SIEMENS

Teamcenter 12.2

ECAD Quick Tour

PLM00130 • 12.2
Contents

ECAD Quick Tour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1

Overview of the ECAD Quick Tour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1
Download and setup demo files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1
Modify the view of PCB designs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2
Find ECAD objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3
View objects and display additional details about them . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4
Navigate nets and page connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5
Add a text markup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-7
Add a markup drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-10
Add distance measurement markups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-12
Add radial measurement markups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-14
Add clearance measurement markups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-17
Add Manhattan and Routed measurement markups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-18
Work with layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-20
Cross probe a schematic and PCB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-22
Create DFx custom rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-23

PLM00130 12.2 ECAD Quick Tour 3

Lesson 1: ECAD Quick Tour

Overview of the ECAD Quick Tour

The ECAD Viewer provides you with a rich set of viewing tools, including net and page connector
navigation. You can quickly search for various PCB or schematic components. The software includes
detailed annotation (markup) tools to help you communicate and collaborate during the PCB design
lifecycle, which includes pre-translated text listings. Plus, you can select existing markup text or
create your own common messages that can be included as markups during the design process.
Cross probing, detailed measurement markups (distance, radial, clearance, Manhattan length and
routed length), creating reports, printing, and working with Design for Assembly standards are tools
and features that are also included with the ECAD Viewer.

Note
The ECAD Viewer is supported by Teamcenter and the stand-alone application viewer,
and its features are identical. This tutorial and its sample data are only intended to be
used in the stand-alone application viewer.

Download and setup demo files

In this activity, you will:
• Download and set up demo files.

• Modify preferences to view changes made to the PCB image.

1. On your desktop or the appropriate network drive, create a folder named ecad_demo.

2. Click the Download link below:

Download demo files

3. Save demo.zip to the ecad_demo folder.

4. Extract demo.zip in the ecad_demo folder so that you have access to the ECAD documents.

5. Start Teamcenter lifecycle visualization and open demo.xfatf.

6. Right-click in the Viewing window and choose Preferences.

7. On the Viewing page of the Preferences dialog box, change the Highlight Color to yellow.

Notice the new feedback color in the second graphic.

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PCB demo in the Viewing window

Highlighted ECAD object using zoom view

Modify the view of PCB designs

In this activity, you will:
• Learn how to use the shortcut keys to change the PCB view to display the top and bottom sides,
to pan (move) the design in the Viewing window, to rotate the design, and to zoom in or out of
the design.

1. Open demo.xfatf.
The default color scheme is blue for the top side and green for the bottom side.

2. To view only the bottom side, press the B key on the keyboard.

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ECAD Quick Tour

Note
Notice the PCB objects are mostly green. This is a result of setting the layer color
preference. Also, notice the View Top and Bottom Side toolbar option is automatically
selected.

3. Switch between viewing the top and bottom sides. First, press the T key on the keyboard and
then press the B key.

4. Press one of the arrow keys to determine which way the design moves.

5. Rotate the design 90 degrees clockwise by pressing the R key on the keyboard.

6. Zoom in or out of the design by pressing the + or the - keys.

Example

Top side view demo.xfatf Bottom side view demo.xfatf

Find ECAD objects

In this activity, you will:

• Learn how to find an ECAD object located in the Viewing window by selecting it in the Assembly
view.

1. Set the Viewing window to the Top side and in the Assembly view right-click and select Find.

2. In the Find dialog box, enter C10.

The component C10 is highlighted in the Assembly view and it is highlighted (yellow) and
centered in the Viewing window.

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Try it yourself
The component, U9 is centered in the Viewing
Find U9 window and highlighted here and in the
Assembly view.
Cycle through components that begin with the
letter p until you are comfortable controlling
Enter p and click Find next
components in the Assembly view and in the
Viewing window.

View objects and display additional details about them

In this activity, you will:
• Learn how to use the Browse toolbar to display ECAD objects and object Attributes.

1. Open demo.xfatf.

2. On the ECAD Viewing toolbar, select Browse .

3. Slowly move your cursor around the document in the Viewing window. Notice object names
are displayed in a tooltip.

4. In the Assembly view, navigate to object P10.33.

Notice the object is highlighted (yellow) in the Viewing window and it is highlighted in the
Assembly view.

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ECAD Quick Tour

5. Display the attributes of this object by double-clicking P10.33. The Attributes dialog box provides
you with additional details about the selected object.

Navigate nets and page connectors

In this activity, you will:
• Learn how to navigate nets, located on a schematic document, and page connectors used by
some schematic documents.

Note
You can also navigate nets associated with the PCB document.

1. Open the demo.xsch file.

2. On the demo.xsch file, navigate to the Nets section in the Assembly view, and highlight
$$$13687.

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3. On the ECAD Base toolbar click either Next , or Previous to move from net marker
to marker.

4. (Optional) Use shortcut keys to navigate through the net. Type either p or n on the keyboard to
move from net marker to net marker.

5. Open demo.xsch and highlight the page connector on page one.

6. Use Browse to highlight the object, and right-click to open the Connectors dialog box.

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ECAD Quick Tour

7. (Optional) Use shortcut keys to navigate to the next page. Type either p or n on the keyboard to
move from page to page in the schematic document.

Try it yourself
In the Assembly view highlight several nets and
Try net navigation using the PCB file. Highlight
navigate the net markers for each one. Start with
additional nets on demo.xfatf.
net #280 and then open nets of your choice.

Add a text markup

In this activity, you will:

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• Learn how to use the Rubber Stamp to add predefined text markups to ECAD documents.

• Learn how to add a text markup that is associated with an existing markup.

1. Open demo.xsch.

2. Highlight L[1] Component Name to make this layer the active layer.

3. On the ECAD Markup toolbar, select Enable Markup , and click Create New Markup .

4. Click in the Viewing window and enter a markup name in the Markup Topic dialog box.

Note

The cursor changes to No-Symbol until you select a markup tool.

5. On the ECAD Markup toolbar, select Rubber Stamp .

In this example, the Rubber Stamp dialog box is set to Auto-translate text, and the Category is
Electrical.

6. Highlight the text string Traces are too close together and click OK.

7. Use the cursor to frame a text box that automatically displays the predefined text string, Traces
are too close together.
For this tutorial, frame the text box location as it is in the example.

8. To add a text markup that is associated with an existing markup, do the following:

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ECAD Quick Tour

a. On the ECAD Markup toolbar, choose Select Markup and highlight the Rubber Stamp
text markup bounding box.

b. Right-click on the border of the markup and select Add to This Revision.

c. On the ECAD Markup toolbar, select Text , and in the Edit dialog box enter the text
See me.

d. Use the cursor to frame a text box that automatically displays the text string, See me.
For this tutorial, frame the text box location as it is in the example.

Tip
One benefit to adding markups on different ECAD document layers is to organize markups
based on the contents of the layer. You can also use layers to clear and select markups so
they are displayed or hidden in the Viewing window. Navigate to L[1] Component Name
and clear and then select the L[1] markup Layer check box. Notice that you can clear all
markups from the view so you can review the entire image without displaying the markups.

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Add a markup drawing

In this activity, you will:
• Learn how to add markup drawings to the PCB image.

1. Open demo.xfatf.

2. Highlight L[7] COPPERTOP to make this layer the active layer.

3. On the ECAD Markup toolbar, select Enable Markup , and then click Create New Markup
.

4. Click in the Viewing window and enter a markup name in the Markup Topic dialog box.

Note

The cursor changes to No-Symbol until you select a markup tool.

5. On the ECAD Markup toolbar, select Ellipse and add an oval markup.

6. Highlight L[13] BOARD CONTOUR and repeat the steps to add another oval markup.
These markups appear as follows:

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ECAD Quick Tour

Note
• Notice that you select and add markups to the active layer. The graphic above
indicates the active layer is L[13] BOARD_CONTOUR, and the other markup is on
an inactive layer, L[7] COPPERTOP.

• You can select and clear markup layer check boxes to show and hide markups.

• On the ECAD Markup toolbar, the Markup Log lists markup details including
the layer, topic, author, and date and time of the markup.

7. Select additional markup options.

a. On the ECAD Markup toolbar, choose Select Markup and highlight the right most
oval markup.

b. Right-click on the border of the oval and select Add to This Revision.

c. On the ECAD Markup toolbar, select Leader Line and try to duplicate adding the
markup leader line as shown below.

Add a leader line revision

Note
The active layer is L[13] BOARD_CONTOUR. The new leader line markup is
added to this layer.

Try it yourself
The Markup Log displays information about
Open the Markup Log.
markups added to the document.

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• Add another new markup to this revision.

• Add a New Revision.

Experiment with options displayed on the • Try the Iconize and Expand options.
markup shortcut menu.
• Use Properties to change the line color.

• Notice the additional markup details in the

Markup Log dialog box.

Add distance measurement markups

In this activity, you will:
• Learn how to add measurement markups to the ECAD document. You will learn how to:

Distance measurements are taken between two points, between a point and a line, or between two
parallel lines. The points and lines can be snap-to portions of a PCB entity. A snap-to element is
essentially a measurement point of interest, for instance it might be the outer edge of a trace width or
a vertex of a pad edge. You can also specify a point in free space, anywhere on the PCB document.
1. Open demo.xfatf.

2. (Optional) For illustration purposes, find the ECAD object P6 in the Components section, and
zoom until you approximate the view shown below.

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ECAD Quick Tour

3. On the ECAD Markup toolbar, select Enable Markup , and then click Create New Markup
.

4. Click in the Viewing window and enter a markup name in the Markup Topic dialog box.

Note

The cursor changes to No-Symbol until you select a markup tool.

5. On the ECAD Markup toolbar, select Distance Measurement .

6. To find the first snap-to point, move the cursor to the end point of the first line and click.

7. Move down the line until the second snap-to point appears, and click.

You can move the measurement lines and values, as desired.

8. (Optional) To change the measurement properties (font size and line color), on the ECAD Markup
toolbar, choose Select Markup , click the measurement value of the existing measurement
markup (1.53”), and then right-click and select Properties.

Change the display properties, as desired.

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Try it yourself
In addition to point-to-point measurement
markups try all of the following:
• Vertical distance

• Horizontal distance
Experiment with Distance Measurement
markups. • Point–to–line distance

• Line–to–line distance.

For details about measurement markups, see

Measuring distances in Using the ECAD Viewer.

Add radial measurement markups

In this activity, you will:
• Learn how to add radial measurement markups to the ECAD document.

Radial measurements cover the distance associated with ring and circle ECAD objects. Rings
can be displayed in different forms, including circular shape with circular hole, circular shape with
polygonal hole, polygonal shape with circular hole, and polygonal shape with polygonal hole. Radial
measurements require just one mouse click on or near a highlighted snap-to point. Three types of
radial measurements are supported: the hole radius, the ring radius, and the radial width of the ring
(the difference between the outer radius and the hole radius).
This activity demonstrates how to create radial measurements.

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ECAD Quick Tour

1. Open demo.xfatf.

2. (Optional) For illustration purposes, find the ECAD object P6 in the Components section, and
zoom until you approximate the view shown below.

3. On the ECAD Markup toolbar, select Enable Markup , and then click Create New Markup
.

4. Click in the Viewing window and enter a markup name in the Markup Topic dialog box.

Note

The cursor changes to No-Symbol until you select a markup tool.

5. On the ECAD Markup toolbar, select Radial Measurement .

6. Move the cursor to the circle identified in the sample file. Click the cursor when you see the
snap-to marker. This action measures the hole radius.

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7. Move the cursor so that the marker highlights both the inner and outer rings and click. This action
measures the ring radius.

8. Move the cursor so the snap-to marker is visible. Hold the Shift key and click. This action
measures the inner and outer ring width.

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ECAD Quick Tour

Add clearance measurement markups

In this activity, you will:
• Learn how to add clearance measurement markups to the ECAD document.

Clearance measurement determines the amount of minimum distance, or clearance, between any
two PCB objects. When you move the mouse around the PCB, underlying objects are highlighted
when you approach them.
1. Open demo.xfatf.

2. (Optional) For illustration purposes, find the ECAD object U3 in the Components section, and
zoom until you approximate the view shown below.

3. On the ECAD Markup toolbar, select Enable Markup , and then click Create New Markup
.

4. Click in the Viewing window and enter a markup name in the Markup Topic dialog box.

Note

The cursor changes to No-Symbol until you select a markup tool.

5. On the ECAD Markup toolbar, select Clearance Measurement .

6. Do the following:
• Move the cursor to the ECAD object of interest and click.

• Next move the cursor to the next object of interest and click.

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Add Manhattan and Routed measurement markups

In this activity, you will:
• Learn how to add Manhattan and Routed measurement markups to the ECAD document.

Manhattan or Routed measurements measure the length between various points along traces and
vias associated with the same net. Use snap-to pick points to mark the beginning and ending
measurement points.
1. Open demo.xfatf.

2. (Optional) For illustration purposes, find the ECAD object Y1 in the Components section, and
zoom until you approximate the view shown below.

3. On the ECAD Markup toolbar, select Enable Markup , and then click Create New Markup
.

4. Click in the Viewing window and enter a markup name in the Markup Topic dialog box.

Note

The cursor changes to No-Symbol until you select a markup tool.

5. On the ECAD Markup toolbar, select Manhattan Measurement .

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ECAD Quick Tour

6. Move the cursor until you notice the snap-to marker on the top of the trace, then click.

7. Move the cursor until you notice the snap-to marker on the bottom of the trace, then click.

The Manhattan distance between two snap-to markers is the sum of the X and Y measurements.
In this example, the Manhattan length is 0.35”.

8. To measure the distance between these same two trace points using Routed Measurement ,
follow steps 1 to 6 above. On the ECAD Markup toolbar, select Routed Measurement .

The Routed distance between two snap-to markers is the sum of the distance traced along its
path. In this example, the distance is 0.35”.

Note
The length measured between the same two snap-to markers may not always be equal.

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Work with layers

In this activity, you will:
• Learn the important role layers play when you work with ECAD designs. This includes displaying
and hiding layers and changing layer colors.

1. Open demo.xsch.

2. In the ECAD Layers view, clear the check boxes of all layers.
This creates an empty ECAD document, which is a good starting point to understanding layers.

3. Select L[17] Outline.

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ECAD Quick Tour

4. Change the L[17] Outline layer color from blue to red.

a. On the ECAD Base toolbar, select Layer Color .

b. Highlight L[17] Outline.

c. From the Color section, select red.

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5. Change the layer color for L[17] Outline back to blue.

6. Continue to experiment by selecting and clearing layers.

Note
To reset the visibility state of your ECAD document, right-click in the ECAD Layers
view, and then select Reset Visibility State.

Cross probe a schematic and PCB

In this activity, you will:

• Learn how to cross probe between a PCB and its associated schematic design.

1. Open both demonstration files – demo.xsch and demo.xsch.

2. On the ECAD Base toolbar, select Cross Probe .

In this example, the PCB and schematic files are displayed side-by-side so that you can select
ECAD components in the Assembly view.

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ECAD Quick Tour

Note
Notice that Demo.XFATF has focus in this example, and the component structure in
the Assembly view is associated with Demo.XFATF. Change focus to Demo.xsch
and the Assembly view changes to this file.

3. Set focus on Demo.xsch and highlight R7 in the Components section in the Assembly view.

Note
Notice the component R7 is displayed on both the PCB and schematic design.

Try it yourself
Navigate through each component listed in the
Assembly view in this example.
Find all common components using Cross Probe.
Hint: There are six common components
associated with these two ECAD documents.

Create DFx custom rules

In this activity, you will:
• Learn how to create a custom rule file for Design for Assembly testing. This activity includes
working with the DFx rules editor to modify the value of a rule used in a custom test.

1. Open demo.xfatf.

2. On the ECAD DFx toolbar, click Open Rules File .

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3. In the Open Rules dialog box, select a rules file and then click Open.

4. On the ECAD DFx toolbar, click Edit Rules File to open the DFx Rule Set Editor .

5. Create a custom demo_test rule.

a. Clear Panel Clearance Rules, Panel Feature Rules, and Circuit Edge Rules.

b. Double-click Fiducial Clearance To Panel Edge: leading/trailing.

c. (Optional) In the Description section, review the definition of this rule and in the Parameters
section, review its current value.

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ECAD Quick Tour

d. Double-click Min. lead. / Trail.: 0.220000 inch.

e. Change the value of this rule in the Edit dialog box.

6. In the DFx Rules Editor dialog box, click Save.

7. In the Save Rule Set as Template dialog box, enter the name of you custom rule file.

8. To review your new rule, do the following:

a. On the ECAD DFx toolbar, click Open Rules File .

b. Select demo_test.xrul from the list and then click Open.

c. On the ECAD DFx toolbar, click Edit Rules File .

d. Use the DFx Rule Set Editor dialog box to review the new rules in you custom rules file.

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