FastCounter by bCentral
Now days, with designs getting more and more comples, it is becoming necessary to be able to place the Patterns in PCB - for a new Design - in a manner which is grouped according to their relative placement in Schematic.
When one first loads the new Netlist into PCB, all of the Patterns are just placed according to RefDes, along the top edge of the board. The ratsnest will show the connections required to hook up the pads, but it can get pretty congested, and confusing - to be able to properly place - and group the patterns in the design.
There is a way to be able to group the Patterns by pre-defined functions, using a special Attribute, and here is the way to do that.
While in Schematic, select the Parts that you want to group together. This can be done by Schematic sheet or sets of Parts within a Schematic sheet.
Once selected, Right-Click the mouse, and select Properties. Select the Attributes tab, and then click the 'Add...' button. The attribute that you will add is not in the list, and so you will need to type the name. Type in 'Partition' as the name, and then in the Value box, type a name thay will identify this group of Parts - I.E. PowerSupply. Then close the Attributes form by selecting 'OK'.
Repeat this process, naming the groups of Parts that you want to place together in PCB. Once you have completed this process, generate the Netlist that will be Imported into PCB.
NOTE: This method only works with P-CAD Ascii Netlists.
In PCB, after you have successfully Imported the Netlist, select and launch 'Utils/P-CAD Interplace/PCS...'.
In Interplace, once you have loaded the PCB board, on the right hand side of the display is a set of tabs. The third one over is labeled 'Partitions'. Select this tab.
There should be a list of the Partitions that you created in Schematic, and the Patterns that correspond to each Partition.
Select the name of one of these Partitions, and do a Right-Click on it. A menu will pop-up, and at the bottom of this menu is a selection titled 'Cluster By'. There are several sub-options that allow you to cluster the Patterns by Reference Designator, Type, Package Size, Pin Count, and Attribute.
After one of these options are selected, the Patterns of the selected Partition will all be grouped together, ready for you to place in PCB.
You can repeat this process for all of the Partitions. Once complete, you will have several groups of Patterns around the design. Select 'File/Update PCB', which will write this information back to the PCB.
Exit P-CAD Interplace, and continue Pattern placement in P-CAD PCB.