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Baumeister Mediasoft Engineering :: Bartels AutoEngineer :: BAE Documentation :: BAE Next Version Release Notes Preliminary

Bartels AutoEngineer® Documentation

Bartels AutoEngineer®
Next Version
Release Notes
* Preliminary Information *

The Bartels AutoEngineer® - Next Version - Release Notes - * Preliminary Information * provide detailed information about new features, enhancements, changes and bug-fixing introduced with the next Bartels AutoEngineer version. Forward compatibility from earlier versions to the latest Bartels AutoEngineer version is always ensured, but not backward compatibility.

Note
The next Bartels AutoEngineer version is currently under development. This documentation is preliminary and may be subject to change or extension without prior notice. Suggestions on how to improve the Bartels AutoEngineer and/or the Bartels User Language by introducing new or improving existing functions are highly appreciated.

 

Contents

1General
1.1Installation
1.2User Interface and General Functions
1.3Symbol and Part Libraries
2Schematic Editor
2.1General
2.2Symbols, Labels
2.3Connections
2.4Graphics
2.5Text, Attributes
2.6Group Functions
2.7Plot Output
3Packager
3.1Error Messages
3.2Part Processing
4Layout Editor
4.1General
4.2Display, Design Rule Check
4.3Parts, Placement
4.4Traces, Routing
4.5Graphic, Copper Areas
4.6Text, Drill
4.7Group Functions
4.8Automatic Copper Fill
5Autorouter
5.1General
6CAM Processor
6.1General
6.2Control Plot
6.3Gerber Photo Plot
7CAM View
7.1General
7.2Data Import
7.3Gerber Data
8Utilities
9Bartels User Language
9.1General
9.2User Language Compiler
9.3User Language Interpreter
9.4Index Variable Types
9.5System Functions
9.6BAE User Language Programs

 

1 General

 

1.1 Installation

Installation Guide

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.

 

1.2 User Interface and General Functions

Tree View Menu (Windows)

The Tree View Menu Window option for opening the tree view menu in its own window has been added to the Tree View Menu function which can be activated through View / Toolbar or by clicking the BAE logo in the toolbar.

Toolbar Functions

The M, D and G functions for moving, deleting and group-selecting multiple elements converted selection coordinates to input grid coordinates prior to element selections, thus sometimes causing unintentional element selections. This behaviour has been changed. The selection of existing elements is now carried out in gridless mode, and the input grid is only considered when selecting a new position for an element.

The E (Edit) button for activating an input loop for editing polygons and traces has been added to the toolbar. The E activates the display of corner point and segment center point grippers. A corner is inserted when picking a segment between grippers. I.e., the E provides access to the Move Corner, Move Segment and Insert Corner function. The input angle lock is automatically released during E button input loops.

Clicking the M or E toolbar buttons with the right mouse button activates the new Mouse Drag Mode menu with the Click to Move and Drag & Drop input mode options for subsequent move and/or edit operations. Click to Move is the default input mode for selecting elements and placement positions via mouse click. Drag & Drop selects elements via mouse click and releases them at the new position when the mouse button is released (unless the center or right mouse button for activating the display or context menu is clicked inbetween, in which case the left mouse button must be clicked to select the new placement position).

The I (Information) button for activating the View / Query Element has been added to the toolbars.

Menu Definitions

An option for assigning element classes to menu entries has been added to the bae.ini addmenuitem command for adding menu entries. The system automatically deactivates menu entries if the currently loaded element type is not in the list of valid menu entry element types.

Message Prompt Dialog Boxes (Windows)

Dialog popup windows for warning messages and simple user prompts are now opened at the current mouse position rather than at the center of the primary monitor screen to simplify user interactions when working with more than one monitor.

Message History

Arrow and arrow down control for paging through the last 50 system messages have been added to the status message area at the bottom of the BAE window.

Default Settings

The BAE module startup sequences have been modified to load parameters from the file baebase.ini after loading bae.ini parameters and before loading baeuser.ini parameters. This allows for the configuration of company-specific parameter settings in addition to user-specific settings in multi-user installations. bae.ini can be used to load (or at least keep a documentation of) default parameters settings. baebase.ini can be used to load company-specific parameter settings. baeuser.ini can be used to load user-specific parameter settings. A non-default. baebase.ini file and path name can be specified through the BAE_BASEINI environment variable.

Input Grid

The toolbar and middle mouse button functions for selecting a specific input grid have been modified to switch automatically to grid-based input mode if grid-free input mode is selected.

Variants

The maximum number of project variants has been increased from 30 to 99.

Display Performance (Windows)

Screen redraws in Windows versions with Desktop Window Manager (DWM) have been modified to be carried out in buffered mode. This increases the graphic display performance on Windows Vista and Windows 7 systems significantly.

Update Library

The File / Update Library functions of the Schematic Editor and the Layout Editor have been modified to display a dialog with listings of copied and/or missing source library elements. This feature provides more control over library update procedures as it displays specific information such as a listing of project library elements which are not defined in the central library.

 

1.3 Symbol and Part Libraries

Changed Logical Definitions

The

newattr "$val" = "!unique!";

command which prohibits resistors with different values to be packed into the same layout package has been added to the ra_dil*pp and ra_sil*pp resistor array definitions in passiv.def.

 

2 Schematic Editor

 

2.1 General

Toolbar (Windows)

The toolbar tooltips for symbol and zoom windows have been modified to display any available symbol and window view information.

Element Properties

The element property dialog which can be activated through the p key has been modified to display read-only name texts such as pin text names in a read-only input field rather than through a label. This allows for such name texts to be copied to the clipboard.

Element Boundaries

The system issued an error message when selecting a placement position outside the current element boundaries with dynamic boundaries not being activated. This behaviour has been changed to allow for dynamic boundaries to be activated through user prompt in such cases.

BAE ASCII Import

The sbaedmp.ulp User Language program for exporting schematic plans from Eagle which is included in the eagleulp directory of the BAE CD has been modified to support the specification of a scaling factor in the header. Changing the scaling factor from 1.0 to 1.0/1.27 reduces the schematic sheet accordingly, but places symbol pins in a millimetre grid which is usually a more convenient pin placement grid for interactive changes in the Bartels AutoEngineer.

Packager Error Messages

The Filter and Exclude input fields for specifying filter strings for selecting or deselecting error messages to be displayed have been added to the Utilities / Packager Error List dialog. The message filter is activated by pressing the Update button. Auto buttons are provided with the filter input fields for specifying a filter pattern which filters the type of the currently selected error list entry. This feature can be used to search for specific errors such as missing definitions without having to look through dependent errors such as missing pin assignments.

 

2.2 Symbols, Labels

Symbol/Label Pick

Some interactive symbol functions such as Assign Value(s) which allowed for unintentional label picks have have been modified to to block label picks.

Some interactive label functions which allowed for unintentional symbol picks have been modified to block symbol picks.

Symbol Data Query

A scrollable info field for displaying symbol attributes and symbol pins with part pin names, marker names and net names has been added to the symbol element property dialog which can be activated through the p key.

Symbol Search

Referenced symbol macro names are now saved as part attribute entries when saving schematic plans. This enables the View / Find Symbol / Search in List function to display and/or find project symbol macros which are placed elsewhere on the project SCM plan.

The Load Layout Netlist button for loading the layout net list which was created with the last Packager run has been added to the dialog of the Search in List function. Loading the layout net list adds the newattr attribute assignments from the logical library to the Other Attribute selection. The layout net list loaded through Search in List is kept in main memory. I.e., it is not necessary to load the layout net list again in subsequent Search in List calls of the same Schematic Editor session.

Symbol Database

The selection boxes and the search mask of the Symbol Database function have been turned into modal dialogs. This allows for other procedures such as creating connections to be carried out between symbol placements with Symbol Database without having to reactivate the Symbol Database function.

The Autoname control element has been added to the Symbol Placement button of the Symbol Database dialog. Autoname allows for the selection of a symbol naming mode different from the default bae.ini setting. A single mouse click on a symbol preview list element switches the Autoname display to the next free symbol name corresponding to the name pattern of the selected symbol, thus displaying the new automatically created symbol name prior to the placement of the symbol.

Placement Status (BAE HighEnd)

The cross-hair cursor was not displayed for SCM symbols with plot invisibility settings for which no layout part was placed yet if both the Schematic Editor and the Layout Editor were open simultaneously in BAE HighEnd. This problem has been fixed.

Label Placement

The Import facility of the Place Pin List/Row and Place Texts/Labels functions from the Symbols / Symbol Edit Functions submenu which can also be activated through the e key has been modified to support automatic import and placement of text rows, pin name rows and label name rows. A row processing mode can be selected prior to placement and the row placement coordinates are specified by selecting the first and second row element positions.

Net Name Selection

The NETPLDISP_SCM parameter for limiting the display of SCM sheet names behind net names to less than 200 characters in the net name selection dialog of the Symbols / Add Label function has been added to bae.ini. This allows for multi-column net name selection dialogs to be displayed in projects where certain nets are on multiple SCM sheets.

Symbol Generation

The SYMDEFSPNM_SCM parameter for prompting the Symbols / Other Functions / Create FPGA Symbol / CSV File function to place pin names from symbol pin name column of the input file as symbol texts and use the assigned layout pin names to name the SCM symbol pins has been added to bae.ini.

Symbol Edit Batch

The Origin Group Load and Group Name Delete batch steps have been added to the File / Library Utilities / Symbol Edit Batch function to allow for the processing of text fields with specific attribute texts which are placed at the symbol origins.

Logical Definitions

The functions for placing symbols and/or groups from other DDB files have been modified to copy the logical library definitions for the copied symbols from the source file if these definitions are not yet in the project file. This simplifies the transfer of schematic groups with symbol macros which are not defined in any of the standard libraries.

 

2.3 Connections

Bus Connections

Moving bus segments with connected bus taps sometimes caused incorrect contact area highlights at some of the connected bus taps. This problem has been fixed.

Bus Taps

The Tap Bus function has been modified to support the selection of texts from lower hierarchy levels when setting the bus tap name. This allows for symbol texts describing pin functions rather than non-descriptive logical pin names to be selected for naming bus taps.

Net Highlight (BAE HighEnd)

When working with multiple Schematic Editor and Layout Editor windows, the Schematic Editor net highlight menus were not correctly re-activated after highlighting unnamed nets and changing to a different SCM plan within the same project (a new Layout Editor net highlight request was required to update the Schematic Editor menus). This problem has been fixed.

 

2.4 Graphics

Dimensioning

The functions from the Graphic / Other Functions / Drawing Utilities submenu have been modified to use a comma instead of a dot in front of the decimals of measuring texts depending on the COORDTMODE_SCM setting from bae.ini.

The X Dimensioning and Y Dimensioning measurement functions have been modified to draw an arrow from the measurement origin to the measurement text. The measurement arrow can be activated and its appearance can be configured through the right mouse button context menu and through new bae.ini parameters.

The measurement object pick facility of the Delete Measurement/Ruler function has been modified to allow for selections through both text and graphic elements of the measurement object. Previously, a measurement object had to be selected by clicking one of its graphic elements.

Bitmap Data Import

With Antialiasing activated, the File / Import/Export / Bitmap Input submenu functions created polygons with enlarged or missing antialias segments in the bottom left and/or top right corner of the polygon. This problem has been fixed.

 

2.5 Text, Attributes

Text Placement

Control elements for text height, text angle, text mirroring, text alignment and text frame mode specifications have been added to the text input dialog of the Add Text function and the T toolbar buttons to allow for those text properties to be specified prior to placement.

Symbol Attribute Texts

The Move Name and Move Attribute context menu functions have been modified to keep the old text position rather than requiring a new text positioning if a zero text size is specified for fading out the text.

Text Alignment

The Utilities / Draw Assistant function has been modified to allow for texts to be vertically centered. This is especially useful when applying the Pin Text function for placing pin documentation texts.

Multiline Texts

Pen width and rule assignments to a single multiline text element are now automatically transferred to all other texts elements of that multiline text.

Rule assignments to multiline texts could get lost when editing these texts. This problem has been fixed.

 

2.6 Group Functions

Group Selection

The Edit / Group Elements submenu functions have been modified to Select and/or Deselect only those elements which are not yet selected and/or deselected, respectively. This simplifies the selection and/or deselection of multiple overlapping elements as they can simply be picked through repeated clicks at the same pick point.

Group Movement

The c shortcut key for temporarily releasing the angle lock has been added to the Move Group function. The previous angle lock mode is restored upon completion of the Move Group function.

During Move Group operations, the distance to the selected start point is now displayed together with the current group coordinates in the status line while moving groups.

Group Settings

The Edit / Group Display Mode function has been renamed to Group Settings and activates a dialog with group parameter settings which allows for the Display Mode to be selected and the new Angle Release parameter to be set. Angle Release provides an option for automatically releasing the angle lock during Move Group operations.

Group Placements

The Group Load 0,0 option for loading groups and placing them at the origin of the currently loaded element has been added to the right mouse button context menu of the file element favourites toolbar functions/buttons for opening/loading elements.

Attribute Selection

With special !not_set! attribute value selections, the Edit / Other Functions / Select / Attributes function selected all symbols with attribute text assignments for the selected attribute rather than selecting only the symbols without such attribute text assignments. This problem has been fixed.

 

2.7 Plot Output

EPS/PDF Output

The Symbol Attribute Annotations option for adding notes with symbol attributes to the PDF output has been added to the EPS/PDF Output function. Symbol attribute notes are displayed as bright dashed frame in the output. When hovering over this frame, a window appears which displays the part name, the symbol and layout part macros and attribute assignments/values. Symbol attribute notes are not included when printing and/or plotting the PDF file. The attribute display sequence is controlled through the bae.ini parameters for the Assign Value(s) function. The Comments option can be used to include attribute name comments in the symbol attribute notes.

The layout netlist created during the last Packager run is considered when creating symbol attribute note outputs to ensure that part attributes which are created using the newattr command in logical library definitions are included in the symbol attribute notes.

 

3 Packager

 

3.1 Error Messages

Message Display

The message output screen of the Packager is now erased whenver the screen is full of error and/or warning messages and subsequent messages are listed from the top of the erased screen rather than scrolling the screen with every new message added at the end of the list. This increases the performance of Packager runs with many messages significantly. The facility for scrolling through the complete message list is reactivated when the Packager run is completed.

Error Handling

The Packager has been modified to refrain from immediate termination when encountering errors which can be temporarily ignored by either not processing the error element or by using appropriate default values. All error messages are listed at the end of the Packager run and no layout net list is created in that case. This is helpful at the beginning of a project which still contains many errors, as it reduces the number of switches between Schematic Editor and Packager which are necessary for finding and fixing any errors.

 

3.2 Part Processing

Test Point Generation

The feature for removing part pins from the net list by assigning n.c. net names triggered the generation of test point parts for these non-existent nets. This problem has been fixed.

Variant Part Groups

Using the $rlext attribute for selecting alternative definitions triggered incompatible definition error messages when packing variant symbols into layout parts due to $vgrp attribute settings. This problem has been fixed. The $rlext attribute can now be used together with the $vgrp attibute provided that identical $rlext values are set for the grouped/packed variant symbols.

 

4 Layout Editor

 

4.1 General

Toolbar (Windows)

The toolbar tooltips for zoom windows have been modified to display any available window view information.

Element Properties

The element property dialog which can be activated through the p key has been modified to display read-only name texts such as pin text names in a read-only input field rather than through a label. This allows for such name texts to be copied to the clipboard.

Element Boundaries

The system issued an error message when selecting a placement position outside the current element boundaries with dynamic boundaries not being activated. This behaviour has been changed to allow for dynamic boundaries to be activated through user prompt in such cases.

Variants

The AUTOSVAR_LAY parameter for automatically setting the last active schematic plan variant when loading a layout has been added to bae.ini. This eliminates the need for manually activating the correct layout variant when switching to the Layout Editor or CAM Processor after changing the variant in the Schematic Editor.

Drill Overview

A drill diameter listing with padstack and part/layout references has been added to the output of the File / Library Utilities / Drill Overview function. This makes it easier to locate tool table drill diameters on the layout.

Menu Definitions

The Parts / Autoplacement, Traces / Autorouter and Parts / Autoplacement menus have been turned into submenus with repetitive input loops to prevent the menu texts of the BAE menu from turning into multi-line texts when working in small client windows.

 

4.2 Display, Design Rule Check

 

4.3 Parts, Placement

Part Data Query

A scrollable info field for displaying part attributes and part pins with logical pin names, padstack macro names and net names has been added to the part element property dialog which can be activated through the p key.

Part List Output

The Complete List option for exporting all parts regardless of any $noplc placement status attribute assignments has been added to the File / Import/Export / Part List Output functions.

The PLPSIDE_LAY parameter for adding a field for the part placement side to the output of the CSV/DBF ASCII Format function has been added to bae.ini. The $pdfpside keyword can be used in part list output templates for the EPS/PDF Output to activate placement side outputs.

DRC Check Exclude Parts

When applying the Parts / Other Functions / Height DRC / Check Exclude function to a part without prior check exclude part assignment, the system now provides a DRC part/error name suggestion for easy confirmation.

 

4.4 Traces, Routing

Trace Beautify

The Traces / Other Functions / Trace Beautify function has been modified to eliminate acute trace angles if only the two adjacent trace segements are joined through this operation. Previously, such angles (no matter whether acute or not) were not processed as they were considered to be deliberate corner modifications.

Trace Length Report

The trace length reports and highlight and zoom functions created by the All Nets by Name, All Nets by Length, Visible Nets by Name and Visible Nets by Length functions from the Traces / Other Functions / Trace Length / Length Query submenu are now displayed in a modal dialog to allow for systematic processing of the displayed nets without having to reactivate the trace length report after modifying a trace.

Trace Impedance

Some PCB board and trace thickness combinations caused value range overflows in the exponential functions of the impedance calculation formulas, thus resulting in non-sensical impedance and/or thickness values. This problem has been fixed through the use of modified internal iteration start values.

Via Placement

The Traces / Via Functions / Dot Fill Area has been modified to avoid via positions which might intersect with elements of the fill area net. This prevents the system from placing any vias on the pins of the target net.

The Traces / Via Functions / Create Trace Shield function has been modified to allow not only trace picks but also the selection of polygons to be shielded. The Via Sides option for placing the vias either to the left or inside or to the right or outside the selected trace or polygon element has been added.

Net Visibility Status

Load and Save buttons for loading and saving net visibility selections have been added to the Settings / Settings bae.ini dialog.

Net List Assistant

The Part Nets option for processing the nets of a mouse-clickable part has been added to the attribute-controlled net selection which can be activated through the $ entry. This simplifies certain tasks such as the highlighting of all nets connected to a specific part.

Short Circuit Report

The short circuit pins listed at the top of the Traces / Net List Utilities / Report Pin Status is now sorted by short circuit level names and net names, and the short circuits are numbered. This makes it easier to find conflicting pins and/or nets on PCB boards with multiple short circuits.

Autorouter

The Autorouter routing functions have been made available in the Layout Editor submenu Traces / Autorouter. When starting an autorouter function, Layout Editor switches into autorouting modus which can subsequently be deactivated using the Terminate Router Mode function. Activating the autorouting mode automatically deactivates all other layout modification menu and context menu functions. Activating a User Language function or a layout modification through a shoprtcut keykey call terminates the autorouting mode with a corresponding warning.

The Layout Editor provides the Single Net Full Router (default function), Single Net Initial Router (Initial routing with channel width 0) and Single Net Optimizer functions instead of the Single Net Route Autorouter function. In autorouter mode, the Traces / Delete Net function only removes unfixed traces of the selected net without terminating the autorouter mode. I.e., Traces / Delete Net can be used interactively to provide alternative routing solutions during rip-up autorouting procedures. The Single Net Full Router, Single Net Initial Router, Single Net Optimizer and Traces / Delete Net functions are also available through the right mouse button context menus for traces and part pins. Please note that these functions trigger automatic Load Traces calls if autorouter mode is not active, thus potentially removing unfixed traces which violate current autorouting parameter settings.

Please note that the Layout Editor automatically performs an online design rule check when saving routing results. This means that Layout Editor autorouting procedures could take longer than in the Autorouter if Security Copy is activated.

The Layout Editor loads and considers the Autorouter control and strategy parameter settings from the [ar] section in bae.ini.

 

4.5 Graphic, Copper Areas

Crosspoint Snap

The Crosspoint function of the x key has been extended to allow for the selection of virtual crosspoints (crosspoints of lengthened/extended pick polygon and/or trace segments), thus providing additional drawing options.

Dimensioning

The functions from the Areas / Other Functions / Drawing Utilities submenu have been modified to use a comma instead of a dot in front of the decimals of measuring texts depending on the COORDTMODE_GED setting from bae.ini.

The X Dimensioning and Y Dimensioning measurement functions have been modified to draw an arrow from the measurement origin to the measurement text. The measurement arrow can be activated and its appearance can be configured through the right mouse button context menu and through new bae.ini parameters.

The measurement object pick facility of the Delete Measurement/Ruler function has been modified to allow for selections through both text and graphic elements of the measurement object. Previously, a measurement object had to be selected by clicking one its graphic elements.

Bitmap Data Import

With Antialiasing activated, the File / Import/Export / Bitmap Input submenu functions created polygons with enlarged or missing antialias segments in the bottom left and/or top right corner of the polygon. This problem has been fixed.

 

4.6 Text, Drill

Text Placement

Control elements for text height, text angle, text mirroring, text alignment and text frame mode specifications have been added to the text input dialog of the Add Text function and the T toolbar button to allow for those text properties to be specified prior to placement.

Part Attribute Texts

The Move Name and Move Attribute context menu functions have been modified to keep the old text position rather than requiring a new text positioning if a zero text size is specified for fading out the text.

Text Alignment

The Utilities / Draw Assistant function has been modified to allow for texts to be vertically centered.

Multiline Texts

Pen width and rule assignments to a single multiline text element are now automatically transferred to all other texts elements of that multiline text.

Rule assignments to multiline texts could get lost when editing these texts. This problem has been fixed.

Text Conversion

The Text->Trace/Area and Text->Docline functions from the Text, Drill / Other Functions menu have been converted into submenus with the Single Elements and Group options for processing either single mouse-selectable texts or all group-selected texts, respectively.

The Text->Trace/Area function has been modified to prioritize text-specific pen width assignments over default pen width settings.

The Text->Docline function has been modified to transfer pen width assignments from the processed texts to the generated documentary lines.

Drill Legend

The File / Import/Export / Drill Data Output / Drill Plan/Legend function for creating a drill plan with drill diameter legend on a selectable documentary layer has been added to the Layout Editor. The drill diameter legend is created as multiline text which can be edited with the text functions.

 

4.7 Group Functions

Group Selection

The Edit / Group Elements submenu functions have been modified to Select and/or Deselect only those elements which are not yet selected and/or deselected, respectively. This simplifies the selection and/or deselection of multiple overlapping elements as they can simply be picked through repeated clicks without having to change the pick preference layer.

The Edit / Other Functions / Select / Part Trace Routes function selected only one trace per layer when a part pin was clicked. This behaviour has been changed. Edit / Other Functions / Select / Part Trace Routes now selects all traces of the same layer which are starting on the clicked part pin.

Group Movement

The c shortcut key for temporarily releasing the angle lock has been added to the Move Group function. The previous angle lock mode is restored upon completion of the Move Group function.

Group Settings

The Edit / Group Display Mode function has been renamed to Group Settings and activates a dialog with group parameter settings which allows for the Display Mode to be selected and the new Angle Release and Element Snap parameters to be set. Angle Release provides an option for automatically releasing the angle lock during Move Group operations. Element Snap provides the Only Visible option which restricts the Parts, Traces, Areas and Text functions from the Edit / Group Polygon submenu and the rectangle selection through the Shift and Ctrl keys to the currently visible elements within the selected polygon and/or rectangle. This prevents from unintentionally selecting and/or deselecting invisible group elements.

Group Placements

The Group Load 0,0 option for loading groups and placing them at the origin of the currently loaded element has been added to the right mouse button context menu of the file element favourites toolbar functions/buttons for opening/loading elements.

 

4.8 Automatic Copper Fill

Copper Fill Consistency Check

The copper fill functions have been modified to apply extended consistency checks on generated copper fill areas. These checks recognize and eliminate zig-zag structures which may have been created due to limited mathematical precision and might cause connectivity problems such as short-circuits (with subsequent elimination of otherwise valid fill areas), as well as other DRC and CAM output problems.

Copper Fill Area List

The Areas / Other Functions / Fill Area List function has been modified to list the copper fill areas of the currently loaded layout in the descending fill priority order in which they will be processed by the Fill all areas function. This provides additional information about the effects of fill priority settings and/or fill priority requirements for nested fill areas.

 

5 Autorouter

 

5.1 General

Error Messages

Part-related router error messages such as Pin out of border! have been modified to trigger an automatic Zoom Window to the element boundaries of the affected part.

 

6 CAM Processor

 

6.1 General

Hyperlynx Output

The File / Import/Export / Hyperlynx Output function has been modified to substitute dots in output names with underscores to relaibly separate part from pin names.

 

6.2 Control Plot

EPS/PDF Output

The Annotation Output option for including part and pin information notes with PDF outputs has been added to the EPS/PDF Output function. Notes are displayed as bright dashed frame in the output. When hovering over such frames, a window appears which displays the part and/or pin information. Annotation frames are not included when printing and/or plotting the PDF file. Annotations can optionally be restricted to parts which have pads only on the part or solder side, respectively.

The Initial Display option has been added to the layer level names control element for PDF layer outputs in batch definitions. Initial Display can be used to control whether a layer level should be visible or invisible in the PDF initial view.

The Grids dialog for managing display grids on output pages has been added to the output page batch definition facilities of the EPS/PDF Output function. Grids allows for the definition of arbitrary point and/or line grids. It is possible to configure the grids for print output inclusion or exclusion and to assign grid output layer level names to allow for grid display control in PDF viewers.

The Page Output Query and Layer Output Query options for activating page and/or layer output confirmation prompts with default settings have been added to the output file parameters of the EPS/PDF Output batch definitions to allow for the definition of batches with on-the-fly output page and/or output layer selections.

CAM-Batch Output

The CAM-Batch Output function has been modified to support multi-level directory generation, thus allowing for the specification of output directories such as output/gerber.

 

6.3 Gerber Photo Plot

Power Layer Output

Power layer isolation clearance consistency checks for drill padstacks with keepout areas have been added to the power layout output functions. These checks test whether diameters of circular keepout areas on drill holes exceed the drill hole area (including the power layer isolation distances specified through Settings / Settings bae) and whether there is no corresponding circular isolation area (power plane) drawn on the power layer of the padstack. Warning messages are issued for padstacks violating drill hole clearances defined through keepout areas on signal layers.

 

7 CAM View

 

7.1 General

 

7.2 Data Import

Batch Import

The File / Batch / Load function for loading multiple drill and/or Gerber data files has been modified to trigger only a single Zoom Overview call at the end of the complete load batch rather than Zoom Overview calls after each file has been loaded. This increases the performance significantly if more than one file is loaded.

 

7.3 Gerber Data

Layout Creation

The File / Create Layout function for creating layouts from the currently loaded Gerber and drilling data has been turned into a submenu with the Placement and Connectivity functions. Placement is the default setting for direct layout generation. Connectivity tries to convert parallel line hatching into fully filled polygons prior to the layout generation to reduce the amount of converted data (and increase the performance of subsequent operations). Connectivity also tries to convert interpolated arcs into true arcs. The Connectivity optimizations are carried out in main memory to allow for immediate inspection in CAM View. With default color settings, the display for converted lines changes from dark grey to blue for G36/G37 areas.

 

8 Utilities

 

9 Bartels User Language

 

9.1 General

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.

 

9.2 User Language Compiler

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.

Warning Messages

The -t option for suppressing warning messages related to the compilation of include files has been added to the User Language Compiler. -t0 is the default option for including warning messages related to the compilation of both top level source files and included source files. -t1 suppresses warning messages related to the compilation of include files, thus simplifying the analysis of warning messages when working with standard include files containing functions and variables which are not used by every program.

 

9.3 User Language Interpreter

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.

 

9.4 Index Variable Types

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.

 

9.5 System Functions

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.

Changed System Functions

Support for additional parameter queries/settings has been added to the bae_getintpar, bae_setintpar, scm_getintpar, scm_setintpar, scm_getdblpar, scm_setdblpar, scm_getstrpar, scm_setstrpar, ged_getintpar, ged_setintpar, ged_getdblpar, ged_setdblpar, cv_getintpar, cv_setintpar, cv_getdblpar and cv_setdblpar functions.

The DDB file name and layout net list name parameters of the cap_layconload function have been modified to allow for optional name queries to be activated through ? name specifications.

The pick element type parameter of the scm_pickelem function has been extended to support the pick of named symbol and/or label referenzes.

Support for an additional net checking mode has been added to the ged_drcpath, ged_drcpoly and ged_drcvia functions.

 

9.6 BAE User Language Programs

BAE installs more than 220 pre-compiled User Language programs to the ulcprog.vdb file of the BAE programs directory. Additionally, the User Language source files (close to 9 Mbytes; some 300,000 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.

User Language Include Files

The User Language include files have been revised and extended by a series of new definitions and functions.

Changed User Language Programs

The User Language programs already delivered with the previous BAE Version have been 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.

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Bartels AutoEngineer® - Next Version - Release Notes - * Preliminary Information * • © 1985-2010 Oliver Bartels F+E • Updated: 05 March 2010, 20:23 [GMT]

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