance of the BAE HighEnd DRC has been significantly improved at the cost of slightly increased memory requirements.
On multi-processor systems, the
BAE HighEnd DRC calculations are now delegated to the different processors. The
BAE_THREADS environment variable has been introduced and can be set to 2 to support
hyperthreading technologies. However, the performance increase is hereby limited to some 5 to 10 percent as the DRC perfomance is more dependent on the processor's cache size than its computing power.
The part selection dialog of the function has been changed to display additional part info such as package type, value attribute, SCM symbol macro and SCM sheet name when clicking a part from the list once. The pin net names of parts with not more than two pins are also displayed to simplify the identification and/or selection of test points and block capacitors.
The column in the part selection box of the menu has been changed to place a new part when double-clicking a part name. According to the function of the button, the next free part name/number for constructive parts is derived from the selected name, and the part macro is also derived from the selected list entry. This simplifies the repeated placement of similar constructive parts.
The / function has been converted to a submenu with the default mode and the new function . prompts for a pin selection and automatically selects and places the next unplaced part which is closest connected to the selected pin, thus simplifying the placement of circuitry clusters. The function has also been integrated to the right mouse button context menu for part pins.
The new
$partside part system attribute can be used to block (attribute value
top) or force (attribute value
bottom) part mirroring. These settings have priority over any other mirror modes during interactive and automatic part placement operations. Parts violating these placement preferences are marked by the DRC, and the
/ functions list such parts in a part side error list.
The
tag_sym_partside tag symbol for assigning
$partside attribute values has been added to the
ROUTE library.
Correcting netlist package type assignments through the p key dialog sometimes triggered the system to delete the corrected parts. This problem has been fixed.
The function does not require the selection of an SCM symbol anymore if is assigned to a key and activated during part placement operations by pressing that key. In that case the SCM symbol for the selected layout part is automatically selected for search.
The padstack text
$@ is on layout level substituted with the name of the part on which the padstack is placed. This feature can be useful if part names need to be displayed for pins which are placed outside the part body (e.g. during
operations).
The number of SMD pins with pads on the solder and/or part side has been added to the SMD pin listings created with the / / function.
The name of the first and last macro placed on each page is included as comment text in part, padstack and pad documentation output created with / / . On default, the function adds such comments to the PDF bookmarks, thus providing a facility for easily navigating to the page of a specific marco (prefix) without having to scroll through the whole document.
Trace segments created with the option don't extend beyond the start and end points of neighbouring segments anymore to avoid the generation of acute angles and possibly eliminate the need for correcting pin connections.
The option has been added for carrying out an modification which stops at vias. I.e., does not shift any via positions, unless the via is at the end point of the modified segment.
The function now also supports the deletion of arcs from trace routes.
The and functions have been changed to deactivate any currently active group highlight during trace selections to allow for the identification of (highlighted) fixed traces and unfixed traces.
The mirroring of vias on part level as required for the placement on microvias on SMDs is not implicitely supported through the part option in / anymore to prevent from unintentionally setting via mirror modes. Vias on part level can still be mirrored explicitely through the right mouse button context menu and the dialog activated through the p key.
The option has been added for controlling the length of teardrops to be created with the / / / function. is the default mode for setting the teardrop structure length in relation to the dimensions of the affected elements. sets a fixed length for creating the teardrop structures. creates teardrops at full trace segment length.
The menu item has been turned into a submenu with the options (delete all teardrops), (delete teardrops for selectable traces) and (delete teardrops for selectable nets).
The / / function has been added for optimizing and/or straightening either selectable traces or group-selected traces or all traces of the currently loaded layout. The trace beautifier eliminates redundant short trace segments, replaces right-angled corners with diagonal segments and straightens traces segments wherever possible without violating design rules. The function complements the function of the Autorouter. Fixed and glued traces are not modified by .
The , , , , , and functions have been added to the / / / submenu. extends the standard trace length query (function ) to the nearest pin and/or T-connection point. Measured elements are highlighted during trace length queries. The new functions allow for reports to be sorted either by net lengths or by net names. The reports for visible nets are only listing nets which are selected by the current airline visibility configuration.
Traces and vias on part macro level were not considered by net-specific trace length queries. This problem has been fixed.
The function from the / / submenu has been renamed to .
The for increasing trace lengths by meandering has been added to the / / submenu. A series of options for controlling meander sizes and shapes are provided with this function. The meandering starts at the selected trace corner point and proceeds under consideration of the current DRC settings until the desired trace length is reached.
The function for synchronizing the lengths of pairs of parallel traces by meandering the shorter trace has been added to the / / submenu.
The
function for visualizing signal phases along pairs of parallel traces has been added to the
/ / submenu.
draws configurable periodical signals on a selectable documentary layer and assigns the generated documentary areas to a group with the name
trcwave. Signals start with inverted phases at the selected trace corner points. The signal graphic areas are drawn on side 1 and 2 of the selected documentary layer alongside the center line between the two traces. Phase shifts are visualized through a suitable choice of documentary layer colors. The documentary layer graphic created with
can be removed with
or by pressing the
button from the
dialog.
Trace and via rule assignments got lost when editing traces. This problem has been fixed.
The , and functions for managing power layer definitions have been added to the submenu. This simplifies temporary power layer setups, e.g., to prevent the Autorouter from routing nets which are intented for copper fill and/or split power plane implementation.
The function for activating a modeless layout net list dialog with buttons for various net-specific functions has been added to the / submenu. Double-clicking a net list entry activates the function for the selected net.
The
,
,
,
and
functions can now be applied to net name patterns specified in the net name dialog prompts.
$ inputs allow for net selections by net, part or pin attributes.
The and functions for highlighting nets with or without airlines have been added to the / / submenu. Single-pin nets and nets with disabled airlines are excluded from the highlight. In BAE HighEnd, these net highlights are transfered to open project SCM sheets, thus visualizing SCM connections which are routed and/or unrouted on the layout.
The input layer is now automatically faded in when creating a polygon on an invisible layer.
The function, when applied to the board outline, no longer cancels its operation, but prompts for a destination documentary layer for the board outline copy and creates a documentary line copy. This reduces the number of steps which previously had to be carried out for creating a board outline copy. Please remember also that the p key can be used to turn documentary lines into other polygon types.
A prompt for specifying the keepout area type has been added to the / / function for creating border keep out areas. This simplifies the creation of specific keep out areas (e.g., for the Autorouter).
A series of new functions for combining two intersecting polygons have been added to / / . The function removes the second polygon's intersecting area from the first polygon. The function creates a new polygon from the combined outline of both polygons. The function creates an intersection of the two original polygons. Depending on the shapes and placement of the original polygons, this can lead to the generation of more than one new polygon. The and options allow for a circle (defined by center point and radius) or a rectangle (defined by two corner points) to be used as second polygon for the , and functions.
The function for covering the surrounding rectangles of selectable polygons with a matrix of tiles on a different layer has been added to the / / submenu. prompts for the destination layer, the number of rectangles in X and Y direction, the polygon type, and the degree of coverage. This function can be used to achieve a stencil design for large thermal pads according to recommendations for avoiding large solder paste coverage which could cause splatter and solder balling defects during the reflow soldering process.
The selected polygon graphic is now displayed in the polygon property dialog which is displayed when clicking the p key on polygon corners.
For arc center points, the radius is now displayed with the arc direction. Previously, arc radius queries had to be carried out through more tedious distance queries.
The / / function has been changed to support plotter pen width settings for documentary lines.
During the creation of documentary lines, the distance to the last polygon corner point is now displayed in the first status line together with the current coordinates. This distance value can also be faded in at the graphic cursor by pressing the Shift key.
Wenn auf dem aktuell geladenen Layout noch keine Umrandung platziert ist, kann beim has been changed to allow for the board outline layer to be selected as a destination layer for a DXF layer. The first polygon from the selected DXF board outline layer is imported as board outline. Further polygons from that DXF layer are discarded and will be listed as polygon errors in the DXF import report.
The
DXFINSLAYM_LAY and
DXFCOLLAYM_LAY entries have been added to
bae.ini to allow for block layer priority over single element colours to be deactivated when placing blocks and to activate the generation of destination layer names from DXF layer names and colour index for elements with layer specification to assign coloured DXF elements to specific BAE layers.
The and functions from the which can be activated through the e key have been changed to allow for the assignment of the previously used text layer through the button when repeatedely placing texts. This simplifies the editing of specific elements such as part list templates for .
In layouts with multiple DRC data blocks for signal layer texts, BAE HighEnd sometimes issued erroneous DRC error messages. This problem has been fixed.
The / / has been changed to support the import of center-aligned text by assigning corresponding text attributes.
The / / function has been changed to support plotter pen width settings for texts.
Functions for changing drill classes have been added to the padstack processing functions in / / .
Context menu group operations which are restricted to a certain area have been modified to display the number of changed elements instead of the number of group-selected elements after successful execution.
The / / / function has been changed to support the selection of vias which are assigned to the selected fill net but are not yet connected to the selected net.
Drill holes on padstack level were not properly supported by a number of group functions. This problem has been fixed.
The Layout Editor group functions have been made available on pad level.
The / / / function now also supports the selection of polygon types. This is useful for deleting hatch areas which lost their net assignments due to netlist changes.
The and functions have been added to the / / submenu to allow for element-specific color settings for the function. Previously, such element-specific settings could only be carried out through the p key dialog.
New parameters have been added to the copper fill functions to support pin and via heat trap generation through traces instead of rectangular polygons. The system automatically fixes heattrap traces and attaches rules to support automated removal. This trace heattrap generation mode can be used to pass filled areas with very small pins to the Autorouter which does not accept pins which are fully covered with active copper areas.
The option for deactivating heat trap generation for pins and vias which are already contacted to a fill layer trace or area has been added to BAE HighEnd. This feature can be used prevent automatic heat trap generation in critical board areas, while applying standard heat traps to the rest layout.
The functions for filling and hatching areas, when applied to areas on the layer, are now creating filled and hatched areas on the special layer rather than the signal layer currently selected . This ensures that such fill and hatch areas stay on the top layer even if the setting is changed. It also allows for part side fill and hatch areas to be created on part level.
The performance of the copper fill algorithms has been significanlty increased, especially for large layouts.
New options for cutting out keepout areas without clearance have been added to the automatic copper fill facilities.
The copper fill functions in BAE HighEnd have been modified to support net type/group clearance parameters from the / / function.
Automatically generated hatch areas could only be removed automatically within the same BAE session. This problem has been fixed. It is now possible to remove hatch areas automatically after reloading the layout.
Support for the deprecated Standard Autorouter has been discontinued. Accordingly, the option for selecting the Autorouter module has been removed from the main menu setup. The system has been changed to force the use of the advanced Neural Autorouter, and Autorouter module selections from old setups are simply ignored.
The for displaying the input grid has been added to / . The input grid is displayed using the origin colour to distinguish the input grid from the display/background grid which is drawn using the workarea colour. This allows for different grids to be displayed for comparison at the same time, and this in turn can help to decide whether the strategy parameter setting is the cause of unnessary half-grid routing trace corners. The background grid has priority over the input grid if grid points are to be displayed at the same position.
The Ctrl-P key function for loading a new color table during routing is now supplemented with the Ctrl-E key function for direct color table editing.
The Ctrl-G key can be used to change the display grid.
The
button has been added to the
/ and
name selection menus. This allows for control and strategy parameter data sets to be optionally loaded from and saved to the project file instead of the central database
rutparam.dat. The parameter data set is saved under the name of the currently loaded layout and is automatically activated whenever the layout is subsequently loaded. This allows for the configuration of layout-specific routing parameters such as BGA or SMD via fanout routing.
The gridless routing algorithms have been modified to improve the performance of the gridless router by 20 to 30 percent for certain routing tasks at the cost of slightly increased memory requirements.
The algorithm for connecting offgrid pins has been improved to extend the length of the gridless pin-centered trace start segment if this helps to avoid clearance violations to neighbouring pins.
Using the options for marked vias sometimes caused the Autorouter to place power layer net traces on keepout layers. This problem has been fixed.
The button for positioning the to the Layout Editor layout element origin has been added to / .
The output function has been changed to include information about metric units being used in the header of the output file to allow for direct import to Inch-based CAD systems.
Trace polygon line outputs at pen width are now automatically split at acute corner points to avoid overdraw effects caused by corner modes in certain third party CAD systems.
A number of DXF table entries have been added to DXF outputs created with the
DXF14OPT_LAY bae.ini option to support additional third party systems such as
Autosketch.
The
DXFTXTLINE_LAY entry for forcing vectorized DXF text output has been added to
bae.ini. This forces text to be displayed exactly as in BAE, regardless of any font selections in the DXF target system. Please note that vectorized text output can result in significantly increased DXF output file sizes.
The batch option for deactivating warnings about layout layers and drill classes which are not included in the output batch has been added. This is useful for non-productive batches which are intended for documentary purposes only.
The
cd * command for changing the current directory to the project file directory has been added to the list of valid
batch steps. This command can be used to simplify subsequent commands and/or processes such as creating an archive of the output files in the project file directory.
To allow for certain
User Language data export programs to be incorporated into automated batch output sequences, the interaction code
:"*" has been introduced to support the automatic confirmation of default output file names derived from the project file name.
The option for scaling has been added to / . The mode uses the scaling factor selected with . The mode automatically scales the output element to the paper size.
Element comment are now appended to the element/page names in the PDF file bookmark section. Batch PDF outputs allow for the element name only or the element comment only to be used as page name.
The option for creating variant-specific PDF output files has been added to . The PDF output file names are automatically derived from the variant names. If the specified file name is an extension of the project file name, then this extension is also used for variant file names.
The
option has been added to the PDF output facilities. This option automatically passes the PDF output on to the application which is registered for opening
files with the extension .pdf.
A PDF layer for the display grid is now included in PDF outputs of visible layers with PDF layer assignment option and visible BAE workarea layer. Like the BAE display grid, the PDF display grid layer is automatically faded in or out depending on the display zoom factor.
Certain third-party tools such as Ghostscript and Spicer Imagination were not able to process compressed BAE PDF outputs. The BAE PDF output functions have been adapted to fix these problems. These modifications also resulted in a PDF output file size reduction of some 25 percent.
The
option integrating part lists to the output has been added to the batch output function. This option prompts for a layout page template from the
pdfpage.ddb layout template library from the BAE library directory. These templates contain attribute references named
$attributname:1: through
$attributname:maximum_row_count: which will be substituted with corresponding attribute values.
The
function has been extended to support the attribute texts
$pdfpagecnt (total output page count),
$pdfplpage (current part list page),
$pdfplpagecnt (total part list page count),
$pdfplpos (current part list entry number/position), and
$pdfplcnt (part count for current part list entry). The
$pdfplcnt reference automatically activates the part list output which adds parts with equal values (see also layout page templates in
pdfpage.ddb for examples).
Batch output of power layers can now be configured to use the project-specific / instead of constant values.
The layer selections of the batch definitions are now also supporting the (default; as displayed on screen), and drill output modes. For Postscript and PDF outputs, white drill output at the end of the batch is recommended to create the most realistic image of the copper structures.
Metric Gerber output options (, , and ) have been added to / and to the Gerber batch output settings in .
The generation of line-drawn heat traps and the definition of heat trap flash apertures has been modified for Extended Gerber outputs. The heat trap connectors are now created diagonally in 45 degree angles, and the standard line width setting for Gerber outputs is now used for heat trap isolation distances. The parameter has been added to the / dialog to allow for orthogonal heat trap connectors. The parameter is also supported by .
Please check the and settings for batch-driven Gerber outputs. now applies to the isolation of both line-drawn and flashed heat traps. now only applies to the isolation of split power plane areas.
The for Extended Gerber outputs with dynamic aperture table has been modified to create a single aperture table for all batch steps, thus providing a common aperture table even if batch steps have different standard line width and/or power layer isolation parameter settings.
The
OUTPICK command for using part macro origins instead of the
$ text has been added to the output configuration files for the
function.
The syntax of the
OUTPICK command is similar to the
OUTLAYER command syntax, however without layer number. The
OUTPICK command allows for any insertion data outputs without the need of placing
$ texts on part macro level.
New options have been added to the format description file to derive the insertion data output file name from part attributes and/or the project variant name and to create insertion data output files for all project variants in a single batch.
Pressing the Ctrl key without active menu function activates the mouse and/or graphic cursor coordinate display and shows additional information about the element at the current cursor position such as the data set number, drill class and diameter for drill holes, and Gerber D code with aperture size, draw mode and layer for Gerber data. If different elements are placed at the cursor position, then the system picks drill holes first, then flashed structures, then line structures, and then G36/G37 areas.
A tool table listing for the currently loaded drilling data has been added to the / output.
The load and save toolbar button definitions have been extended to distinguish between left and right mouse button clicks. Left mouse button clicks activate the functions for loading and/or saving Gerber data, whilst right mouse button clicks now activate the functions for loading and/or saving drilling data.
The system always assumed Imperial units for the tool table when importing Excellon drilling data without input unit specification. This behaviour has been changed. Metric specifications for parameter are now forcing the Excellon import function to interprete the tool table in metric units.
New entries for areas drawn with codes have been added to the dialog for D-Code-oriented Gerber data display. The color assignment dialog has also been modified to allow for D-Code number inputs through keyboard, thus eliminating the need for paging through numerous color setup pages to find color assignments for high D-Code numbers.
The layer-oriented outline display has been changed. Previously, element outlines on invisible layers were still displayed if the outline layer was visible. Now element outlines are only displayed if both the element layer and the outline layer are visible.
Options for selecting metric Gerber formats (, , and ) have been added to / . Previously, these formats had to be selected by specifying corresponding conversion factors.
The and parameters have been added to the / dialog to provide better control over the display and generation of flashed heat traps when viewing and/or exporting Extended Gerber data.
The function for importing Extended Gerber data sometimes failed to import heat traps correctly. This problem has been fixed to allow for correct power layer panelization.
The copyddb utility program has been updated to support double-quoted project file names with spaces.
Warning messages have been added to the loglib utility program to notify about any truncation of element names which are exceeding the maximum element name length of 40 characters.
loglib is now issuing a warning message if more than one pin of a
net internal command is listed in
xlat commands to indicate that this
net internal command might unintentionally connect different SCM symbol pins.
This section describes general changes to the User Language specification. See Bartels User Language Programmer's Guide - Chapter 2 for a detailed description of the User Language specification.
The internal User Language version has been changed. User Language programs compiled under earlier BAE versions won't execute in the User Language Interpreter environment of the new Bartels AutoEngineer version (error message ). This means that each User Language program compiled under earlier BAE Versions must be recompiled under the new BAE version to regain compatibility.
This section describes the news and changes introduced to the User Language Compiler. See Bartels User Language Programmer's Guide - Chapter 3 for detailed information on how to operate the User Language Compiler.
Line numbers in the User Language Compiler error messages where incorrect when errors occured in different source code files during the compilation of multiple programs in a single User Language Compiler run. This problem has been fixed.
The
User Language Compiler is now issuing a warning message if
return is used without argument in functions with a base data type specification for the return value.
This section describes the news and changes introduced to the User Language Interpreter. See Bartels User Language Programmer's Guide - Chapter 3 for detailed information on how to operate the User Language Interpreter.
This section lists new and changed User Language index variable types. See Bartels User Language Programmer's Guide - Appendix B for a detailed description of all index variable types.
The
NAME attribute of the
L_FIGURE index variable type has been modified to return the name of the padstack macro for elements of
TYP 7 (intern) if the internal element is a standard via definition.
The
LAYER attribute for power layer code queries has been added to the
L_POWLAYER index variable type.
This section lists new and changed User Language system functions. See Bartels User Language Programmer's Guide - Appendix C for a detailed description of all system functions.
The following User Language system functions have been implemented:
| IP | System Function | Short Description |
|---|---|---|
| STD | bae_dialaskcall | Activate BAE dialog with callback function |
| bae_dialboxperm | Activate modeless BAE dialog | |
| bae_dialsetcurrent | Set current BAE dialog box | |
| bae_nameget | Get BAE name selection list element | |
| filemode | Get file mode | |
| namestrcmp | Name string compare | |
| quicksort | Sort index list | |
| CAP | cap_findlayconpartpin | Get layout connection list pin index |
| LAY | lay_findconpartpin | Find layout part pin index of a named part pin |
| CAM | cam_getdblpar | Get CAM double parameter |
| cam_setdblpar | Set CAM double parameter | |
| ICD | icd_findconpartpin | Find IC Design part pin index of a named part pin |
The askdist function has been modified to support additional options for distance queries.
Support for parameter queries/settings has been added to the ar_getintpar, ar_setintpar, bae_getintpar, bae_setintpar, cam_getintpar, cam_setintpar, cv_getdblpar, cv_setdblpar, cv_getintpar, cv_setintpar, ged_getintpar, ged_getstrpar, ged_setintpar, ged_setstrpar, scm_getintpar, scm_setintpar, scm_getstrpar and scm_setstrpar functions.
The
con_setddbpattrib function has been modified to reset attributes for
PA_NILVAL attribute value specifications to mimic the behaviour of the
button in the
Schematic Editor.
A new net name selection mode has been added to the ged_asktreeidx function.
The value range for the group status parameter of the ged_elemgrpchg function has been modified to allow for the activation of a status line message about the selected/deselected element and the total number of group-selected elements.
Support for trace segment move mode settings has been added to the ged_getsegmovmode and ged_setsegmovmode functions.
BAE installs
some 220 pre-compiled
User Language programs to the
ulcprog.vdb file of the BAE programs directory. Additionally, the
User Language source files
(more than 7 Mbytes; some 240,000 lines) are installed to a special directory
(baeulc). See
Bartels User Language Programmer's Guide - Chapter 4 for a complete listing and short descriptions of the BAE User Language programs.
The User Language include files have been revised and extended by a series of new definitions and functions.
The following User Language programs have been implemented:
| IP | Program Name | Short Description |
|---|---|---|
| STD | bae_dial | BAE Dialog Box Action |
| bae_savd | BAE Save Done Action | |
| GED | vhdlout | VHDL Netlist Data Output |
The User Language programs already delivered with the previous BAE Version have been completely revised and extended by many new features and functions. A series of significant improvements and enhancements have already been mentioned in the previous sections of these Release Notes.
| Bartels :: Bartels AutoEngineer :: BAE Documentation :: BAE V7.0 Release Notes |
Bartels AutoEngineer® - Version 7.0 - Release Notes
© 1985-2024 Oliver Bartels F+E • Updated: 24 November 2012, 11:27 [UTC]
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