As an aid to those who wish to compare a netlist created from Gerber data back to a PADS ASCII database netlist, the File|Import|Netlist|PADS ASCII command imports only the netlist from a PADS ASCII database. It is not necessary to use the File|Import|PADS ASCII command to import the entire database, export an IPC-D-356 netlist, discard the database, load your Gerber data and import the IPC-D-356 netlist.
If your goal is to perform a netlist comparison, see the Comparing Netlists tutorial for complete instructions. This topic will only cover the steps necessary for importing a PADS netlist.
Select the File|Import|Netlist|PADS ASCII command. The Import PADS ASCII Netlist dialog box appears.
Select your .asc file, and click Open. The netlist is imported
After you import the netlist, a new External Net layer is created. Viewed by itself, this layer appears to contain no data. However, this layer contains the external netlist information, and links the external net points to the appropriate top/inner/bottom layer net test points. To view the points, turn on the associated top, bottom, and inner layers, and the external net layer. The net points are displayed in four ways for easy reference: