Mail Archives: geda-user/2017/08/13/08:53:55
On Sun, 13 Aug 2017, Carlos Nieves wrote:
> I don't think this is the right way... Specially for plated holes. Fabs usually check that there is a distance between copper and the board outline, so copper is not exposed at edges.
> Doing it that way will results in failing that drc and having to postprocess the outline file...
Well, the complete final solution would one of these:
Option A:
1. you define two layers groups, both with type "outline" so that pcb-rnd
understands they are milled with a router; one of them is the real outline
layer and unplated slots, the other is the plated slots [this is not yet
possible, pcb-rnd assumes there's only one outline layer; not terribly
hard to fix]
2. the slot layer needs to be marked as 'plated' so all objects
drawn there behave like vias, connecting layers [not yet possible;
somewhat harder to do, but still on the relatively easy side]
3. implement your footprint as a subcircuit, draw your slot as a line on
the 'slot' layer; this will result in a plated slot; you may want to add
some copper lines/polys around it on the top and bottom sides [this is
already possible since release 1.2.4]
4. tag the slot and the top/bottom copper lines/polys to the same terminal
("pin number") so the netlist understands the connection [I'm working on
this these days, will be possible in 1..2 weeks]
5. on export you simply get a normal unplated outline layer and a plated
slot layer separately; you can then name the files accordingly or tell the
fab house and I am sure they will understand not to run the
copper-distance DRC on the slots [this step, exporting multiple outline
layers, is already possible, if an export naming style is selected that
doesn't result in overwriting the same file twice]
Option B:
after the subcircuit upgrade, next target will be pad stacks. I am tempted
to introduce "hole shapes": for a common via or pin you'd use a circular
hole (drill) but it would also allow lines for slots. This way the
resulting construct is like a via (pin) in all regards. According to my
current plans I will probably start coding pad stacks this year; having
non-circular hole is a smallish task compared to the rest pad stacks need,
so it's rather probable that we have this. In this setup the slots would
end up in the plated drill file, much like your example showed.
Note: eventually both methods will be available. The only question is
when, which also depends on how much pull they get from active pcb-rnd
users. At the moment pad stack seems to be the one that would be
implemented first.
Regards,
Igor2
- Raw text -