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KevL
United Kingdom
78 Posts |
 Posted - 26 Mar 2011 : 02:41:43
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John
I reread my rambling previous missive and realised I had created a
confusion. When I said group I meant a collection of selected primitives formed by adding items to a set of selected items by using CTRL click to select. Grouping items using the technigue you mentioned (i.e. adding them to a named group so that they can be moved as a single entity) was not what I meant - though it has similar problems.
I just want to be able to select stuff and move it to exactly where I have in mind easily and without resorting to the sod it near enough modus operandi. Having the ability to smack down a datum (whose coordinates are inherited from existing primitives) would be an easy way of achieving this and would obviate the need for the nudging activity.
Must make more effort with precision in future missives.
K
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johnt
United Kingdom
52 Posts |
Posted - 26 Mar 2011 : 11:18:27
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Hmm OK Kev - I'm still not sure of the difference - one for Peter I expect.
It did however lead me to this issue of 2 program functions to enter absolute
positions for a group - one of which works as I expected (right click - enter co-ordinates) and one that just piles them up - (right click - properties - tab)
Perhaps the second could be changed to work - or be labeled differently if piling up is useful to someone.
john
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KevL
United Kingdom
78 Posts |
Posted - 27 Mar 2011 : 00:22:04
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John
1. A Group in EZPC is a collection of lines pads and components (e.g) which are given a name and can then be moved as 1 item (if the group is set as tight).
2. A number of items can be selected by drawing a box around them or by clicking on multiple items with the CTRL key held down. CTRL key gives you the add item to the set of already selected items. It is then possible to move all selected items simultaneously.
When you type coordinates into the X and Y coordinate boxes in case 2 you are setting all of the X and Y coordinates of the selected items to be the same value - hence they end up in a pile. I.e. selecting multiple items gives you the ability to change parameters of all of the items with one dialog. The fact that some of the boxes display the string "different" is telling you they all have differnt values of say X and Y coords.
Not sure what happens when you do this in case 1.
Cant imagine it would do anything which would help :=)
K |
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rbuck
USA
63 Posts |
Posted - 28 Mar 2011 : 21:07:39
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This may not be possible but it would be nice to be able to move pieces of the PCB symbol that are not part of the main package outline. Specifically I am referring to the dot that normally identifies the positive end of a diode or pin 1 of an IC package. In a tight layout the polarity mark will sometimes land on top of other component outlines. Or if 2 diodes are placed side by side oriented 180 degrees from each other it is difficult to determine which dot belongs to which diode.
My work around has to been create 2 different packages. One with the polarity dot and one without. Then if a polarity marking or pin 1 indicator lands on another component I change the package to the one without the indicator and manually place the dot on the silkscreen layer. Of course if the component is moved you have to also move the indicator mark.
Maybe there could be a setting that determines if silkscreen components are locked in place when the PCB symbol is created. The designator is not locked in place so possibly other items could be set to behave the same way. |
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Iain Wilkie
United Kingdom
1015 Posts |
Posted - 28 Mar 2011 : 22:23:21
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I have already spoken to number one about this a long time ago. More specific, it was to say that it would be a great feature if the silk screen could simply be edited within the PCB editor. Sometimes for instance a device from a library might have a slightly different look to another in the same design that came from another library, so you could then edit them to be the same "format". Also as you say to edit specific lines, dots etc without having to create an "adjusted" component. All cosmetic of course, but thats what the customers sees !!
Iain
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johnt
United Kingdom
52 Posts |
Posted - 30 Mar 2011 : 11:52:05
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More ease of use:
Make the reports active rather than plain text. The output of the report can still be text or HTML or whatever (PLEASE NOT XML ... EVER!!!!)
The idea being that when it lists say a "Track to Board error" clicking on the report highlights the error on the PCB.
(I think I saw that on Eagle or DS or somewhere)
john |
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Iain Wilkie
United Kingdom
1015 Posts |
Posted - 30 Mar 2011 : 14:30:04
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Yup .... Great Idea
Iain |
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johnt
United Kingdom
52 Posts |
Posted - 31 Mar 2011 : 11:41:52
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Before I forget again... I'll mention it here just in case
Wishing for manually drawn tracks to not be removed by the "unroute all nets"
option. Either an option to do this or leave them alone untill manually deleted
would work fine I think.
john |
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buckeyes1997
USA
18 Posts |
Posted - 04 Apr 2011 : 17:56:31
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I would still very much like to see the ability to output outlines as DXF or Gcode. Eagle does it with ULP scripts from gerbers. I currently have to open my EASY-PC gerbers in EAGLE to generate GCode to mill out prototype boards.
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ROBERT LEACROFT
United Kingdom
7 Posts |
Posted - 08 Apr 2011 : 11:12:05
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Someone will tell me that these ideas are already available in 14.
1. To be able to create a gerber or plot output with several different pcbs on it without conflicts of idents, nets etc. I use lots of small pcbs and if I could generated a composite output it would save lots of money and also be useful for my inhouse prototyping facility.
2. It would be incredibly useful to be able to "lock" files. I am always openning old files to check on something or copy a bit from it and if you happen to move something by mistake without noticing it and then perhaps later do a "save all" then your old file gets "corrupted". I know that file protection bits can be set in windows but that is rather long winded. A possible alternative (not quite so nice) would be a viewer only version of Easy-PC.
3. Add Values in the PCB editor and then Back Annotate them to the schematic would be very useful. This does not seem possible at the moment. I often do not know what values will be until I have built and tried out a board on the bench. I then have a physical board in front of me (often without silkscreen) and can see the values and positions and could very quickly add them to the pcb layout (without even knowing the component designation) but they cannot then be back annotated to the design as a whole.
4. Thumbnails (especially of pcb layouts) would be useful. I know I did a board a couple of years ago with 2 pics, 4 relays and an audio transformer on it but can I find it now and having to open every file just to have a look is a pain. This might also tie in with a viewer only version. |
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johnt
United Kingdom
52 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2011 : 11:40:11
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Just adding a "me too" on Roberts thumbnail suggestion.
Good idea.
john |
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Iain Wilkie
United Kingdom
1015 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2011 : 22:16:58
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Also to suggestion #3 ..... if you have a project with many schematics, it would be a lot easier to edit component values etc in the PCB editor and back annotate rather that labouriously go through the individual schematics changinf values.
I have asked for this many times .... seems to fall on deaf ears !
Iain |
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davep
United Kingdom
101 Posts |
Posted - 10 Apr 2011 : 21:38:29
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If I want to print a parts list for a multi-sheet circuit I can only do it from the PCB.
That's fine if I have a PCB. I also use Easy-PC for schematics only for such things as general assemblies. Many of the parts I use there have no Layout symbols.
Could there be a way of creating reports from all schematics together?
At present I create a report as a spreadsheet for each schematic sheet then cut and paste them all together. |
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DavidM
United Kingdom
458 Posts |
Posted - 11 Apr 2011 : 11:07:00
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The Reports dialog is available from a Project file, so it should be possible to create reports such as 'Bill Of Materials' across the whole multi-sheet design by doing it from the Project.
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grs
Belgium
1 Posts |
Posted - 18 Apr 2011 : 14:35:31
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- Correct the gerber output.
The indications for negative and positive layer and portion of layer are not included in the gerber text output.
Please add. Sometimes this causes huge costs because the pcb manufacturer switched negative - positive.
- Correct output dimensions.
0.150 mm track to track spacing is about 0.133 mm. So one has to guess what to type there in the spacing boxes.
- The maximum zoom level is insufficient. Improve by 10 times please.
- Differential pair routing is not available. Add please.
- Length matching is not available. Make at least some report of track length available.
- On line drc generates information on the board. One needs to click each time a drc error is generated when placing 2 components on top of each other. Remove the check box please.
- On line drc does not remove information on the board when manually the drc error is removed. Like when 2 components are on top of each other and the user places on of the 2 away. The drc error indication still is on the board.
- A track segment can not be moved in layout. This makes layout a frustrating job.
If for example 15 lines are routed next to each other and one discovers a capacitor has to be placed in the middle, the only option is to un-route the 15 tracks. Place the capacitor and route the 15 track again.
One can not move the 15 tracks. Change please.
- There is a possibility to join 2 nets together in layout. Remove this feature please. The drc does not give a warning nor an error. One can make boards where there is a perfect good drc with still power and ground shorted.
- There should be a way to change the spacing all together. In one operation.
- There should be a way to navigate in the spacing table with the tab key. Now one needs to grab the mouse each time. This is time consuming.
- Make line and track drawing changeable. One draws a line and can not change the coordinates afterwards if the line was drawn on the wrong place.
- When typing offset coordinates; leave the line where it was. When one clicks to type offset coordinates the line jumps to another position. So one does not know what offset to type as the line moved in the mean time.
- Do not count selecting an object in the undo table. Make 50 undo levels standard please. 500 undo levels is even better.
- Placing 2 components on top of each other does not generate drc error. One component is big and one component is small. So the silk of the big component can contain 20 small components. The drc only checks silk to silk. Change please.
- Give the next update for free. This program needs to improve a lot compared to other pcb programs.
Some remarks after working only 2 days with the program. |
Edited by - grs on 19 Apr 2011 08:07:06 |
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DavidM
United Kingdom
458 Posts |
Posted - 19 Apr 2011 : 12:57:58
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some responses to points raised by 'grs'...
gerber output - I presume you mean that the plotting report does not say which plots are positive and which are negative. I have logged this on our database to be fixed.
zoom level - you can increase the zoom by reducing the working area (Settings, Working Area). Making the total working area smaller lets you zoom in further.
length matching - there is some support already in the application for length rules (Settings, Design Technology, Net Classes) and a net track length report (Output, Reports).
a track segment cannot be moved in layout - no idea what this refers to, you can freely move any existing tracks in the pcb layout. You can move multiple adjacent track segments by selecting them all then dragging.
joining nets - if you add a track or connection that accidentally bridges two nets, there is a warning that pops up that tells you that you are about to join two nets. I don't think this would ever happen 'invisibly'.
make line and track drawing changeable - there is a dockable bar called the Shape Information bar. You can use this to edit the coordinates of any track or shape on the board.
drc of components - there are features in the handling of components by DRC that allow you specify which portions of a component make up the 'body'. See the section at the bottom of the Help page for DRC. Online DRC doesn't currently do component checking though.
best regards,
David
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DavidM
United Kingdom
458 Posts |
Posted - 19 Apr 2011 : 13:02:26
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Thank you all for taking the time to respond to our 'call for ideas' for V15. Whilst we cannot make any promises about whether any particular items will be included, all of the information has gone into our discussions about features to add.
I am now closing this thread, but please do feel free to continue posting your ideas under their own thread(s). |
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Key features for V15?