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Boardstation V8 ASCII Files Write

Overview

CAMCAD creates 6 Boardstation files comps.comp, geom_ascii, layers.layer, nets.net, tech.tec and traces.trace within a directory specified by the user. These are ASCII files that are very easy to import into Mentor Boardstation.

For directions on loading these files into Mentor Boardstation, please see the Using the Boardstation Files section.

Versions Supported

 

Specific Export Procedures

In CAMCAD go to File | Export. Select Mentor Boardstation V8 Layout Write. A browsing window appears. Browse to the directory you want CAMCAD to save the Mentor files in and click OK. You will then be asked to specify a format, either metric or standard, and click OK.

After that you will have to map your layers. The Mentor Layer Editor window will appear. On the left side you have the Original layer names and you want to change those names to the workable Boardstation layers on the right side. This will all depend on which layers you want to use. Not a lot has to be done since we write a Layers.Layer file.

The configuration file we use is a file called Mentor.out. This file can be changed (edited) to reflect the desired layers you may want to use. Keep in mind your Mentor.out will have to agree with the layers you assign in the layer mapping.

Tips, Notes and Exporting Questions

Board Routing Outline

The BOARD_ROUTING_OUTLINE attribute of the board geometry is a required element in Mentor. CAMCAD follows the following rules to create a BOARD_ROUTING_OUTLINE:

  1. If the design contains a recognized "Route Keep-In" area defined its outline will be used to define the BOARD_ROUTING_OUTLINE.
  2. If there is no recognized "Route Keep-In" area the design will be searched for a recognized "All Keep-In" area which will be used to define the BOARD_ROUTING_OUTLINE.
  3. If the design does not contain both a recognized "Route Keep-In" and a recognized "All Keep-In" area then the "Primary Board Outline" will be used to define the BOARD_ROUTING_OUTLINE.

Board Placement Outline

The BOARD_PLACEMENT_OUTLINE attribute of the board geometry is a required element in Mentor. CAMCAD follows the following rules to create a BOARD_PLACEMENT_OUTLINE :

  1. If the design contains a recognized "Place Keep-In" area defined its outline will be used to define the BOARD_PLACEMENT_OUTLINE .
  2. If there is no recognized "Place Keep-In" area the design will be searched for a recognized "All Keep-In" area which will be used to define the BOARD_PLACEMENT_OUTLINE .
  3. If the design does not contain both a recognized "Place Keep-In" and a recognized "All Keep-In" area then the "Primary Board Outline" will be used to define the BOARD_PLACEMENT_OUTLINE .

Component Placement Outline

In Mentor the Components have an extreme body component outline which is located in the attributes of the component, and may be visible in Layout.

Writing Attribute Names

Attributes names have a space in them and that space should be replaced with and "_".

Example: Voltage Rating s/b Voltage_Rating.

Rats Nest in Mentor

Once your in Mentor Board Station and you see a lot of rats nest, you should refer to "Using the Board Station files". This may help removing some of the rats nest.

Floating Vias

When a design has floating vias like extra tie points for ground or vcc, these vias will not come through as they are not associated with a trace.

Mechanical Component Pins

At present we do not support Mechanical Pins (pins with no number) in components.

Positive Planes/Fill Areas and Voids

Mentor BoardStation does not support dynamic creation of plane cutouts on imported fill areas and also Void Areas are not supported in the Mentor BoardStation system. Therefore, Copper Pour areas might short circuit pins, which would have been covered by Void Areas or would be dynamically created in the source system. We have seen that this causes the Mentor BoardStation system to become unstable and crash.

CAMCAD will separate the plane outlines and any void outlines to a new non-electrical layer in the BoardStation system. This new layer will have a name of A_"signal_layer_name".

If you have a design with a copper pour area on the top signal layer then CAMCAD will automatically translate the top signal layer from the source file to the Mentor "SIGNAL_1" layer and the pour and void outlines from the top signal layer will be translated to a layer named "A_SIGNAL_1".