[PEDA] Protel99SE SP6 - board doesn't match schematic, no DRC errors

[Steven J. Ackerman]

Just a heads-up - although this is probably old news to
list members.

We've used Protel Schematic v3.4 and Protel PCB v2.8 to
design several hundred boards - mainly double-sided, 
mixed SMT and through-hole, some with hundreds of parts,
all sizes - no problems.

I did our second 4-layer PCB with Protel99SE SP6. Just
received the prototypes back. When building the first
board by hand, two components were on the schematic, 
but not on the PCB. Bringing up the board in Protel 
and jumping to the component by name, the missing 
components were off the board, and off the screen - perhaps
with a negative Y coordinate. No ratsnest wires, the router
indicated that the board was 100% routed, no DRC errors -
sweet.

Did a select outside the board area, move selection, and
surprise - the missing two components moved into the visible
area - ratsnest wires appeared and now the board is no longer
100% routed - it's magic !

I don't know how the two components got 'placed' off of the
viewable screen, or why a zoom all didn't show them, or why
the autorouter all didn't complain, or why the DRC passed...

I no longer trust Protel99SE to produce a board that matches
the schematic.

I'm glad that these are prototypes, and I can tack these two
missing components on by hand.

Great feature !

Steven J. Ackerman, Consultant
ACS, Sarasota, FL
Web:  http://www.acscontrol.com
Blog: http://sjackerman.spaces.live.com/
Work: steve at acscontrol.com
Home: sjackerman at comcast.net