[PEDA] moving to ad6

[Geoff Harland]

Hi Gisbert,

In commenting previously about the new feature for holes within pads having
a slot or square shape, I was definitely *not* criticising the provision of
that feature, as I fully agree that it is a very desirable enhancement. (In
actual fact, I personally logged two separate items into Altium's database
to provide the feature of pads' holes having an slot (/"obround") shape, and
logged the second such item after a semi-serendipitous discovery that could
upset Altium's management were I to actually disclose the details.)

What I *did* criticise though (in my previous message) is that at the time
that that feature was *first* provided (with SP3 for AD 6), if anyone
defined any component which incorporated at least one pad having a slot or
square hole, then placed such a component in a PCB (document) file, and then
used the "Make PCB Library" command to create a PCB Library file (whose
footprints are derived from the components contained within the PCB document
file), then *all* of the pads (actually containing a hole) within the PCB
Library file created by that command were assigned a *round* hole, so that
the newly provided ("Hole Information") properties of (components') pads
having an oval or square hole were *not* being properly "copied" from the
"source" file (the PCB document file) to the "target" file (the PCB Library
file).

I inferred that that was happening from the contents within the Release
Notes which were provided for the *most recent* Service Pack (SP6), as one
item within those notes stated the following:

"Now when using 'Make PCB Library' command the pads that contain
slots/square holes will be correctly created in the PCB Library. The
slots/square holes will no longer be reset to round holes."

So my point is that the newly provided "Hole Information" properties
*should* have been *also* properly "copied" to pads within PCB Library files
(created using the "Make PCB Library" command) *at the same time* that those
new properties were *first* provided. However, while those properties were
first provided with SP3, the "Make PCB Library" command was *not* also
updated at the same time, - and was not updated until SP6 had been released.
(So it is of course good that that server has finally been updated - but why
wasn't it updated before?)

I do hope that Altium can better mange the provision of new features than
what they have all too frequently demonstrated up until now, and as Harry
Selfridge has mentioned in another message to this thread that pads having a
rounded rectangular shape do have their properties properly "copied" to PCB
Library files, then maybe they finally are getting their act together.

It should not be overlooked that it is public knowledge that there will be
no more major releases of P-CAD after the current version (P-CAD 2006), and
P-CAD supports many properties and features which are not yet supported by
AD. Supporting a rounded rectangular shape for pads is just one example of
such a feature, which has only recently become supported by AD as well (with
the release of SP6), so if P-CAD users are not to be deprived of any
functionality after the last SP for P-CAD 2006 has been released, then there
will be many many more new features which will also need to be provided by
AD at some stage or other (either within following SPs for AD 6, or else
within the next major version of AD).

Regards,
Geoff Harland.


> Hmm,
>
> in the past I've been complaining loudly about various problems I got with
> Altium products in earlier versions. Concerning the slotted holes I must
> say that I am VERY happy with this solution. Of course there has to be a
> different definition for this type of holes; they create an extra data
> file for that. The shops I have been sending gerbers to lately, all of
> them having a few of these slotted holes, had no problem with the data at
> all. Actually I never received any request for explanation or whatever
> other info on that topic. They just did it from the data Altium provided,
> and it was fine. As for documentation on how to use this feature, all I
> can say is that I never needed any. It's self-explaining. Again, I am very
> grateful for a suitable solution at last. We have been asking for it for
> years, and I think the solution they gave us is absolutely acceptable.
> Just my 2c.
>
> Mit freundlichem Gruß
> Kind regards
>
> Gisbert Auge
> N.A.T. GmbH
> www.nateurope.com
>
>
> Geoff,
>
> as to the various bugfixes.
> Don't forget, Altium is a company getting their money with new
> sold products. And the easy, and even wrong, calculation is:
> more releases/year = more AUS$/year!
>
> I talked to a support-guy of Altium Germany because of the
> the nonround holes and asked him
> 1. how it will be dokumented and
> 2. how it should be fabricated.
> Guess what he told me?
> 1. He did not know whether it was documented at all (!)
> 2. Quot: "That's should be the problem of the manufacturer"
> Do you still wonder why they do what they do?
>
> I can't tell much about the roundet square pads, but I gues
> they will trick them like they did with square pads when they are
> placed in a non 90° angle. Just draw them with a small gerber-apt.
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Waldemar