PCB editor

Thu Jan 26, 2012 8:59 pm   

I have to share:
We switched from ORCAD Layout (discontinued) to Cadence PCB Editor.
Let me tell you: stay the (*&^%$#@!!! from this thing if you can.
If this tool is not ABSOLUTELY counterintuitive, then I do not know
what is... I did layouts woth ORCAD Layout, PADS, PCAD, I forgot what
else. It has never been painful...

Fri Jan 27, 2012 5:16 am   

On Jan 26, 1:59 pm, Michael <mk5...@yahoo.com> wrote:

Cadence PCB, AKA Allegro, is one of the most powerful, but beastly,
PCB editors out there. It has second-to-none netlisting and very
powerful editing features.

You have to realize that it predates many of the modern PC computer
conventions and forces you into an old-school workstation frame of
mind. Allegro is OLD.

Back then there was no uniform guideline for how programs should work,
and really, these old programs expose way too much of the boring comp-
sci aspects to the user.

That being said, once you understand what these differences are, it's
quite fun to work with. It offers the right balance of GUI and text
input.

Want to create a batch file that checks the database integrity,
generates all the gerbers and drill files and manufacturing drawings
and files and zips them up? No problem, many of Allegro's functions
are separate executables.

Create that script and add it as a "tool" in the "program manager".
The program manager itself is a very basic HTML browser and you can
change the graphics it displays and what happens when you click on it.

What version of Allegro? Things changed a lot from 15 to 16. What
license do you have? Allegro is different in the low-end "studio" and
the high end "performance" licenses.

What, specifically, is the problem?

Setup? Colors? Footprints? Shapes? Planes? Basic vias? Blind vias?
Buried vias? Diff pairs? Constraint manager? Basic editing? What's all
that junk on the screen?

Do you need to start from 0? Are you doing an ECO on an existing
design? Do you need to export gerbers? Are you running in Win 7?
Linux?

Are you working alone or in a group? Will you create a library of
standard padstacks and footprints to be reused? You should. It takes a
lot of time but it takes even longer if you're in the middle of a
layout. And no, no one's made a universal standard library of parts.
You're on your own. Fun, eh?

Fri Jan 27, 2012 8:34 am   

On 26-01-2012 19:59, Michael wrote:

Well, well, I really understand your frustration, because I was exactly
in the same situation a couple of years ago. However, once you figure
how it works, I'm sure you will really like it.

The main problem is in my opinion that it in fact is counterintuitive
(one of the reasons is the single click mouse operation and different
mode selection on the right mouse button - probably inherited from its
unix origins). In principle being counterintuitive is not a big problem
if there were a reasonable tutorial or useful documentation. There is of
course tons of documentation, but that is written in the style "if you
click on this icon, that will happen", no way to figure "how do I do ...?"

My solution to the problem was actual attending a short course offered
by our local distributor. That helped and was really worth the money!

After that the first board was hard, but then I really started to like
PCB Editor. It is a great software package. It's fun working with it and
compared to Layout I do my layouts about twice as fast. Furthermore, I
always considered making PCBs in Layout a burden, one had to go through
- now with PCB Editor I actually like the process - sometimes I even
think it's fun!

Remember to convert all your Layout footprints into PCB Editor format if
you want to avoid to make all new footprints. You need Layout's catalog
function to do so, thus do it before you loose access to Layout. Never
understood that PCB Editor comes with only a ridiculous amount of
footprint. Cadence could have done the conversion and saved us an awful
lot of time converting all those Layout libraries.

Regards,
Klaus

Fri Jan 27, 2012 2:48 pm   

On Jan 27, 2:34 am, Klaus Bahner <Klaus.Bah...@ieee.org> wrote:

You said: "compared to Layout I do my layouts about twice as fast". I
do hope it's true, ...
Quite a few years ago I needed to make a small adapter between two
connectors, I did in Allegro (I was told that PCB Editor is very
simplified version of it). I do not remember much of that "project"...
I doubt I will forget how annoyed I am now... Maybe I am older by...
"quite a few years" ;o)
All (almost) libraries have been converted by other (younger and more
patient) engineers...

work at that time. I do not know if I can find/attend a course right
now. It's normal: you have what you don't need and need what you don't
have.
I've spent whole week on this simple board and have nothing to show
for it...

Sat Jan 28, 2012 7:49 am   

Hi Michael,

On 1/26/2012 11:59 AM, Michael wrote:

<grin> This is true of many "engineering tools" -- often designed
around the implementation instead of implemented around the *design*.

Try DASH-PCB. ;-)

[For the sarcasm-impaired: do NOT try DASH-PCB!]

WIth most of these tools, you have to look at them as "investments".
Not just $$$ but *time*, as well. Rarely appropriate for a "one time
use" but often a boon over the long haul...

Good luck!