Adding connections is easy, with orthogonal locking and snap to pin, tie dots being added as required. Buses are defined automatically; simply select the terminals required, then pull the bus into position.

The design engineer can control all aspects of critical connections from the schematic, to allow EMC checking in the artwork.

User-defined attributes can be assigned to pins, parts and connections in order to perform design rule checking, or to extract information such as bill of materials, simulator files, etc.

Parts/Wiring list editors:

Libraries

Extensive device and footprint libraries are supplied which can be duplicated and/or modified quickly and easily.

As well as standard pad shapes, specialist pad shapes with multiple or offset drilled holes can be defined and added to the library.

Board Layout

Once the schematic (or parts/wiring list) has been created, the board is ready to be designed. Parts can be positioned interactively or using the auto-placement routine. As parts are placed or moved, the connections stretch and automatically display the shortest path between connected pins. Gate & pin swapping can be performed with automatic back-annotation to the schematic diagram, as can part renumbering.

Once the parts have been placed on the board, the connections are ready to be routed with either our own auto-router or the optional integrated Electra or Specctra Auto-Routers. Critical signals can be hand routed and fixed in position to stop the auto-routers from removing them. The auto-router can be interrupted during its cycle and results saved or abandoned.

Manual track modification is easy with the on-line DRC and EMC to ensure your designs meet European emission standards.

Internal power planes, including split power planes are created automatically and can be displayed.

Artwork editor:

Outputs

A selection of outputs are provided as standard, including Gerber, NC Drilling and routing, DXF, ASCII, etc. Batch files make life easier by saving common output requirements. Refer to the specification for details.

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