Mentor Boardstation
Overview
The Mentor Boardstation reader takes as input a series of
standard Boardstation design files (.PRT, .NET, .WIR, .CMP)
as well as an ASCII Geoms file which must be written from
Librarian. For directions on creating these files in Mentor
Boardstation, please see the original
system file generation section.
Versions Supported
CAMCAD supports all Mentor Graphics (Boardstation)
v8.x and higher on all platforms.
CAMCAD DOES NOT support Mentor Boardstation files
generated from other "Non Mentor" systems.
Specific Import Procedures
The Mentor Boardstation import procedure varies little from
the generic file import procedure. The only variation is that
the import procedure requires the following five files:
- geom_ascii: Definitions for all library elements
in the design including board outline, panel definition,
layer stack-up
- comps.comps_*: Component file, which is called
in the Mentor system comps.comp.$x. This file has the component
placement information, as well as reference designator,
part number, and package.
- nets.nets_*: Netlist file, which is called in
the Mentor system nets.net.
- traces.traces_*: Trace or Wire file, which is
called traces.trace. This file has all the via, routing
and filled area information.
- tech.tech_*: This file contains the technology
of your design.
layers.layers_*: This file contains the layer assignments
of the design and is not actually loaded into CAMCAD and
is not required. This file is only required to be supplied
to RSI if seeking support on the Mentor Boardstation reader.
Simply select the File | Import
command and choose the Mentor Boardstation V8 Read option
from the Import File Format menu. Next browse to the directory
where the 5 file are located. Select the 5 required files
from the list then click "Open". Now just click Place at Origin
and FIT Page to Image. (The Browse dialog will display any
and all files containing "geom", "ascii",
"comp", "net", "trace", and
"tech" and will also list files with the extensions
*.prt, *.tra, *.wir, *.net, *.cmp, and *.tec.)
The default rules file is Mentor.in and is found in the CAMCAD
directory. See Mentor.in File
for more information regarding the use of this file.
Tips, Notes and Importing Questions
Information on Mentor Internal Layer Structure
and Mirroring.
CAMCAD is, in and of itself, virtually a CAD system
with its own internal data structure as well as its own limitations.
The CAMCAD Layer methodology works very well in representing
the structures from most CAD systems, however, the approach
to layers and layer handling of the Mentor system can not
be reproduced exactly in CAMCAD due to some fundamental
core differences. Mentor has a concept of a "generic" layer
and Top and Bottom mapping layers (please read the Mentor
documentation regarding Logical
Layer Mapping and Top and Bottom Layer Mapping Rules for
a deeper understanding). CAMCAD handles these built-in
generic/specific layers by default. In addition to the built-in
generic/specific mapping layers Mentor allows users to create
their own. CAMCAD can not automatically handle these
and rather must be told, through a few commands in the mentor.in
file, what to do with the layers detected and their contents
in order to facilitate the proper display of graphical information.
The specific commands used are .LAYERRENAME
and .MIRRORLAYER. Please refer
to the documentation for commands in the mentor.in file
for specific documentation on usage for these commands and
how they effect the visualization of graphical data.
Information on Placement Dependent Geometries
- Mentor Boardstation Layout Translations to Other ECAD Systems
During a Router Solutions translation from a Placement Dependant
CAD System to a Non Placement Dependant CAD System, there
are certain design practices that are legal in Placement Dependant
CAD Systems which are not compatible with Non Placement Dependant
CAD System. In Placement Dependant CAD Systems, geometries
can be created to have different pin layouts depending on
which surface of the board the geometry is inserted. CAMCAD
will translate the geometry as is (including all pins), not
considering which surface the referencing component is placed.
It will be the responsibility of the customer to repair/rework
these geometries in the target CAD system. Router Solutions
can offer suggestions to customers for uncovering problematic
components. However, Router Solutions is not responsible for
providing a toolset for customers to use for this error correction,
or for providing the error correction itself. An example of
a Placement Dependant CAD System is Mentor. An example of
a Non Placement Dependant CAD System is PADS.
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