Bartels AutoEngineer®

Bartels AutoEngineer® (BAE) is a famous EDA/CAE/CAD/CAM software system for schematic capture, printed circuit board design and IC/ASIC design. Bartels AutoEngineer® software runs under Microsoft Windows, Linux and various X11/Unix systems. Look for yourself why more and more well-known companies - ranging from A like Alcatel (GSM) to Z like Zytek (motor sports) - are using Bartels AutoEngineer® software for the design and development of complex state-of-the-art electronic modules and components.

General Bartels AutoEngineer® Information This section provides general Bartels AutoEngineer® information such as illustrated feature lists. You might want to take a look at some of the screen shots before installing the Bartels AutoEngineer software. more >>	Download BAE Demo/SCM Download BAE Demo software if you want to test the Bartels AutoEngineer or get the free, fully functional BAE Schematic Editor for Windows or Linux. The software configuration (BAE Demo or BAE Schematics) can be selected during or after installation. BAE Schematics generates net lists for BAE and third party layout systems, simulation tools and FGPA design systems. We are happy to convert any design files created with BAE Demo should you decide to purchase a productive BAE version. more >>
Bartels AutoRouter® A special section is dedicated to the Bartels AutoRouter®. This includes Bartels AutoRouter® OEM product information for existing or future OEM partners. more >>	Bartels AutoEngineer Price List Check out the BAE Price List if you want to order Bartels AutoEngineer software. Please note that BAE system prices are subject to discounts for multiple BAE systems/license purchases, universities, schools, students, etc. Please contact us with any enquiries regarding discounts... more >> Quality doesn't have to be expensive: Bartels AutoEngineer Light, the entry level system for double-sided PCBs up to euro format size (160 × 100 mm) is on offer for only 159 Euro plus VAT and delivery. The Bartels Autorouter as well as all other BAE Professional features and User Language are included in this price. A real bargain of a top EDA software system! You can order Bartels AutoEngineer Light here and now: BAE Light Order
BAE Documentation This section provides access to the Bartels AutoEngineer® software documentation. The manuals and publications are provided in English and German for web browsing and in PDF download format for offline reading and printout and include the BAE Installation Guide, the BAE User Manual to get started and for reference, and the User Language Programmer's Guide for experts. The Bartels AutoEngineer is an open system and can be fully programmed, the User Language Compiler is supplied with each BAE software configuration. Many BAE user interface functions are provided with User Language source code and can be adapted, amended or changed to meet user-specific requirements, even in BAE Demo. Release Notes with detailed information about new features are provided with each official Bartels AutoEngineer software release. more >>	BAE Support The BAE Support Area provides technical support as well as dedicated updates, patches and downloads for existing BAE users. Check out the BAE FAQs if you are looking for answers to frequently asked questions about the Bartels AutoEngineer. more >> BAE Updates Please use this special password-protected download section if you are a registered BAE user with a software maintenance contract and want to update your licensed Bartels AutoEngineer system (BAE Light, BAE Economy, BAE FabView, BAE Professional or BAE HighEnd). more >>

Last Change

Bartels Autorouter® - Routing Examples

26/01/2007

The following pictures show typical screen shots of the Bartels AutoEngineer® software. The basic BAE user interface is identical on the supported platforms. However, through the User Language which is freely available with every BAE system, the features for customizing the menu layout and adding new functions virtually unlimited. We are encouraging and supporting users in adapting the menu to their special requirements. I.e., customer-specific BAE menus are commonplace...

Figure 1 shows a screen shot from the BAE HighEnd main menu screen on Windows XP. The New Task function starts additional processes coupled with the current process, thus allowing for inter-module communications such as cross-highlighting between the Schematic Editor and the PCB Layout Editor. The CAM View module including Gerber viewer, panelization functions and manufacturing data optimizers is provided with every AutoEngineer layout system at no additional cost. The menu below also shows the function for activating the optional IC/ASIC Design system:

Figure 1: Bartels AutoEngineer HighEnd Main Menu

Figure 2 shows a typical Schematic Capture session. The toolbar at the left provides buttons for frequently used display and file functions, design view management facilities, and a feature for automatic part attribute settings, all of which is designed and can be fully customized through User Language. Please note the resistor attributes and the bus connection to the processor IC in the schematic plan. The system automatically connects the individual bus lines based on the logical library description:

Figure 2: Bartels AutoEngineer Schematic Capture

Figure 3 shows a typical PCB Layout Editor window. The PCB layout displayed shows a mixture of possible design options, such as the use of surface mounted devices (SMDs), curved traces, negative split power planes, positive copper pour areas, irregular pad and copper shapes, etc. The DRC is able to handle all these online and in real time, as it is based on an incremental technology which also allows for multi-step Undo/Redo. The toolbar on the lefthand side is designed with User Language and provides design view management facilities and buttons for frequently used display and file access functions:

Figure 3: Bartels AutoEngineer PCB Layout

An IC design module including real-time mask connectivity, GDS2 I/O, Standard Cell Placement with intelligent algorithms as well as routing using the Bartels AutoEngineer in its IC design version is available as an option. Figure 4 shows a typical IC mask layout (Chip Editor) session.

Figure 4: Bartels AutoEngineer ASIC/IC Design

The following figures show the hierarchical structure of the Bartels AutoEngineer object oriented Design DataBase (DDB). All design objects are stored in a single file, and each design object belongs to a certain class (e.g., drawing, symbol, etc.) and can inherit (include) symbols from the same or from other classes depending on the design context. Database and design objects can be manipulated independently from other objects and may be copied, extracted, included or deleted as required. The database knows about the design relations, i.e., copying a schematic sheet automatically copies inherited part and pin symbols. All database files, design or library, have the same file format. Whether a file is a design or a library file depends on its (contextual) content rather than on its file structure.

Figure 1 explains the schematic capture graphical object relations:

Figure 1: SCM Database Hierarchy

Figure 2 shows the relations between the logical and physical parts as well as an example for pin/gate/group swap information and power supply pins. This description can also be used to specify a fully hierarchical design, e.g., for ASICs or custom ICs:

Figure 2: Part Data Sheet with Loglib Definition

Figure 3 illustrates the construction of a printed circuit board. Arbitrarily shaped polygons can be created in any design hierarchy level. A polygon may also contain arcs, which are handled by the system as basic element types, i.e., all arc calculations are precise without using arc interpolation:

Figure 3: Layout Database Hierarchy

Figure 4 explains the overall dataflow within the complete design system including schematic capture and PCB design. Consider the central position of the Job File which, at the end of the design process, contains all design-specific objects such as the schematic sheets, the PCB layout, the netlist data, and the job-specific library data:

Figure 4: Bartels AutoEngineer System Flow Diagram

Please note that the same design file which contains all SCM and PCB data may also contain part lists or other table-oriented information. The Bartels AutoEngineer database software includes an SQL engine which is able to bundle SQL table information transparently into its own object class and automatically build indices for quick database access. SQL database access optimization works with multiple tables, too. All database queries, whether to objects or via the SQL engine, are processed by a powerful variable key-length B-TREE algorithm. It is not necessary to copy symbol and/or part libarary data directly onto a schematic plan and/or a PCB layout, the schematic plan and the PCB layout objects only store (placement data) references to the placed symbols and/or parts. Library symbols and parts are copied into the design file when they are requested for placement for the first time. This automatically creates design-specific symbol and part libraries within the design file and leaves the designer with the opportunity to modify design-specific library elements without changing the original (master) library. The backup of a design is also much simplified, since a single DDB file ends up containing the complete SCM and PCB design and library data.

The Bartels Autorouter® was the first PC based protected mode rip-up/retry router. It is still the only one with selective Rip-Up/Cleanup/Backtracking. Previous versions were known as Superoute of which thousands of licenses were sold worldwide. Superoute modules were also modified by some source code OEM customers. Routers sold today under the name Superoute no longer represent Bartels latest routing technology.

Bartels is the original source for all of the OEM versions resulting from more than 15 OEM contracts. The latest Bartels Autorouter® version is integrated in the Bartels AutoEngineer® CAD/CAE system.

• Rip-Up/Retry Router with AI Backtracking.
• Intelligent routing provides high quality results.
• Backtracking allows the router to try several different solutions before committing to one. E.g., the router may remove a bunch of intersecting traces, trying an alignment without the risk of losing the previously best solution.
• Unique selective Rip-Up/Retry algorithm, superset of global Rip-Up and Shove.
• Unique selective Clean-Up algorithm.
• Any (user selectable) grid, sub-grid (between traces) routing, mixture of different grids, gridless pad connections.
• Net-oriented product, full T-connection support, incomplete traces for SMT-via preplacement.
• User selectable individual net/trace constraints for, e.g., width, length, structure, distance, priority.
• Real working optimization for really manufacturable PCB designs. Cross-net optimization (Cleanup).
• Automatic redesign of existing projects, stop, leave and/or re-start at any time (Re-Entrant routing).
• On-screen visible routing, rip-up, etc. Numerous user-controlled modes and routing cost factors.
• Supports any geometry of items including curved traces, polygon-with-arc obstacles and blind/buried/staggered vias with floating point accuracy.
• Rule based routing using Neural Net Technology.
• Both cell and shape based Routing algorithms, based on priority trees.
• Optional automatic Pin/Gate Swap during Routing.
• Optional Autoplacement.
• Bartels Autorouter® - Routing Examples

The router supports gridless placement of pads, obstacles and traces, cell based routing grid, routing with one or multiple cells in width to existing on-grid or off-grid pads and on-grid or off-grid traces. The off-grid feature is a combination of grid-based and gridless routing technologies and does off-grid routing of traces even in a cell-based environment, making it the ideal combination between cell-based and shape-based technologies.

Integrated with the BAE schematic and PCB rule system, the Bartels AutoEngineer supports automatic assignment of net classes based on library part/pin classifications and schematic tags to the actual design. Together with rules assigned to PCB areas, this allows for board design with EMC (Electromagnetic Compatibility) rules application.

Increased use of SMT fine pitch parts has created a demand for a flexible grid routing technology. The previous versions of the Bartels AutoEngineer used the following data representation:

• A one byte per cell per layer routing matrix (any basic grid may be chosen)
• Integer (matrix) coordinates routed trace representation
• Indexed floating point trace anchors (e.g., to fixed off-grid traces)
• Floating point fixed trace representation
• Floating point polygon pin and obstacle representation

In this case floating point coordinates permit what is called a "gridless" (shape/contour) representation. This database supports true floating point polygons/polylines including arcs for all data including prerouted fixed traces, however, with the exception of currently routed traces. The router can connect to off-grid junction points, including pins and fixed traces.

With the introduction of the sub-grid mode, the on-grid limit for routed traces was relaxed to half-grid (one-half) shifted traces, thus permitting proper handling of fine pitch SMT. However, this mode requires additional matrix memory and more computing time.

Competing products claiming to be "gridless" choose a multi-way (mostly four-way) geometrical tree approach which ends up in rectangular leafs. The advantage of this data representation is that rectangular data may indeed be represented with high resolution and routing is fast if trace and corner density is low. However, for high-density boards it requires even more memory than a matrix-based approach, and access time for allocation checks at certain board positions can increase excessively. The greatest pitfall, however, is the lack of efficient facilities for joining neighbouring rectangles, thus layout quality in true gridless mode often deteriorates dramatically, with 100% routing results becoming exceptional. This is especially true for non-rectangular (e.g., polygon) obstacles and 45 degree routing.

Our solution is to keep the matrix at the lowest possible density for strategic routing purposes, and to do the final artwork on a gridless database.

The Bartels Autorouter V6.0 maintains a floating point database for routed traces parallel to the integer/matrix representation (dual database). The matrix allows for efficient routing and rip-up/retry with high quality results even for highest trace and/or ratsnet density. The floating point contour/shape routing database results in efficient board space usage by finding off-grid SMT channels and high quality SMT pad connections including long distance off-grid routing where required and/or applicable. The dual database combines the advantages of both concepts, thus giving significant improvement over both pure matrix and pure shape-based routing. The strategic trace routing is done via the matrix, thus both the advanced Lee algorithm which guarantees to find the least cost optimum way for a single trace, and the Bartels RipUp and CleanUp algorithms which detect optimum traces for rip-up and cleanup, can be used together with a non-rectangular shape-based database.

The dual database is an open end development. One of the next steps will be simultaneous maintenance of multiple routing matrices to reach even higher quality on mixed analog/digital boards. Further developments could yield the selective placement adjustment for certain parts to combine and thus gain additional trace channels.

The Bartels Autorouter V6.0 is also called the Neural Router because it may be combined with the Bartels Rule System. The Rule System applies one or more rules to system objects such as parts or traces. The rules are defined using a language similar to Prolog, however, with special operators to find not only all possible, but also optimum solutions to design-specific rule system queries or output requests.

The rules may be defined and assigned to individual items such as parts, nets, or traces as well as for the overall system, e.g., for cost factor and routing strategy control.

As the Rule System uses a novel neural net approach to focus the rule evaluation on the probably best path, the Bartels AutoEngineer combined with the Rule System is called the Bartels Neural Autorouter™.

The Bartels Autorouter V6.0 implements the pin/gate/group swap within the router depending on the routing results. If enabled, this feature permits routing of even the most complex boards, because the router gains an additional degree of freedom. The swaps done by the Autorouter are reported by the output interface and Backannotation requests for correlating the schematic plan are automatically stored with the design.

Together with the introduction of the pin/gate/group swaps, a part-oriented input interface was implemented to permit placement optimizations by the router in future versions. The interface now maintains an additional attribute field (trace/via ident code) to support rather specific definitions such as traces on part level, a BAE-specific feature widely used for defining printed inductors.

A documented interactive routing functions interface is provided to implement the interactive single net/part routing features through the standard interface (used by the Neural Autorouter module).

In addition to standard negative power planes and copper and copper pour areas, the Autorouter now also supports split hierarchical negative power planes.

The following images shows some examples of PCB designs which were automatically routed with the Bartels Autorouter®.

Figure 1a displays a medium size conventional printed circuit board with some manually pre-routed critical traces and power supply connections:

Figure 1a: Bartels Autorouter Application Example - Medium Size Conventional Board (unrouted)

Figure 1b shows the automatically routed version of the PCB layout from figure 1a. The Autorouter used four signal layers and two power planes:

Figure 1b: Bartels Autorouter Application Example - Medium Size Conventional Board (automatically routed)

Labels included in Net Highlight - with Highlight Focus

Clipboard - Attribute Transfer

Clipboard - Coordinate Transfer

Left Treeview Menu Display

Right Treeview Menu Display

Angle Direction Marker Solid display for segment placed by setting corner point Dashed display for segment processed after corner point

Separate X/Y Coordinates

X/Y Coordinate Pair

Schematic Plan Differential Pair Marker

Layout Pair Partner Hatch Highlight and Parallel Trace Display

DRC Error Marker with Distance Display

DRC Error Report with Distance Display

Symbol Browser

Draw Assistant

Favorites Dialog

Create/Edit Polygon...

...Rotate Symmetrically

View Layout Component Side

View Layout Solder Side

File Contents Info during File Selection

Toolbar Function Tooltips

Element Info (optional)

Polygons

Cut Out

Contour

Intersection

Modeless Layout Editor dialog with net-specific functions.

Signal Phase Shift Display

Phase Shift Compensation through Trace Length Adjustment

Gridless routing alongside obstacle edges

Trace centered between obstacles

Pin Assignments Table

Pin Assignments graphically

SMD Pin Routing prior to BAE V6.6

SMD Pin Routing in BAE V6.6

SCM Toolbar Buttons for Quick Drawing Function Access

Layout Toolbar Buttons for Quick Documentary Layer Access

Layout Toolbar Buttons for Color Table Management and Access

Formula Input...

...is automatically calculated

Highligh Focus Off

Highlight Focus On

Bus Tap Row Definition

Bus Tap Row Placement

BGA Via Fanout Routing

Microvias - Via-in-Pin Routing

Increased Multilayer Visibility

Overlapping Fill Area Outlines visible

only Values visible

Values and Pin Names visible

only Pin Names visible

e.g., for Milling Contour Generation

Displaying swappable Pins/Gates...

...and possible Swap Partners

DRC Error Listing...

...and Zoom to Selected Error

delay in BAE Professional

instant response in BAE HighEnd

deleting power signal area in BAE Professional

deleting power signal area in BAE HighEnd

highlighting all short-circuit net elements in BAE Professional

selective short-circuit highlight in BAE HighEnd

layout part selection...

...and automatic zoom to SCM symbol

SCM symbol group selection...

...to select corresponding layout parts

select SCM symbol...

...and place corresponding layout part

group-select SCM symbols and...

...autoplace corresponding layout part set

Prices effective as of November 4th, 2013 and correct at time of going to press. All prices are shown in European Monetary Union (EMU) Euro currency, exclusive and inclusive of VAT. German VAT at 19% applies to all customers in Germany and to all EU customers without EC VAT Registration number. Software delivery is free of charge.

All prices based on and displayed in Euro (EUR) and additionally/optionally displayed in the selected currency:

EUR - Euro GBP - Pound Sterling USD - US Dollar CAD - Canadian Dollar AUD - Australian Dollar JPY - Japanese Yen BGN - Bulgarian Lev CHF - Swiss Franc CZK - Czech Koruna DKK - Danish Krone HRK - Croatian Kuna HUF - Hungarian Forint LTL - Lithuanian Litas LVL - Latvian Lats NOK - Norwegian Krone PLN - Polish Zloty RON - New Romanian Leu RUB - Russian Rouble SEK - Swedish Krona TRY - New Turkish Lira NZD - New Zealand Dollar CNY - Chinese Yuan Renminbi HKD - Hong Kong Dollar IDR - Indonesian Rupiah KRW - South Korean Won MYR - Malaysian Ringgit PHP - Philippine Peso SGD - Singapore Dollar THB - Thai Baht BRL - Brasilian Real MXN - Mexican Peso ZAR - South African Rand ILS - Israeli New Shekel INR - Indian Rupee

Currently selected display: Euro (EUR). Prices displayed in other than Euro currencies (GBP, USD, etc.) are subject to exchange rate fluctuation and may have to be adjusted in line with the Euro exchange rate on the day of the purchase.

Notes

BAE system prices (except for BAE Demo, BAE Schematics and BAE Light) are subject to discounts for multiple BAE systems/license purchases, universities, schools, students, etc. Please contact us with any enquiries regarding discounts.

We reserve the right to change all prices without notice. The standard sales and delivery terms of Bartels System GmbH apply. Especially, all delivered goods remain our property until full payment of the invoiced amount. The European Copyright Directive applies, which means that duplication of the delivered software is not permitted except for backup purposes. We sell single per-piece non-exclusive licenses only. Place of court and jurisdiction is Munich, Germany.

Inquiries

You can use the following form to send your inquiry via Email message to us, even if you don't have Email on your system. Please fill in the appropriate details, then press Send:

As Bartels AutoEngineer software is a professional EDA system, it requires quite some space even in its compressed form. We decided to focus on the Windows and Linux versions, which have relatively small binaries due to modern compression technology. Please contact us if you experience download problems, or if you are interested in BAE systems for other operating system platforms such as Sun Solaris.

Please fill in and submit the following form to select the desired download:

The Bartels AutoEngineer® software is © copyrighted, the copyright belongs to Oliver Bartels F+E, Munich, Germany. The name Bartels AutoEngineer® is a registered trademark. The software is provided for evaluation purposes and exclusively under the law and jurisdiction of the Federal Republic of Germany with place of court at Munich, Germany. As this demo version is provided for free, there is no money back guarantee, however we are of course interested in bug reports to provide the highest quality software to our customers. But in no case shall we be responsible for indirect or consequential damages. German Legislation also means that the binding software copyright rules of the European Union apply, which prohibits unauthorized duplication of this copyrighted software by third parties. You also agree not to attempt to circumvent the restrictions of the Bartels AutoEngineer Demo version by altering the software or by using keys other than those provided by us. The software may not be redistributed in whole or in part without our prior written permission. You also agree that we do not permit or support the use of this software in countries to which its export is forbidden by German law. We are interested in mirroring sites, however we want to make sure that our customers always receive the latest version, thus the demand for permission. BAE Schematics is provided on an as is basis for internal use only. Commercial redistribution is expressly prohibited.

By starting the download you agree to the above conditions and legislation. Please do not download the software if you do not agree to the above conditions or if your country does not permit the sole and binding application of German law and jurisdiction or does not permit the above mentioned liability limitations.

Bartels System currently provides the following Bartels AutoEngineer manuals and publications. Adobe Acrobat Reader is required for viewing and/or printing Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files.

Bartels AutoEngineer® - Installation Guide

The Bartels AutoEngineer® - Installation Guide describes the Bartels AutoEngineer configurations and system requirements and provides detailed Bartels AutoEngineer installation instructions for all supported hardware and software platforms.

HTML Version
PDF Version (202 KB; updated 09 November 2013)

Bartels AutoEngineer® - User Manual

The Bartels AutoEngineer® - User Manual describes in detail how to use the Bartels AutoEngineer CAE/CAD/CAM design system. The following main topics are covered by this manual:

• Introduction: System Architecture, general Operating Instructions, Design Database
• Circuit Design (CAE), Schematic Editor
• Netlist Processing, Forward and Backward Annotation
• PCB Design and manufacturing data processing (CAD/CAM), Layout Editor, Autoplacement, Autorouting, CAM Processor, CAM View
• IC/ASIC Design, Chip Editor for interactive IC mask layout, Cell Placer and Cell Router for place & route, GDS and CIF import and export
• Neural Rule System
• Utility Programs

HTML Version
PDF Version (3.1 MB; updated 11 November 2013)

Bartels AutoEngineer® - Symbol and Part Libraries

The Bartels AutoEngineer® - Symbol and Part Libraries documentation contains detailed information about the symbol and part libraries provided with the Bartels AutoEngineer CAE/CAD/CAM design system.

HTML Version


Bartels User Language - Programmer's Guide

The Bartels User Language - Programmer's Guide describes how to use the Bartels User Language in Bartels AutoEngineer, i.e., how it is integrated to the Bartels AutoEngineer EDA system and how it can be applied. The following main topics are covered by this manual:

• Basic concepts and description of the Bartels User Language
• The Bartels User Language programming system:
  User Language Compiler and User Language Interpreter
• User Language example source code listings, short information on the User Language programs supplied with the Bartels AutoEngineer
• Special data types defined for accessing Bartels AutoEngineer design data
• User Language system function reference

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PDF Version (2.1 MB; updated 11 November 2013)

Bartels AutoEngineer® - Update History

The Bartels AutoEngineer® - Update History provides short information about the most important new features, enhancements and changes introduced by Bartels AutoEngineer update versions released since Bartels AutoEngineer Version 1.2. Forward compatibility from earlier versions to newer Bartels AutoEngineer versions is always ensured, but not backward compatibility.

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PDF Version (372 KB; updated 09 November 2013)

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.

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Bartels AutoEngineer® - Version 8.0 - Release Notes

The Bartels AutoEngineer® - Version 8.0 - Release Notes provide detailed information about new features, enhancements, changes and bug-fixing introduced with Bartels AutoEngineer Version 8.0. Forward compatibility from earlier versions to Bartels AutoEngineer Version 8.0 is ensured, but not backward compatibility.

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PDF Version (280 KB; updated 09 November 2013)

Bartels AutoEngineer® - Version 7.8 - Release Notes

The Bartels AutoEngineer® - Version 7.8 - Release Notes provide detailed information about new features, enhancements, changes and bug-fixing introduced with Bartels AutoEngineer Version 7.8. Forward compatibility from earlier versions to Bartels AutoEngineer Version 7.8 is ensured, but not backward compatibility.

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PDF Version (459 KB; updated 21 May 2012)

Bartels AutoEngineer® - Version 7.6 - Release Notes

The Bartels AutoEngineer® - Version 7.6 - Release Notes provide detailed information about new features, enhancements, changes and bug-fixing introduced with Bartels AutoEngineer Version 7.6. Forward compatibility from earlier versions to Bartels AutoEngineer Version 7.6 is ensured, but not backward compatibility.

HTML Version
PDF Version (255 KB; updated 28 October 2010)

Bartels AutoEngineer® - Version 7.4 - Release Notes

The Bartels AutoEngineer® - Version 7.4 - Release Notes provide detailed information about new features, enhancements, changes and bug-fixing introduced with Bartels AutoEngineer Version 7.4. Forward compatibility from earlier versions to Bartels AutoEngineer Version 7.4 is ensured, but not backward compatibility.

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PDF Version (239 KB; updated 22 October 2010)

Bartels AutoEngineer® - Version 7.2 - Release Notes

The Bartels AutoEngineer® - Version 7.2 - Release Notes provide detailed information about new features, enhancements, changes and bug-fixing introduced with Bartels AutoEngineer Version 7.2. Forward compatibility from earlier versions to Bartels AutoEngineer Version 7.2 is ensured, but not backward compatibility.

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PDF Version (248 KB; updated 24 October 2008)

Bartels AutoEngineer® - Version 7.0 - Release Notes

The Bartels AutoEngineer® - Version 7.0 - Release Notes provide detailed information about new features, enhancements, changes and bug-fixing introduced with Bartels AutoEngineer Version 7.0. Forward compatibility from earlier versions to Bartels AutoEngineer Version 7.0 is ensured, but not backward compatibility.

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PDF Version (314 KB; updated 24 October 2008)

Bartels AutoEngineer® - Version 6.8 - Release Notes

The Bartels AutoEngineer® - Version 6.8 - Release Notes provide detailed information about new features, enhancements, changes and bug-fixing introduced with Bartels AutoEngineer Version 6.8. Forward compatibility from earlier versions to Bartels AutoEngineer Version 6.8 is ensured, but not backward compatibility.

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PDF Version (366 KB; updated 24 October 2008)

Bartels AutoEngineer® - Version 6.6 - Release Notes

The Bartels AutoEngineer® - Version 6.6 - Release Notes provide detailed information about new features, enhancements, changes and bug-fixing introduced with Bartels AutoEngineer Version 6.6. Forward compatibility from earlier versions to Bartels AutoEngineer Version 6.6 is ensured, but not backward compatibility.

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PDF Version (304 KB; updated 24 October 2008)

Bartels AutoEngineer® - Version 6.4 - Release Notes

The Bartels AutoEngineer® - Version 6.4 - Release Notes provide detailed information about new features, enhancements, changes and bug-fixing introduced with Bartels AutoEngineer Version 6.4. Forward compatibility from earlier versions to Bartels AutoEngineer Version 6.4 is ensured, but not backward compatibility.

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PDF Version (165 KB; updated 24 October 2008)

Bartels AutoEngineer® - Version 6.2 - Release Notes

The Bartels AutoEngineer® - Version 6.2 - Release Notes provide detailed information about new features, enhancements, changes and bug-fixing introduced with Bartels AutoEngineer Version 6.2. Forward compatibility from earlier versions to Bartels AutoEngineer Version 6.2 is ensured, but not backward compatibility.

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PDF Version (115 KB; updated 24 October 2008)

Bartels AutoEngineer® - Version 6.0 - Release Notes

The Bartels AutoEngineer® - Version 6.0 - Release Notes provide detailed information about new features, enhancements, changes and bug-fixing introduced with Bartels AutoEngineer Version 6.0. Forward compatibility from earlier versions to Bartels AutoEngineer Version 6.0 is ensured, but not backward compatibility.

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PDF Version (161 KB; updated 24 October 2008)

Bartels AutoEngineer® - Version 5.4 - Release Notes

The Bartels AutoEngineer® - Version 5.4 - Release Notes provide detailed information about new features, enhancements, changes and bug-fixing introduced with Bartels AutoEngineer Version 5.4. Forward compatibility from earlier versions to Bartels AutoEngineer Version 5.4 is ensured, but not backward compatibility.

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PDF Version (174 KB; updated 24 October 2008)

Bartels AutoEngineer® - Version 5.0 - Release Notes

The Bartels AutoEngineer® - Version 5.0 - Release Notes provide detailed information about new features, enhancements, changes and bug-fixing introduced with Bartels AutoEngineer Version 5.0. Forward compatibility from earlier versions to Bartels AutoEngineer Version 5.0 is ensured, but not backward compatibility.

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PDF Version (210 KB; updated 24 October 2008)

Bartels AutoEngineer® - Version 4.6 - Release Notes

The Bartels AutoEngineer® - Version 4.6 - Release Notes provide detailed information about new features, enhancements, changes and bug-fixing introduced with Bartels AutoEngineer Version 4.6. Forward compatibility from earlier versions to Bartels AutoEngineer Version 4.6 is ensured, but not backward compatibility.

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PDF Version (175 KB; updated 24 October 2008)

Bartels AutoEngineer® - Version 4.4 - Release Notes

The Bartels AutoEngineer® - Version 4.4 - Release Notes provide detailed information about new features, enhancements, changes and bug-fixing introduced with Bartels AutoEngineer Version 4.4. Forward compatibility from earlier versions to Bartels AutoEngineer Version 4.4 is ensured, but not backward compatibility.

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PDF Version (200 KB; updated 24 October 2008)

Bartels AutoEngineer® - Version 4.2 - Release Notes

The Bartels AutoEngineer® - Version 4.2 - Release Notes provide detailed information about new features, enhancements, changes and bug-fixing introduced with Bartels AutoEngineer Version 4.2. Forward compatibility from earlier versions to Bartels AutoEngineer Version 4.2 is ensured, but not backward compatibility.

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Bartels AutoEngineer® - Version 4.0 - Release Notes

The Bartels AutoEngineer® - Version 4.0 - Release Notes provide detailed information about new features, enhancements, changes and bug-fixing introduced with Bartels AutoEngineer Version 4.0. Forward compatibility from earlier versions to Bartels AutoEngineer Version 4.0 is ensured, but not backward compatibility.

HTML Version


Bartels AutoEngineer® - Version 3.4 - Release Notes

The Bartels AutoEngineer® - Version 3.4 - Release Notes provide detailed information about new features, enhancements, changes and bug-fixing introduced with Bartels AutoEngineer Version 3.4. Forward compatibility from earlier versions to Bartels AutoEngineer Version 3.4 is ensured, but not backward compatibility.

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The information contained in the Bartels AutoEngineer publications as well as the products and/or programs described therein are subject to change without notice and should not be construed as a commitment by Bartels System.

Although Bartels System has gone to great effort to verify the integrity of the information provided with the Bartels AutoEngineer publications, these publications could contain technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. Bartels System shall not be liable for errors contained therein or for incidental consequential damages in connection with the furnishing, performance or use of this material. Bartels System appreciates readers' and/or users' comments in order to improve these publications and/or the products described therein. Changes are periodically made to the information therein. These changes will be incorporated in new editions of the Bartels AutoEngineer publications.

All rights reserved. No part of the Bartels AutoEngineer publications may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, translated, transcribed or transmitted, in any form or by any means manual, electric, electronic, electromagnetic, mechanical, chemical, optical or otherwise without prior express written permission from Bartels System.

Bartels AutoEngineer®, Bartels Router® and Bartels Autorouter® are registered trademarks of Bartels System. Bartels User Language™ and Bartels Neural Router™ are trademarks of Bartels System. All other products or services mentioned in this publication are identified by the trademarks or service marks of their respective companies or organizations.

The reader should be familiar with the following notations used throughout the Bartels AutoEngineer documentation:

The following acronyms are used throughout the Bartels AutoEngineer documentation:

Unless otherwise mentioned, the following symbolic conventions are used throughout the Bartels AutoEngineer documentation:

Lineprint	Lineprint font represents text output generated by the system.
Boldface	Boldfaced words or characters in format or command descriptions represent topic definitions or syntactic terminals, i.e., commands or keywords to be inserted directly.
Emphasize	Emphasized text is used for optical accentuation.
" "	Double quotes denote names and/or path names or enclose characters and/or character sequences directly to be inserted.
[ ]	Square brackets enclose optional items in format or command descriptions.
{ }	Braces enclose a list of items in format or command description, from which one has to be chosen.
|	A vertical bar separates items in a list of choices.
< >	Angle brackets enclose the logical name of a key on the keyboard. In format or command descriptions, angle brackets enclose values to be supplied.
>	Boldfaced greater signs in lineprint font are used for denoting prompts on operating system level.
...	Horizontal ellipsis points indicate either optional repetition of the preceding element in format or command descriptions or absence of irrelevant parts of a figure or example.
:	Vertical ellipsis points indicate absence of irrelevant parts of a figure, an example or a format or command description.
	Any Mouse Button (MB)
	Left Mouse Button (LMB)
	Middle Mouse Button (MMB)
	Right Mouse Button (RMB)
	Keyboard (input) - Return/Enter key (CR)
a b ...	Keyboard (input) - standard key(s)
F1 F2 ...	Keyboard (input) - function key(s)
filename	File or directory path name.
keyword	Topic definitions or syntactic terminals, i.e., commands or keywords to be inserted directly.
message	BAE/system status or error message display.
Menu	Bartels AutoEngineer menu.
Menu Function	Bartels AutoEngineer menu function.
Menu Option	Bartels AutoEngineer menu option.
Button	Bartels AutoEngineer (popup) menu button.
ul.ulh	(Hypertext link to) Bartels User Language include file.
ulprog	(Hypertext link to) Bartels User Language program description.
ul.ulc	(Hypertext link to) Bartels User Language program source file.
ul_function	(Hypertext link to) Bartels User Language system function description.
UL_INDEX	(Hypertext link to) Bartels User Language index type description.
utilprog	(Hypertext link to) Bartels AutoEngineer utility program description.
new feature	New features which are made available with regular (weekly) software updates/builds are highlighted in the online documentation.

The character sequences mentioned above may regain original meaning when used in programming languages, interpreter languages, specification languages, syntax description languages, etc.

Bartels AutoEngineer®
Installation Guide

Contents

1.1

Bartels AutoEngineer Professional

1.2

Bartels AutoEngineer Light

1.3

Bartels AutoEngineer Economy

1.4

Bartels AutoEngineer HighEnd

1.5

Bartels AutoEngineer IC Design

1.6

Bartels AutoEngineer FabView

2.1

Processor and Operating System

2.2

Main Memory (RAM)

2.3

Hard Disk Drive

2.4

Video Adapter, Monitor

2.5

Pointing Device, Mouse

2.6

CD-ROM Drive

2.7

Special PC System Requirements

2.8

CAM Interfaces

4.1

System Files

4.2

Preparing for Update Installations

4.3

Software Security Module and License Files

4.4

Windows Installation

4.5

MS-DOS Installation

4.6

Linux Installation

4.7

UNIX Installation

5.1

BAE System Parameter

5.2

User Language Programs, Menu Assignments, Key Bindings

5.3

BAE Program Start and DDB File Access

5.4

File Access Environment Variables

5.5

System File Access Environment Variables

5.6

Windows System Font Selection

1

BAE Hardware and Operating System Platforms

2

BAE System Files

3

BAE Software License Files

4

BAE Graphic Device Driver for MS-DOS

5

BAE System File Environment Variables

1 Bartels AutoEngineer Software Configurations

Bartels AutoEngineer (BAE) is a fully integrated EDA software system with powerful CAE/CAD/CAM program modules for circuit design, PCB (printed circuit board) layout and IC/ASIC design. The system is based on the famous Bartels AutoEngineer which has been incorporated in most leading PCB layout systems throughout the world, setting new industrial standards of autorouting success and dramatically reducing the requirement for manual routing.

The following Bartels AutoEngineer software configurations are available:

• Bartels AutoEngineer Schematics
• Bartels AutoEngineer Light
• Bartels AutoEngineer Economy
• Bartels AutoEngineer Professional
• Bartels AutoEngineer HighEnd
• Bartels AutoEngineer IC Design
• Bartels AutoEngineer FabView

All BAE software configurations are provided with the same user interfaces and support different languages (English, German, etc.). Bartels AutoEngineer features binary-compatible design data management on different host platforms, i.e., BAE design data can be transferred "as-is" between all supported hardware and/or operating system platforms (Windows, Linux/Unix, DOS, etc.).

1.1 Bartels AutoEngineer Professional

Bartels AutoEngineer Professional is the basic BAE software configuration described in this manual. BAE Professional is available for PCs with Windows, Linux or DOS operating systems. The following components are included with the BAE Professional software:

• Schematic Editor with hierarchical circuit design support
• Forward/Backward Annotation
• PCB Layout system including Layout Editor, Autoplacement, automatic copper fill, Bartels AutoEngineer, Bartels Autorouter®
• CAM Processor and CAM View with Gerber viewer
• integrated, object-oriented database system (DDB, Design DataBase)
• in-built Neural Rule System
• Bartels User Language Compiler, User Language programs with source code
• utility programs for database management, foreign net list and design data import, etc.
• extensive part libraries for SCM and PCB layout
• design data examples
• Documentation (Bartels AutoEngineer User Manual, Bartels User Language Programmer's Guide)

BAE Schematics, the Schematic Editor of BAE Professional is freely available and can be operated in stand-alone mode. Demo software configurations of BAE Professional (BAE Demo, fully-featured except for data output) are available free of charge for test and evaluation purposes.

1.2 Bartels AutoEngineer Light

Bartels AutoEngineer Light is available for PCs with Windows, Linux or DOS operating systems. BAE Light is a shareware price-level BAE configuration for educational purposes and/or semi-professional users. BAE Light provides full BAE Professional functionality, however, with the following restrictions:

• PCB layout size limited to 180mm*120mm
• max. 2 signal layers for manual routing and Autorouter
• no power layer support
• layouts from BAE Professional, BAE Economy and BAE HighEnd only loadable if BAE Light restrictions are not violated

1.3 Bartels AutoEngineer Economy

Bartels AutoEngineer Economy (formerly known as Bartels AutoEngineer Educate/Entry) is available for PCs with Windows, Linux or DOS operating systems. BAE Economy is a low-price BAE configuration for educational purposes and/or small business users. BAE Economy has full BAE Professional functionality, however, with the following limitations:

• PCB layout size limited to 350mm*200mm
• max. 4 signal layers simultaneously routable by Autorouter (however, like in BAE Professional, 100 signal layers for manual routing and support for 12 power layers in both manual routing and Autorouter)
• layouts from BAE Professional and BAE HighEnd only loadable if BAE Economy restrictions are not violated

1.4 Bartels AutoEngineer HighEnd

Bartels AutoEngineer HighEnd is available on workstations as well as on Windows and Linux PC platforms. BAE HighEnd utilizes special operating system characteristics (multi-tasking, multi-windowing, virtual memory management, etc.) to implement advanced features and functions such as:

• HighSpeed kernel
• in-built messaging system to support advanced communication between different BAE modules
• in-built multi-tasking to support multiple project views
• global net highlight, cross-probing
• place layout parts according to schematic plan
• selective layout short-circuit display
• extremely fast Mincon airline calculation
• DRC with multi-processor system support
• layer stack setup according to trace impedance
• layer-specific clearance paramaters for DRC and copper fill functions
• internal data structures optimized for high Autorouter performance
• advanced Neural Rule System features
• rule-driven Neural Autorouter
• nettype-specific routing area definitions
• net-specific maximum via count settings
• net-specific maximum connection length settings
• CAM output to suppress unconnected inner layer pads

BAE HighEnd is data-compatible to BAE Professional in both directions; requested data transformations are automatically applied during element load procedures.

1.5 Bartels AutoEngineer IC Design

BAE HighEnd can be upgraded to a fully featured ASIC design system. Bartels AutoEngineer IC Design (BAEICD) is a complete CAD/CAM system for the physical design of integrated circuits (gate arrays, standard cells, custom ICs and/or ASICs). BAEICD consists of a series of system components such as IC Mask Editor, IC Autoplacement, IC Autorouter and IC DRC (Design Rule Check). GDS-II and CIF standard interfaces are provided for converting foreign data and/or producing CAM output (mask data, bonding data, etc.). The BAEICD CAM tools include a module for displaying CIF data in order to perform visual CAM output checks. Net list data is usually transferred by the BAE Packager after defining the circuitry with BAE Schematics, which provides features for hierarchical circuit design. Alternative solutions for importing foreign/third-party netlist data/formats can be provided on request.

1.6 Bartels AutoEngineer FabView

Bartels AutoEngineer FabView is a low-cost PCB layout viewer with manufacturing data output functions. BAE FabView is intended for PCB manufacturing departments and service providers who only have to produce manufacturing data and print/plot outputs but don't have to edit layouts. BAE FabView can be used together with BAE Professional and/or BAE HighEnd. BAE FabView provides the same functionality, however, the functions for saving layout design changes to BAE project files are deactivated.

2 System Requirements

The C programming language is used for the implementation of the Bartels AutoEngineer software to ensure easy portability. The software is available with identical user interfaces on different hardware and operating system platforms. Design data created with Bartels AutoEngineer is binary-compatible on all supported platforms, i.e., there are no software-imposed restrictions for accessing and transferring BAE data in heterogeneous networks connecting different operating systems on workstations and PCs.

2.1 Processor and Operating System

PC systems should be equipped with a Pentium (80586, 80686) or at least a 80486DX processor. Any compatible processor such as AMD-K6 or AMD-K7 (Athlon) will also do.

BAE Light, BAE Economy and BAE Professional versions are available for Linux (Kernel 2.0.x and above), Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows NT 4.0, Windows NT 3.51, Windows ME (Millenium Edition), Windows 98, Windows 95 and MS-DOS.

BAE HighEnd and BAE IC Design systems are available for Hewlett-Packard 9000/7xx workstations with OSF/Motif and/or X11 and for PCs with Linux (Kernel 2.0.x and above), Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows NT 4.0, Windows NT 3.51, Windows ME (Millenium Edition), Windows 98 and Windows 95 operating systems.

BAE Schematics and BAE FabView systems are available for all of the afore-mentioned platforms.

Under Windows and Motif, the BAE software can be operated with pulldown menus instead of the BAE standard sidemenu user interface.

Table 1: BAE Hardware and Operating System Platforms

Bartels AutoEngineer DOS software uses the Phar Lap 386|DOS Extender which supports DOS Protected Mode Interface Specification (DPMI, Version 1.0), eXtended Memory Specification (XMS, usually provided by installing the HIMEM.SYS driver for accessing memory beyond 1 Mb), Virtual Control Program Interface (VCPI, supporting LIM-compatible 386 EMS emulators such as Microsoft EMM386, Quarterdeck QEMM-386, Qualitas 386MAX), Virtual Disk facilities (VDISK) and the INT 15h method of extended memory allocation. I.e., BAE DOS software can be run from operating system MS-DOS (Version 3.1 or later), and BAE can be started via DPMI from operating system IBM OS/2 (Version 2.0 and/or Version 3.0 Warp; to be started in a DOS Full Screen session) or from Microsoft Windows 3.x/95/98/NT (to be run as DOS-Box in Enhanced Mode).

2.2 Main Memory (RAM)

A minimum of 16 Mbytes RAM is required for DOS systems (32 Mbytes RAM recommended). A minimum of 32 and/or 64 Mbytes RAM is required for Windows and Linux systems.

2.3 Hard Disk Drive

Some 40 Mbytes of hard disk space are required for installing the BAE software. Note also that additional disk space is required for user-specific libraries and design files to be created when working with the AutoEngineer.

2.4 Video Adapter, Monitor

A VGA or higher resolution monitor and a mouse or a corresponding pointing device are required on any BAE platform.

A video adapter and/or graphic card supporting at least 16 colors at reasonable resolutions is required for operating the BAE software. The BAE Windows versions can be operated using the graphic device driver installed with the operating system. The BAE DOS versions require the installation of a BAE-specific graphic device driver, i.e., a video adapter supported by one of the BAE DOS graphic device drivers is required for the BAE DOS software. See table 4 for a list of the graphic device drivers supplied with the BAE DOS software.

The monitor must correspond with the installed graphic card and vice versa. Due to ergonomic considerations, the display should have a size of at least 15 inches with a screen resolution of at least 800*600 pixels. A color display is strongly recommended since Bartels AutoEngineer requires at least 4 color planes with up to 16 different colors for graphical output.

2.5 Pointing Device, Mouse

Bartels AutoEngineer requires a mouse with three or at least two buttons. A compatible trackball and/or touchpad pointing device can be used instead of a mouse.

2.6 CD-ROM Drive

The Bartels AutoEngineer is delivered on CD-ROM, i.e., a CD-ROM drive is required for installing the software. On request, the BAE software can also be provided on different media or through Internet and/or Email.

2.7 Special PC System Requirements

On DOS systems, a printer port (LPT1, LPT2 or LPT3) for the BAE hardlock key is required for checking the software authorization of BAE Economy, BAE Professional, and BAE FabView.

On Windows systems, a USB interface or a printer port for the BAE hardlock key is required for checking the software authorization of BAE Economy, BAE Professional, BAE HighEnd and BAE FabView.

On Linux systems, either a USB interface or a printer port for the BAE hardlock key or an Ethernet card is required for checking the software authorization of BAE Economy, BAE Professional, BAE HighEnd and BAE FabView.

2.8 CAM Interfaces

Plotter, Printer

The BAE CAM Processor provides plot data in HP-GL, HP-Laser or Postscript format. I.e., a HP7475A (or compatible) pen plotter, a HP LaserJet laser printer or a Postscript-capable output device can be used. HP-Laser output is automatically scaled to A4 format, i.e., HP-Laser output is intended for control purposes only. A hardware interface (e.g., COM2) can be utilized for directing the plot data to the output device. The output data can also be directed to files on the hard disk, which then can be sent to the output device using operating system commands or even emulator programs for supporting other output devices such as matrix printers, raster plotters, ink jet printers, etc.

With the Windows versions of the BAE PC software there is also a generic print/plot output function implemented. I.e., any print/plot output feature supported by the current Windows operating system configuration is also supported with the BAE Windows software.

Photo Plotter

Photo plot data is provided in Gerber format. Either a plot file can be generated or a hardware interface can be used for sending the plot data directly to the photo plotter.

Drilling Machine

Drill data is provided in Sieb&Meier or Excellon format. Either an ASCII drill data file can be generated, or a hardware interface can be used for sending the drill data directly to the drilling machine.

Insertion Data

Insertion data is provided in generic format. Either an ASCII insertion data file can be generated or a hardware interface can be used for sending the insertion data directly to the insertion machine.

Others

Almost any output interface needed for production and/or manufacturing (e.g., part lists, milling data, etc.) can be implemented with Bartels User Language. User Language also provides functions for storing design data and most powerful tools for the programming of ASCII file interpreters. I.e., User Language can be used for importing foreign data to the Bartels AutoEngineer such as net lists, artworks, library symbol definitions, placement data, part attributes, drawing data, routing data, etc.

3 Documentation

The baedoc directory of the BAE CD-ROM contains the complete Bartels AutoEngineer documentation including the Bartels AutoEngineer User Manual and the Bartels User Language Programmer's Guide in HTML and PDF format.

Part Library Documentation

PDF files displaying all graphic symbols of the officially released BAE libraries are provided in the pdflib directory of the BAE-CD-ROM. The baelib directory of the BAE-CD-ROM contains HTML files with comprehensive library contents tables and reference lists for the BAE symbol and part libraries.

4 Installation Guide

4.1 System Files

The BAE software contains some system files for storing user-specific setup and parameter data. These are the files from the BAE programs directory which end on .vdb, .dat, .col and/or .fnt. These setup files contain user-specific menu setups, color tables, layer definitions, Gerber aperture tables, character fonts, library access paths, etc. The setup files are overwritten when performing a new installation of the BAE software, i.e., when updating from an older version. It is recommended to save these files before starting a new installation or to select the update install mode when installing to PC platforms (see below).

Table 2 lists all system and setup files of the Bartels AutoEngineer, showing the BAE program module access modes (R=read, W=write).

Table 2: BAE System Files

The bsetup utility program and/or the Setup function from the BAE main menu of the Windows/Motif versions are used for changing the system parameters in the bsetup.dat file. The fontconv utility program can be applied for transferring user-defined character fonts to the ged.fnt file. See Bartels AutoEngineer User Manual - Chapter 7 of this manual for a description of the utility programs provided with the Bartels AutoEngineer.

The language.vdb file contains the Bartels AutoEngineer menu and message texts. This file is delivered only with software configurations where the customer wants to run the BAE user interfaces with a language differing from the default German language (e.g., English).

4.2 Preparing for Update Installations

The BAE library and User Language directory contents are replaced when performing update installations. It is strongly recommended to backup any user-specific data from these directories before installing the BAE update and to restore the required data afterwards. The same backup and restore process should be applied to BAE programs directory files with extensions .dat, .def, .fnt and .ini when just updating from earlier BAE versions since these files can contain user-defined color tables, layer definitions, Gerber aperture tables and character fonts which are overwritten during update installations.

BAE updates can be installed to new directories. You should then copy the BAE system files with the .dat, .def, .fnt and .ini extensions from the old BAE programs directory to the BAE programs directory of the new installation to transfer all user-specific system definitions such as color tables and Gerber aperture tables to the new BAE installation.

The BAE (update) installation procedures always (re-)install the BAE system files ending on .vdb to the BAE programs directory. These files contain version-dependent system data such as the compiled User Language programs of the BAE software (ulcprog.vdb) and the compiled rule definitions of the BAE software (brules.vdb). It is therefore not necessary to run the time-consuming batch for compiling the User Language sources provided with the BAE software or to compile the rule definition files deliverd with the BAE software. However, customer-specific User Language programs and rule definitions developed and compiled under the previously installed BAE version must be re-compiled after performing a BAE Update Installation.

4.3 Software Security Module and License Files

The BAE PC software for Windows, Linux, and DOS (except for BAE Demo, BAE Light and BAE Schematics) is protected by a hardlock key (dangle). You have the choice between a USB adapter for Windows and Linux or a parallel port adapter for Windows, Linux, or DOS. On Linux systems, it is also possible to use a pre-installed Ethernet card instead of a hardlock key for BAE software authorization checks.

The parellel port hardlock key must be plugged onto one of the parallel ports (LPT1, LPT2 or LPT3) of your PC. Switch off your computer before mounting the BAE parallel port module, or otherwise the hardlock key could be damaged by high voltage. If a peripheral device such as a laser printer is connected to the hardlock key, then you must always switch on the peripheral device before switching on your computer to avoid hardlock key check problems.

If your PC system has a free USB port then we recommend the USB adapter which can usually be operated more easily.

The BAE PC software provides the license files according to the available software configurations as shown in table 3. You will be asked to select the BAE software configuration (and thus the appropriate license file) when installing the BAE software. Make sure to select the BAE software configuration to be installed and/or authorized on your computer.

Table 3: BAE Software License Files

The router.cfg license file matching the BAE software configuration authorized on your computer must be available in the BAE programs directory. I.e., to install the correct license file you can also copy the desired CFG file to router.cfg in the BAE programs directory instead of selecting the valid BAE configuration during BAE software installation

BAE Demo software is intended for evaluation purposes only. BAE Demo cannot produce any CAM or User Language output. BAE Demo masks Layout board elements to prevent from processing with productive software configurations afterwards. I.e., the BAE user version are not able to read Demo jobs, however, we are able to convert these jobs.

4.4 Windows Installation

The Bartels AutoEngineer software for Windows is provided on CD-ROM. I.e., you will need a CD-ROM drive if you intend to install the software.

The installation of the BAE Windows software includes the installation of the BAE programs (directory bae), the BAE libraries (directory baelib), the BAE User Language sources (directory baeulc), the BAE test jobs and examples (directory baejobs) and the BAE online documentation (directory baedoc), respectively. Make sure there is enough disk space available for the installation. See chapter 2 of this documentation for information on BAE system requirements.

Running the BAE Windows Setup Program

Under Windows, the BAE setup program for installing BAE Demo, BAE Schematics, BAE Light, BAE Economy, BAE Professional, BAE HighEnd, BAE IC Design and/or BAE FabView should start automatically after inserting the BAE CD-ROM to the CD-ROM drive. If this doesn't happen, simply start the setupen.exe program from the CD-ROM using the Run function from the Windows Start menu. Please follow the instructions of the setup program.

The setup ends with the BAE software configuration. Please select the BAE configuration which is authorised for your machine (BAE Demo, BAE Schematics, BAE Light, BAE Economy, BAE Professional, BAE HighEnd, BAE IC Design or BAE FabView; see also table 3).

Note

BAE usually closes files immediately after write procedures are completed. Depending on the type of the BAE save operation it may be necessary that BAE files are re-opened and closed subsequent to the save operations. This can lead to significant delays when saving elements in certain Windows configurations where automatic file indexing is activated. This problem can be fixed by excluding .ddb and .lck files from automatic indexing using the Indexing Options in the Windows Control Panel.

4.5 MS-DOS Installation

The Bartels AutoEngineer software for Windows and DOS is provided on CD-ROM. I.e., you will need a CD-ROM drive if you intend to install the software.

Four different directory path names can be chosen for installing the BAE programs (default directory path name bae), the BAE libraries (directory baelib), the BAE User Language sources (directory baeulc) and the BAE test jobs and examples (directory baejobs), respectively. Any of these directories not yet existing are automatically created with user verification. You can manually copy the BAE online documentation (format HTML and PDF; CD-ROM directory baedoc) to your hard disk if you wish to do so. Make sure there is enough disk space available for the installation. See chapter 2 of this documentation for information on BAE system requirements.

Running the MS-DOS Install Program

For installing BAE Schematics, BAE Economy, BAE Professional, BAE HighEnd or BAE FabView under MS-DOS, the CD-ROM must be inserted to the CD-ROM drive, and the drive and directory must be set accordingly. E.g., to install the BAE software from CD-ROM drive D, insert the BAE CD-ROM to CD-ROM drive D and enter the following commands to the DOS prompt:

> D:  
> install 

Once the install program has been started, the instructions issued on the screen should be followed carefully. First you are asked for the BAE user interface language (e.g., English, German, etc.) and for the operating system host platform (DOS, Windows NT, etc.).

The install program provides different modes for performing either new Installation or Update installations. The Update install mode is strongly recommended when just updating from earlier BAE Versions; this will prevent the install program from overwriting special BAE system and setup files ending on .dat, .def and .fnt (otherwise, user-defined color tables, aperture tables, fonts, layer definitions, library access path settings and menu setups stored with these files might get lost).

After selecting the install mode, you are prompted to specify the destination directories for installing the programs, the libraries, the User Language source files and the examples and test jobs. You can exclude certain destination directories by deleting the corresponding path names. More experienced BAE users can, e.g., suppress the installation of the BAE example jobs, or re-install certain parts of the BAE software later. For security reasons, the install parameter settings are verified with user query before starting the installation process. The destination directories are automatically created on request. The install program automatically copies the BAE software files to the selected destination directories on the hard disk.

At the end of the install process, the install program asks for the licensed BAE software configuration and/or software authorization file (see table 3).

Graphic Device Driver

The DOS versions of the BAE software are shipped with a series of graphic device drivers. During the installation you are asked to select an appropriate BAE graphic device driver. Table 4 lists the DOS graphic device drivers supplied with the Bartels AutoEngineer software. Please select the graphic device driver matching the video adapter and/or graphic card installed with your computer. Or simply select standard VGA driver VGA480 if you are not sure about which driver to select. VGA480 is assumed to run on almost any PC system. The selected graphic driver file is copied to the bae.dev file in the BAE programs directory. You can manually copy a different driver (e.g., with higher resolution) even after running the BAE DOS installation.

Table 4: BAE Graphic Device Driver for MS-DOS

MS-DOS System Settings

It is strongly recommended to add the BAE programs directory path to the PATH environment variable. Load the autoexec.bat file to your text editor and check whether autoexec.bat contains a PATH statement or not. If there is already a PATH statement defined in autoexec.bat, then just add the following program path link to the PATH statement (assume BAE programs directory c:\bae):

;c:\bae

If there is no PATH statement defined in autoexec.bat, then insert the following PATH statement (assume BAE programs directory c:\bae):

PATH=c:\bae

You can also insert the following command at the end of the autoexec.bat file to include the BAE programs directory path name with the PATH variable:

PATH c:\bae;%path%

With the PC versions of the BAE software an environment variable called BAETMP can be defined for optionally specifying a BAE temporary directory to avoid problems with temporary file generation on network-based PC/MS-DOS systems. To specify the BAE temporary directory the following command must be added to the autoexec.bat file:

SET BAETMP=<dirpath>\

<dirpath> is the path name of the temporary directory (e.g., d:\baetmp; the backslash at the end of the path name is required).

The config.sys file must contain the following statements:

BUFFERS=<b>
FILES=<f>

The number <b> of buffers should be at least 30, and the number <f> of files should be at least 20.

Note that you must reboot your computer if you made any changes to the config.sys or autoexec.bat. Otherwise you might not be able to start BAE.

The BAE DOS software works in Protected Mode, i.e., there is no 640 Kbytes barrier. Bartels AutoEngineer uses the Phar Lap 386|DOS Extender, which supports DPMI, VCPI, EMM386, XMS/HIMEM, VDISK and INT 15h. However, in special cases (e.g., with certain third party software configurations) it might be necessary to remove conflicting memory managers. It is possible to reconfigure the BAE programs, if you wish to restrict the way in which BAE uses memory; please contact us for more detailed information in case. With EMM386 installed under MS-DOS 6.x it is strongly recommended to add the NOVCPI switch (and the NOEMS) switch to the corresponding config.sys line since otherwise the performance for starting BAE graphic program modules will dramatically slow down.

Note that you must reboot your computer if you made any changes to config.sys or autoexec.bat. Otherwise you might not be able to start BAE.

4.6 Linux Installation

The baelinux directory on the BAE CD-ROM contains the baelinux.tgz and baelinus.tgz TGZ archive files with different BAE builds for Linux. Each of these TGZ files contains the directories bin (programs and setup files), baelib (symbol and part libraries), baeulc (User Language source files) and baejobs (examples and test jobs). The BAE software is supposed to run on all common Linux systems with Kernel 2.0.x (S.u.S.E. 6.0 or later, RedHat, etc.). The TGZ files baelinhe.tgz and baelinhs.tgz contain the binaries for BAE HighEnd. An additional file named baeeng.tgz including the English BAE user interface setup is also provided.

We strongly recommend that you have a look into the readme file from the baelinux directory of the BAE CD-ROM before installing the BAE Linux software. The readme file contains a list of the provided BAE Linux archive files and latest information and important instructions for installing the BAE Linux software.

baelinus.tgz must be installed on Linux systems without Motif. baelinus.tgz contains a statically linked BAE version including all system and Motif libraries (libc6/glibc, lesstif/Motif1.2) required to run BAE on any Linux Kernel 2.0.x distribution.

It is recommended to use the more efficient dynamically linked BAE version from baelinux.tgz (linked to libc6/glibc and Motif2.0) on Linux systems where Motif is already installed. The statically linked version from baelinus.tgz can always be used on Linux systems which fail to run the dynamically linked version.

To install the BAE Linux software, simply mount the CD-ROM drive with the BAE-CD-ROM (e.g., under /cdrom), change to the directory where you want to install the BAE software, and unpack the appropriate archive file (e.g., baelinux.tgz) using the tar command as in

> tar -xzvf /cdrom/baelinux/baelinux.tgz 

The -z option is used to filter the TGZ file through the gzip utility. If your tar command does not support the -z option, simply use gzip and tar as in

> gzip -dv /cdrom/baelinux.tgz  
> tar -xfv /cdrom/baelinux.tar 

To install the dynamically linked BAE HighEnd version, simply extract the baelinhe.tgz file after installing baelinux.tgz. To install the statically linked BAE HighEnd version, simply install baelinhs.tgz after installing baelinus.tgz.

A configuration file is provided with productive BAE Linux versions. This configuration file (router.cfg) must be saved to the BAE program directory (bin, see above). To activate BAE Demo, the demo.cfg configuration file must be copied to router.cfg, to activate BAE Schematics, schema.cfg must be copied to router.cfg (see also table 3).

BAE is pre-configured with a German user interface. The English user interface can be activated by extracting the baeeng.tgz archive file from the CD-ROM baelinux directory to the destination directory.

Setting up the Linux Environment

The access rights must be set properly (i.e., execute for the programs, read access to the libraries, read/write access to the job files, all rights for the system administrator, special rights for the library manager, etc.). The user must have read access to the BAE program directory files ending on .cfg (for authorization check) and read/write access to the files with extensions .dat and .fnt. The user must also have write access in the working directory to enable temporary file creation.

The Linux shell environment variable PATH must point to the BAE programs directory to allow for BAE program call from any other directory. The PATH variable can be set automatically through shell profile execution (shell script .profile, .login, .bashrc or .cshrc, according to Linux derivative, respectively).

4.7 UNIX Installation

The BAE HighEnd archive files for UNIX workstation are provided in specific BAE-CD-ROM directories such as baehp for the HP version. These archive files contain the directories bin (programs and setup files), baelib (symbol and part libraries), baeulc (User Language source files) and baejobs (examples and test jobs). An additional file named baeeng.tgz including the English BAE user interface setup is also provided.

The BAE HighEnd archive files for HP workstations are provided in the baehp directory on the BAE CD-ROM. Please see the readme file in the baehp directory for latest information and instructions on how to install the BAE HP software.

To install the HP software, simply mount the CD-ROM drive with the BAE-CD-ROM (e.g., under /cdrom), change to the directory where you intend to install the BAE software, and unpack the baehp.tgz archive using the tar command as in

> tar -xzvf /cdrom/baehp.tgz