Welcome to the Bartels Group of Companies |
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Bartels AutoEngineer® |
| 1 | General |
| 1.1 | Installation |
| 1.2 | User Interface and General Functions |
| 1.3 | Symbol and Part Libraries |
| 2 | Schematic Editor |
| 2.1 | General |
| 2.2 | Symbols, Labels |
| 2.3 | Connections |
| 2.4 | Graphics |
| 2.5 | Text, Attributes |
| 2.6 | Group Functions |
| 2.7 | Plot Output |
| 3 | Packager |
| 3.1 | Error Messages |
| 3.2 | Part Processing |
| 4 | Layout Editor |
| 4.1 | General |
| 4.2 | Display, Design Rule Check |
| 4.3 | Parts, Placement |
| 4.4 | Traces, Routing |
| 4.5 | Graphic, Copper Areas |
| 4.6 | Text, Drill |
| 4.7 | Group Functions |
| 4.8 | Automatic Copper Fill |
| 5 | Autorouter |
| 5.1 | General |
| 5.2 | Autorouter Algorithms |
| 6 | CAM Processor |
| 6.1 | General |
| 6.2 | Control Plot |
| 6.3 | Gerber Photo Plot |
| 6.3 | Insertion Data Output |
| 7 | CAM View |
| 7.1 | General |
| 7.2 | Data Import |
| 7.3 | Gerber Data |
| 8 | Utilities |
| 8.1 | BSETUP |
| 9 | Bartels User Language |
| 9.1 | General |
| 9.2 | User Language Compiler |
| 9.3 | User Language Interpreter |
| 9.4 | Index Variable Types |
| 9.5 | System Functions |
| 9.6 | BAE User Language Programs |
The
Bartels AutoEngineer® Installation Guide (file
inst_en.htm from the
baedoc directory of the BAE-CD-ROM) provides detailed
Bartels AutoEngineer installation instructions for all supported hardware and software platforms.
The BAE modules have been modified to automatically load the last element if no project file was specified upon module startup. The
parameter for deactivating this behaviour has been added to
bae.ini.
The title bars of the element name selection dialogs of numerous functions have been modified to display the element type and the active project file name instead of the prompt.
The
parameter for assigning a default element preview mode for schematic plans and layouts has been added to
bae.ini. Changes to the element preview mode in the element preview dialog are now kept for the duration of the current session.
The option for opening the tree view menu in its own window has been added to the function which can be activated through / or by clicking the BAE logo in the toolbar.
A "Tear Off" button has been added to the menus and submenus of the BAE Motif versions to allow for menus and/or submenus to be undocked from the menu bar.
The , and 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 (Edit) button for activating an input loop for editing polygons and traces has been added to the toolbar. The activates the display of corner point and segment center point grippers. A corner is inserted when picking a segment between grippers. I.e., the provides access to the , and function. The input angle lock is automatically released during button input loops.
Clicking the or toolbar buttons with the right mouse button activates the new menu with the and input mode options for subsequent move and/or edit operations. is the default input mode for selecting elements and placement positions via mouse click. 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 (Information) button for activating the / has been added to the toolbars.
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.
The BAE Main Menu Setup dialog has been modified to allow for the specification of a color palette and layer menu output index for documentary layer definitions. Documentary layers without output index assignments are automatically assigned to free index output positions. This feature allows for frequently used documentary layers to be placed at the top of the documentary layer selection menus and/or to group documentary layer definitions within layer menus according to their functionality.
The
control for specifying the default name for layout elements has been modified to support a
* element name specification for automatically generating the default layout element name from the project base file name (without directory path and file name extension). The lement name is converted into lowercase, trimmed to a maximum length of 40 characters, and invalid element name characters are converted into underscore signs (_).
Please note that the default element name setting provides a default for element name selections and for the generation of new layouts and/or net lists. Existing layout element names (in renamed/copied project files) and Packager parameter settings are not affected by the setting and may have to be typed in and/or selected specifically after changing the settings.
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.
All confirmation dialogs with / buttons and no button have been modified to accept Esc key inputs instead of button clicks.
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.
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.
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.
The option of the context menu functions for placing elements and corner points has been modified to allow for the specification of polar coordinate center points different from the element origin. Setting the polar coordinate center point to a position different from the element origin provides new options for constructing elements. The button can be used to set the polar coordinate center point interactively (e.g., when using the p key for coordinate snaps).
The maximum number of project variants has been increased from 30 to 99.
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.
The / 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.
The
sbaedmp.ulp and
lbaedmp.ulpULP programs for importing
Eagle schematics and layout data (see
eagleulp directory on the BAE CD) have been modified to combine symbol and/or part names with library names when creating macro names for projects which are using identically named macros from different libraries. The
MACLIBEXT parameter in the ULP program headers can be used to force the use of library names in macro names to ensure macro name compatibility for different projects.
The
NCPINIGNORE parameter has been added to the
sbaedmp.ulp header. The default setting for
NCPINIGNORE causes pins with
NC (not connected) prefix to be ignored when transferring the design data. This is to prevent the
Packager from creating single pin nets for such pins (as this would create short-circuits if other nets are subsequently routed over these pins).
Layout macro name queries through ULP programs in the
Eagle schematic editor are not always returning correct macro names. The
lbaedmp.ulp ULP program has therefore been modified to create a
projectname_p.txt file with a layout part macro name list when exporting layout data.
sbaedmp.ulp uses the information from the
projectname_p.txt file to set correct
$plname values for layout part macro assignments. For this to work, the
Eagle layout data export must be carried out before the schematic data export.
Symbol origins were shifted towards element boundaries when transferring Eagle symbols and part macros with their origins placed outside their element boundaries, thus resulting in the incorrect placement of symbols and/or parts. An automatic symbol and part macro boundary extension facility has been implemented in the Eagle export scripts to fix this problem.
The
newattr "$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.
The mode for automatically terminating the current connection and/or area edit function with when re-selecting the previous input coordinate has been added to the option in / .
The toolbar tooltips for symbol and zoom windows have been modified to display any available symbol and window view information.
The mouse wheel can now be used directly to scroll through element selections if is activated for the (previously, the left mouse button had to be pressed down simultaneously to achieve this).
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.
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.
The and functions for left-rotating and/or right-rotating the currently loaded element with its workarea boundaries and fixed placements by 90 degrees has been added to the / submenu which is also available through the F12 key.
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.
The / / function for importing schematic EDIF data sometimes converted bus tap names and bus tap positions incorrectly. This problem has been fixed.
The and input fields for specifying filter strings for selecting or deselecting error messages to be displayed have been added to the / dialog. The message filter is activated by pressing the button. 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.
Some interactive symbol functions such as 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.
The
option has been added to the
p pin data dialog for pins on symbol and label macro level. When placing a symbol or label, the system automatically activates the
function and creates a first connection point for pins with
activated unless such pins are directly placed onto an existing connection segment. Alternatively, the
scm_pin_autocon can be used to select a pin marker macro for
. This is useful for labels as it eliminates a lot of interactions otherwise necessary to name a net.
Please note that the undo/redo mechanism treats the symbol/label placement and the pin connection drawing as separate procedures.
The
scm_pin_autocon rule has been added to the
labelpin pin marker definition from the
stdsym.ddb symbol library which is delivered with the system.
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.
Referenced symbol macro names are now saved as part attribute entries when saving schematic plans. This enables the / / function to display and/or find project symbol macros which are placed elsewhere on the project SCM plan.
The
button for loading the layout net list which was created with the last
Packager run has been added to the dialog of the
function. Loading the layout net list adds the
newattr attribute assignments from the logical library to the
selection. The layout net list loaded through
is kept in main memory. I.e., it is not necessary to load the layout net list again in subsequent
calls of the same
Schematic Editor session.
The and functions have been added to the / submenu which can also be activated through the Ctrl-F key. allows for symbol pin selections from symbol pin lists of mouse-selectable symbols. searches the symbol pin which matches a selected layour part pin from the physical net list. Both functions carry out an automatic to the position of the selected symbol pin.
Layout pin names with more than two characters sometimes overlapped in the pin assignment drawing of the function, thus preventing from reliably assigning pins. The function has been modified to automatically scale the pin assignment drawing as required to avoid this problem.
The
symbol context menu function sometimes failed to recognize hierarchy block symbols in cases where the logical library definitions of these symbols contained definitions not required for the block symbol declaration (e.g., such as
newattr commands). This problem has been fixed.
The selection boxes and the search mask of the function have been turned into modal dialogs. This allows for other procedures such as creating connections to be carried out between symbol placements with without having to reactivate the function.
The
control element has been added to the
button of the
dialog.
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
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.
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.
The facility of the and functions from the / 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.
The
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
/ 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.
The
parameter for
prompting the
/ / / 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.
The and batch steps have been added to the / / function to allow for the processing of text fields with specific attribute texts which are placed at the symbol origins.
The / / function has been added for applying command sequences to the currently loaded element. This allows for automatic text class assignments, dummy attribut text placements, etc. to be carried out on new symbols without having to apply the same edit batch on (already edited) symbols of the project and/or library file.
The
,
,
and
parameters for automatically activating edit batches when saving SCM plans, symbols, labels and markers have been added to
bae.ini.
Please make sure that edit batches which are activated when saving an element don't contain any commands which create multiple placements when reactivated (such as
). If a questionmark precedes the batch name, then the system prompts the user to start the batch when saving elements. The
parameter for restricting automatic batch calls to elements from the standard SCM library configured through setup has been added to
bae.ini.
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.
With the
deactivated in the
/ dialog, the
option can be used to create dotted lines with
open group name assignments to indicate connections opened due to symbol and/or group movements. These dotted lines serve as visual aid for manually rerouting open 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.
The input loop kept the bus status for implicit bus definitions through connections to symbol bus pins and assigned that bus status to subsequently in the same input loop created connections even if those connections were not tapped to a bus. This problem has been fixed.
The 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.
The bus tap pick function has been modified to treat bus tap texts with the same priority like bus tap graphics to improve bus tap pick accuracy when working with small display zoom factors settings.
The and modes for activating and/or deactivating automatic bus-tap connection re-routing during bus tap repositioning have been added to / .
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.
Buttons for generating regular polyangulars, interpolated ellipses and ovals (i.e., rectangles with semicircles ends at the smaller sides) have been added to the / function.
The functions from the
/ / submenu have been modified to use a comma instead of a dot in front of the decimals of measuring texts depending on the
setting from
bae.ini.
The
and
for optionally inserting a measurement text prefix and/or suffix have been added to the
context menu which can be activated during the selection of the measurement position. The measurement text is automatically centered and the measurement lines are automatically clipped to accommodate measurement text prefix and/or suffix specifications. New
bae.ini parameters for configuring a default measurement text prefix and/or suffix have been added. These prefix and suffix defaults can be filled with spaces/blanks to create a visible gap between measurement texts and measurement lines.
The
and
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 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.
With activated, the / / 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.
Control elements for text height, text plot width text angle, text mirroring, text alignment and text frame mode specifications have been added to the text input dialog of the function and the toolbar buttons to allow for those text properties to be specified prior to placement.
The and 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.
The / function has been modified to allow for texts to be vertically centered. This is especially useful when applying the function for placing pin documentation texts.
Mirrored vertically center-aligned texts were displayed at incorrect pick position offsets. This problem has been fixed.
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.
Rule assignments to multiline texts could get lost when editing these texts. This problem has been fixed.
The multiline text edit field of the
p key element properties dialog has been modified to display the full text instead of just the selected line for editing. The
input field for specifying line spacing relative to the text height has been added (previously, the line spacing could only be specified through the
parameter in
bae.ini).
The
/ / / function for carrying out project-wide attribute substitutions has been added. This allows for an attribute value to be directly substituted with a different attribute value, or for assigning an attribute value depending on the setting of a different attribute (e.g., to assign a layout package type depending on a resistor value). The attribute assignement process can be restricted to symbol and symbol macro name patterns. The
parameter for keeping a list of processing attribute names with parameter defaults for the input dialog has been added to
bae.ini.
The
/ / / function for carrying out the project-wide transfer of
$rpname to
$rbname attribute values has been added.
processes all symbols with
$rpname attribute value assignments and
$rbname text definitions on symbol macro level and lists both the number of processed symbols and the number of unprocessed symbols (with
$rpname attribute value, but without
$rbname text).
The / submenu functions have been modified to and/or 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.
The / / / function has been modified to select all elements without group name assignment if an empty string is entered.
The c shortcut key for temporarily releasing the angle lock has been added to the function. The previous angle lock mode is restored upon completion of the function.
During operations, the distance to the selected start point is now displayed together with the current group coordinates in the status line while moving groups.
The context menus which are activated when pressing the m and n keys from outside any other function have been extended by functions for setting and/or resetting the mirroring mode of group-selected symbols, labels, and texts.
The / function has been renamed to and activates a dialog with group parameter settings which allows for the to be selected and the new parameter to be set. provides an option for automatically releasing the angle lock during operations.
The 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.
With special
!not_set! attribute value selections, the
/ / / 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.
The / / / function has been added for assigning PDF layer names to group selected elements. These assignments are considered by PDF batch outputs with option. Acrobat Reader displays a PDF output element which is assigned to both its own PDF layer and to its element type specific PDF layer only if both PDF layers are activated.
The / / / function has been added for group selecting elements by PDF layer name. The PDF layer name input control provides a list of all existing PDF layer names thus doubling as a facility for looking up used PDF layer names.
The
option for adding notes with symbol attributes to the PDF output has been added to the
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
function. The
option can be used to include attribute name comments in the symbol attribute notes. For labels, the comment includes the label macro name and the names of the schematic sheets on which the corresponding net name is used.
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.
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.
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.
The
text has been added to the
error message for implicit 1:1 pin assignments without
xlat command as a hint that a missing or incorrectly named layout part pin may have caused the error.
The
Packager has been modified to issue a warning message if the generated net list contains a part with the name
# as this is also the default part name assigned by the layout group functions in case of part name conflicts.
The
Packager has been modified to set gates without
$rbname/$rpname assignments which are packed into layout parts which already contains gates with
$rbname/$rpname assignments implicetely to
swap internal to eliminate invalid swap pin data error messages.
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.
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.
The mode for automatically terminating the current trace and/or area edit function with when re-selecting the previous input coordinate has been added to the option in / .
The mode of the parameter from the / dialog has been modified to automatically pick the direction change option with the minimum direction change.
The mode of the parameter from the / dialog has been modified to insert diagonal segments only opposite to the edit direction to allow for the insertion of multiple corner points through a single menu function call.
The toolbar tooltips for zoom windows have been modified to display any available window view information.
The mouse wheel can now be used directly to scroll through element selections if is activated for the (previously, the left mouse button had to be pressed down simultaneously to achieve this).
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.
The option (1/1000 Inch) has been added to the and unit options for displaying coordinates and dimensions through the element properties dialog.
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.
The and functions for left-rotating and/or right-rotating the currently loaded element with its workarea boundaries and fixed placements by 90 degrees has been added to the / submenu which is also available through the F12 key.
The
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.
A drill diameter listing with padstack and part/layout references has been added to the output of the / / function. This makes it easier to locate tool table drill diameters on the layout.
The / , / and / 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.
An extended color selection menu with 512 different additional color values has been added to the standard 16 color selection menu of the / function. Please note that, depending on the operating system platforms and/or graphic device drivers and configured screen color depths, the performance of screen redraw operations may be notably reduced when using non-standard colors.
The Layout Editor has been modified to support and pattern selections for displaying short-circuit and/or group-selected elements. The pattern is prioritized when displaying group-selected short-circuit elements.
Inverted drawing mode is now being used for (see / ) to improve the visibility of pick points for overlapping areas and for traces which are drawn using true trace width display modes.
The function for automatically group selecting the elements causing the currently marked DRC error list element has been added to the dialog of the / / function. Previously group selected elements are deselected when applying the option. The button for restricting the display to the group selected elements has also been added to the / / dialog. These features make it easier to locate and process elements causing specific DRC errors, especially when working on densely placed layouts.
The option for sorting error listings by error type, error layer or by clearance violation has been added to the function.
The
option for accepting errors and removing their error markers from the display has been added to the
function. Accepted errors are listed at the end of the error listing (upon re-display), and an
A error number suffix is used to indicate accepted errors in the error list. Accepted error markers are saved with the layout, thus ensuring that they are still faded out after carrying out a
in subsequent sessions. Please note that accepted error markers have been implemented with BAE Version 7.4.033. Loading accepted errors with earlier BAE versions triggers their error messages to be displayed at the internal layout origin (thus potentially extending the element boundaries of the layout).
The , and buttons have been added for fading out and/or fading in groups of errors.
The option has been added for temporarily displaying all accepted layout errors.
The listing produced by the function has been extended by entries for active copper areas without pin connection to the assigned net. This is useful when checking copper areas on split power layers (split power planes).
Constructive parts with net connections have been included in the output.
DRC block fields for net group design rule checks have been added to the block clearance input controls for the net type matrix of the / function.
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.
The , and options for selecting different modes for the rerouting part pin and via connections during operations without mirroring have been added to the section of the / dialog. does not change trace corner point positions. automatically re-routes trace corner points which are ending on the pins and/or vias of the moved part. The default mode automatically re-routes trace corner points which are ending on part pins/vias and, unless the part is rotated, moves neighbouring segments accordingly in order to preserve diagonal connection patterns.
The function for carrying out a pin swap of the first two swappable pins of the currently placed part has been added to the right mouse button context menu of the part placement functions. This is useful during the placement of, e.g., two-pin parts such as resistors as it allows for pin swaps and corresponding airline updates to be carried out without having to interrupt the part placement operation.
The
option for exporting all parts regardless of any
$noplc placement status attribute assignments has been added to the
/ / functions.
The
parameter for adding a field for the part placement side to the output of the
function has been added to
bae.ini. The
$pdfpside keyword can be used in part list output templates for the
to activate placement side outputs.
When applying the / / / function to a part without prior check exclude part assignment, the system now provides a DRC part/error name suggestion for easy confirmation.
The and buttons for adding or removing group selected parts to or from the part placement set have been added to the part selection dialog of the / / function.
The / / function has been added for applying command sequences to the currently loaded element. This allows for automatic plot visibility settings, pen width assignments, etc. to be carried out on new part macros without having to apply the same edit batch on (already edited) parts macros of the project and/or library file.
The
,
,
and
parameters for automatically activating edit batches when saving layouts, parts, padstacks and pads have been added to
bae.ini.
Please make sure that edit batches which are activated when saving an element don't contain any commands which create multiple placements when reactivated (such as
). If a questionmark precedes the batch name, then the system prompts the user to start the batch when saving elements. The
parameter for restricting automatic batch calls to elements from the standard layout library configured through setup has been added to
bae.ini.
The
for generating via padstacks without solder mask has been added to the
from the
/ / menu. Via padstacks without solder mask are created with a
vh (via hidden) name prefix.
Pressing the Ctrl key during manual tarce editing on part macro level could cause program crashes. This problem has been fixed.
The pin pick of the option in / was working with a pick tolerance tolerance different from the part pick when used through right mouse button context menu functions. This could lead to traces being connected slightly off the center of part pins when using the context function with small zoom factors. This problem has been fixed.
Coordinates picks through the p key in mode have been modified to pick the exact user input coordinates. This allows for the connection to test point parts which are not included in the net list.
The / / 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.
The trace length reports and highlight and zoom functions created by the , , and functions from the / / / 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.
The / / submenu functions generated invalid traces when applied to traces with an arc at the start and/or end. This problem has been fixed.
The fill display options of the facility have been modified to activate a circle display (with current trace width and trace layer at the graphic cursor) before setting the first trace corner point. This feature visualizes the current default trace parameter and grid settings and thus allows for visual (pin) clearance checks before setting the first trace corner point.
The Ctrl key function for displaying information about the element at the mouse position has been modified to display fixed mode settings for vias and traces.
The default trace widths configured through / are now appended to the menu texts of the and trace edit context menu functions to indicate target trace width settings prior to the application of these functions.
The trace length display during manual routing and in some of the functions from the / / / submenu failed to take layer swaps to the layer into account when calculating trace lengths for layer swaps from vias to the layer according to / / settings. This problem has been fixed.
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.
The
v key via functions have been modified to check whether they have been called from within a trace edit function in which case a trace corner point is set at the current mouse position, an automatic layer swap to signal layer 1 (solder side) or to the top layer (part side) is carried out, and the trace edit function is terminated. This simplifies fanout via placements significantly. The
parameter for automatically reactivating the last trace edit function has been added to
bae.ini to simplify fanout trace and/or via definitions even further.
The / / 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 / / function has been modified to allow not only trace picks but also the selection of polygons to be shielded. The 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.
and buttons for loading and saving net visibility selections have been added to the / dialog.
The functions for selecting nets for assigning net visibility settings have been modified to allow for multiple nets to be selected. This allows for different nets of, e.g., adjacent pins to be selected without the need of reactivating the net selection function for each net.
The
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.
A net info field and a net pin selection box have been added to the net list assistant dialog.
The data of the selected net is displayed in the net info field and the net pins with part/pin names and placement status information are provided for selection in the net pin selection box when clicking a net using a single mouse click in the net selection box.
Clicking a net pin entry triggers a
to the position of the selected pin or activates the
for the part with the selected pin if this part is not yet placed. The heights of the net selection box, the net info field and the net pin selection box can be configured through
bae.ini parameters.
On default, net name double-clicks trigger the
function instead of
if the display of the net info field is activated.
The short circuit pins listed at the top of the / / 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.
The Autorouter routing functions have been made available in the Layout Editor submenu / . When starting an autorouter function, Layout Editor switches into autorouting modus which can subsequently be deactivated using the 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 (default function), (Initial routing with channel width 0) and functions instead of the Autorouter function. In autorouter mode, the / function only removes unfixed traces of the selected net without terminating the autorouter mode. I.e., / can be used interactively to provide alternative routing solutions during rip-up autorouting procedures. The , , and / functions are also available through the right mouse button context menus for traces and part pins. Please note that these functions trigger automatic 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 is activated.
The
Layout Editor loads and considers the
Autorouter control and strategy parameter settings from the
section in
bae.ini.
Buttons for generating regular polyangulars, interpolated ellipses and ovals (i.e., rectangles with semicircles ends at the smaller sides) have been added to the / function.
The 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.
The and functions for snapping to the X/Y grid cross point of a mouse-selectable line, area or trace segment has been added to the x key. The grid point closest to the segment pick coordinate will be snapped. This feature allows for horizontal or vertical segments to be easily added to angle-free segments.
The functions from the
/ / submenu have been modified to use a comma instead of a dot in front of the decimals of measuring texts depending on the
setting from
bae.ini.
The
and
for optionally inserting a measurement text prefix and/or suffix have been added to the
context menu which can be activated during the selection of the measurement position. The measurement text is automatically centered, and the measurement lines are automatically clipped to accommodate measurement text prefix and/or suffix specifications. New
bae.ini parameters for configuring a default measurement text prefix and/or suffix have been added. These prefix and suffix defaults can be filled with spaces/blanks to create a visible gap between measurement texts and measurement lines.
The
and
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 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.
The
poly_partheightignore rule for specifying the heights of height DRC keepout areas independently from part height settings has been added. This is useful for height DRC areas which are placed on the solder side for the purpose of guarding solder pads.
The / / function has been modified to support the conversion of documentary layer keepout areas into signal layer keepout areas.
With activated, the / / 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.
Control elements for text height, text plot width text angle, text mirroring, text alignment and text frame mode specifications have been added to the text input dialog of the function and the toolbar button to allow for those text properties to be specified prior to placement.
The and 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.
The / function has been modified to allow for texts to be vertically centered.
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.
The multiline text edit field of the
p key element properties dialog has been modified to display the full text instead of just the selected line for editing. The
input field for specifying line spacing relative to the text height has been added (previously, the line spacing could only be specified through the
parameter in
bae.ini).
The and functions from the / menu have been converted into submenus with the and options for processing either single mouse-selectable texts or all group-selected texts, respectively.
The function has been modified to prioritize text-specific pen width assignments over default pen width settings.
The function has been modified to transfer pen width assignments from the processed texts to the generated documentary lines.
The function for generating drill holes on padstacks without keepout areas and pads has been modified to prompt for the automatic generation of a keepout area with the specified drill hole dimension on the signal layer to minimize the risk of forgetting DRC keepout area definitions when defining padstacks for constructive drill hole parts such as mounting holes.
The / / / 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.
The PDF layer name is assigned to the elements of the drill plan legend if the layout contains more than one drill class. This allows for (overlapping) drill holes of different classes to be faded in and/or faded out in PDF outputs which are created with the option.
The / submenu functions have been modified to and/or 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 / / / function selected only one trace per layer when a part pin was clicked. This behaviour has been changed. / / / now selects all traces of the same layer which are starting on the clicked part pin.
The / / / function has been modified to select all elements without group name assignment if an empty string is entered.
The c shortcut key for temporarily releasing the angle lock has been added to the function. The previous angle lock mode is restored upon completion of the function.
The context menus which are activated when pressing the m and n from outside any other function have been extended by functions for setting and/or resetting the mirroring mode of group-selected parts or texts.
The / function has been renamed to and activates a dialog with group parameter settings which allows for the to be selected and the new and parameters to be set. provides an option for automatically releasing the angle lock during operations. provides the option which restricts the , , and functions from the / 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.
The 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.
The / / / function has been added for assigning PDF layer names to group selected elements. These assignments are considered by PDF batch outputs with option. Acrobat Reader displays a PDF output element which is assigned to both its own PDF layer and to its element type specific PDF layer only if both PDF layers are activated.
The / / / function has been added for group selecting elements by PDF layer name. The PDF layer name input control provides a list of all existing PDF layer names thus doubling as a facility for looking up used PDF layer names.
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.
The functions for creating heat traps have been modified to adjust heat trap widths automatically to smaller connection pad dimensions. This ensures that fine-pitch SMD parts are connected without causing clearance violations if a wider heat trap connection width is set according to the requirements of power supply parts.
The function for generating heat traps omitted heat trap connectors if opposite connectors were not created due to obstacles close to the heat trap pins and/or vias and if the copper fill isolation distance was set higher than the DRC minimum distance. To improve the heat trap connectivity for such pins and/ot vias, the isolation distance for inner pin parts of heat trap connectors has been reduced to the DRC minimum distance.
The functions from the / submenu have been modified to automatically redraw the fill area outline after removing fill areas. Previously, a screen redraw was sometimes required to ensure that the fill area outline was correctly displayed after removing fill areas.
The functions from the / submenu have been extended to allow for documentary layer fill areas to be converted to hatch areas. Documentary layer hatch areas are created using documentary lines. It is recommended to set the to the standard plot line width to ensure that the hatching ends in line width the fill area outline.
Trying to load hatch areas onto documentary layers triggers the error message in BAE versions prior BAE Version 7.4.033.
The / / 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 function. This provides additional information about the effects of fill priority settings and/or fill priority requirements for nested fill areas.
Part-related router error messages such as have been modified to trigger an automatic to the element boundaries of the affected part.
Gridless routing with option sometimes caused distance violations between generated diagonal pin connection segments and neighbouring pins. This problem has been fixed.
The / / function has been modified to substitute dots in output names with underscores to relaibly separate part from pin names.
The option for including part and pin information notes with PDF outputs has been added to the 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 option has been added to the layer level names control element for PDF layer outputs in batch definitions. can be used to control whether a layer level should be visible or invisible in the PDF initial view.
The dialog for managing display grids on output pages has been added to the output page batch definition facilities of the function. 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 and options for activating page and/or layer output confirmation prompts with default settings have been added to the output file parameters of the batch definitions to allow for the definition of batches with on-the-fly output page and/or output layer selections.
The function has been modified to save texts as (non-vectorized) text placements in the destination layout element. This enables different layer-specific text mirroring options for multilayer DDB file plots for panelized CAM outputs.
The for generating Windows bitmap outputs has been added. The resolution of the bitmap can be specified. For , the option of the plot parameter setting suppresses the board outline and restricts the output to elements which are placed inside the board outline. The output option can be used to include the board outline in the bitmap output if the board outline layer is selected for output.
The function has been extended to allow for the configuration of batch steps.
The
function has been modified to support multi-level directory generation, thus allowing for the specification of output directories such as
output/gerber.
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 / ) 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.
The
function has been modified to create output folders for output file names specified through the
FIXPATH command. Thus it is not necessary anymore to create such output directories prior to
calls.
The
OUTPICK and
OUTLAYER commands in the output file definitions of the
function have been modified to optionally accept the
PARTALL keyword at the end of the command for forcing the output of all parts regardless of any placement status definitions through
$noplc attribute assignments.
The
QATTRIBUTE command for defining an attribute status dependent field with two alternative values has been added to the format definition file for the
function. This feature allows placement status specifications dependent on
$noplc attribute settings for insertion data outputs with the
PARTALL option.
The / function has been modified to support the selection of patterns for the display of layers and/or apertures.
The and buttons have been added to the option of the / dialog. prompts the user to select the input offset using the graphic cursor. sets the input offset to the default 0.0, 0.0 value.
A marker cross in origin colors is used to indicate input offsets different from the 0.0, 0.0 default value. The left and bottom hands of the input offset cross are shortened to allow for the input offset marker to be distinguished from the origin marker.
Control elements for setting input offsets have been added to the / / dialog. This allows for the configuration of panelization batches.
The / / function has been modified to reset the input offset automatically to the [0.0, 0.0] default value.
The / / function for loading multiple drill and/or Gerber data files has been modified to trigger only a single call at the end of the complete load batch rather than calls after each file has been loaded. This increases the performance significantly if more than one file is loaded.
The
/ function for creating layouts from the currently loaded Gerber and drilling data has been turned into a submenu with the
and
functions.
is the default setting for direct layout generation.
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).
also tries to convert interpolated arcs into true arcs. The
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.
Using the / / function for deleting Gerber data sets without flashed structures sometimes caused layer assignment shifts in subsequent data sets. This problem has been fixed.
The command for documentary layer definitions has been modified to allow for the specification of a color palette and layer menu output index for documentary layer definitions through a comma-separated index number behind the documentary layer text mode specification. Documentary layer output index numbers start at 1. Documentary layers without output index assignments are automatically assigned to free index output positions. This feature allows for frequently used documentary layers to be placed at the top of the documentary layer selection menus and/or to group documentary layer definitions within layer menus according to their functionality.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The error messages of the automatic file error handling functions of the User Language Interpreter have been modified to include the name of the file which was accessed during the erroneous file operation.
This section lists new and changed User Language index variable types. See Bartels User Language Programmer's Guide - Appendix B for a detailed description of all index variable types.
The following User Language index variable types have been implemented:
| IP | Index Variable Type | Short Description |
|---|---|---|
| CAP | CV_DATASET | CAM View Data Set |
The
CL_ATTRIBUTE of of the
CL_CPIN index returned only empty strings string for attribute names and attribute values. This problem has been fixed.
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.
Support for additional parameter queries/settings has been added to the bae_getdblpar, 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 bae_peekiact has been modified to return a type code for the next automatic action in the interaction queue.
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.
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.
The User Language include files have been revised and extended by a series of new definitions and functions.
The following User Language programs have been implemented:
| IP | Program Name | Short Description |
|---|---|---|
| GED | ged_plc | Part Placement Action |
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.
| Bartels :: Bartels AutoEngineer :: BAE Documentation :: BAE Next Version Release Notes Preliminary |
Bartels AutoEngineer® - Next Version - Release Notes - * Preliminary Information *
© 1985-2010 Oliver Bartels F+E • Updated: 30 July 2010, 13:43 [GMT]
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BAE Next Version Release Notes 
