Autolink

Autolink Bruce Thu, 08/30/2018 - 15:39

Autolinking is a process of mapping files to the correct layers of the board. The import module is designed to support Gerber and Drill files from a wide variety of CAD system; while each CAD system has its own approach to naming its output files. In order to accommodate flexibility and accuracy, there are two different autolink strategies available: filename detection and link filters.

Use the Autolink menu to enable or disable autolinking. The menu items are:

Autolinking off – disables autolinking
Link by filename – enables autolinking with filename detection
Link by filter – enables autolinking with link filters
Create filter from current mapping – creates a link filter based on the current link status
Link filters... - opens the link filter manager

If, during autolinking, two files appear to belong to the same layer, both files are displayed graphically and the user may choose which file to link to the layer. The other file will be left unlinked, and may be manually linked to its correct layer after autolinking has finished. This situation typically arises when there are several mechanical files and the autolinker is unable to determine which one contains the board contour.

Autolinking is usually able to map most or all of the image files properly. But it might also make wrong assumptions. The user is strongly advised to review the file mappings carefully.

Autolinking is only automatically applied the first time files are added to a product. The autolink process may be repeated by right-clicking on the file list and choosing Re-link files.

If, for some reason, a file is improperly linked during autolinking, this may be corrected by relinking the file to the correct layer.

If, during autolinking, a file has been linked to the Board layer, then an attempt will be made to automatically define the outer and inner (if any) contour objects. This operation may be disabled by selecting the Autolink|Automatically define contour (if possible) menu item, so that the check mark is removed.

Gerber Job File

Gerber Job File Bruce Thu, 08/30/2018 - 15:44

If the product you are importing contains a Gerber job file (*.gbrjob) then file linking information and product parameters will be extracted from the file.

Note: The final format of the Gerber job file has not yet been published. Some Gerber job files may not be compatible with the current draft specification. We will update this feature when the final format is published.

Filename detection

Filename detection Bruce Thu, 08/30/2018 - 15:46

Filename detection analyzes all of the filenames against a set of rules in order to match each filename to its appropriate layer. Filename detection also analyzes any text files to see if they may contain the correct file mappings.

When filename detection is enabled, two additional columns are shown in the Files pane: Side and Style. The Side column shows which side of the board (Top, Bottom or Inner) that filename detection has determined the file to be. The Style column shows which type of layer has been detected. The styles are: Cu (copper), Cu out (outer layer), Cu in (inner layer), Cu in/neg (inner layer negative image), SM (solder mask), No (legend), PM (paste mask), PLT (plated through drill), NPT (unplated through drill), B/B (blind or buried drill), Rou (routing or contour), Drw (drawing), Mech (mechanical), Gold (hard gold), Glue (glue layer), Assy (assembly drawing), Peeloff (peel-off mask), and v-cut (scoring).

If the autolinker is not able to match all of the image files to a layer, then the user is given the option to try autolinking with link filters.

Link filters

Link filters Bruce Thu, 08/30/2018 - 15:50

A link filter is a set of filename substrings, each mapped to its appropriate layer name. There are a handful of pre-defined link filters built into the import module. Users may define additional filters as needed.

The program compares all image file names with all filename substrings in all enabled link filters. It then selects the “best” filter to use when autolinking. The “best” filter is the filter having the largest number of filename matches. However, more than half of the image files must match for a filter to be considered among the best.

Link filter manager

Link filter manager Bruce Thu, 08/30/2018 - 15:51

A Link filter is a list of filename substrings and layer names. If an image file name contains a substring from a filter, then the file will be linked to the corresponding layer.

Choose Autolink|Link filters to open the Link filter manager. There are a few built-in filters which can serve as examples when creating filters. Use the check boxes to enable filters.

To create a new Link filter:

Click on the New button to start a new filter.
Click in the first row of the Filename substring column, so that an edit cursor appears.
Type in the desired substring (they are not case sensitive).
Press Enter to complete the substring. Pressing enter again opens the next row for editing.
For each substring, click on the text in the Stackup layer column and choose the desired layer from the menu.
Save the filter by clicking on the Save as button and giving the filter a name.

An existing filter may be modified in the same manner and then saved with the same name (using the Save button) or as a copy with a new name (using the Save as button). Any link filters you create will be available to all users within your company.

When making a Link filter, care should be taken to use filename substrings which are unique among the image files generated by your CAD system. Check the user documentation for your CAD system, and take advantage of any output options or scripts when making a link filter.

A link filter may also be created by manually linking all of the files in a product and then executing the Autolink|Create filter from current mapping command. If drill files have been scaled, rotated and/or mirrored, these values will also be saved as a part of a filter created with this command.