The VisualCAM Analysis functions are used to find any flaws in your design prior to manufacturing. Using rules that you specify, the system analyzes your design, finds errors, and determines the best fix for those errors. You can then review the errors in the workspace, print error reports, fix the errors yourself or have the system fix the errors for you.
For maximum efficiency, all your rules can be saved for use in future designs, and each check can be run at the same time.
You can also perform a graphical netlist comparison, using an IPC-D-356 or 356A netlist that you import, and the netlist extracted from your design in VisualCAM. Any discrepancies are displayed to you in a report and in the workspace, and you can then modify your design data as necessary. The Netlist Compare function is available to you both as a separate menu command, and in the DRC/MRC dialog box so that you can run the comparison at the same time as your other DRC/MRC checks.
Prior to running the Analysis functions, some data preparation is required. The preliminary steps are included below, and you can click on the hyperlinks for more details on each function.
Import your data or open a previously-created VisualCAM .vcam file.
Using the Setup|Layers command or the Navigator, make sure that each layer is "tagged" with the correct layer type. This is required so that the system understands what each layer is.
Remove any extraneous data on your electrical layers that are outside the perimeter of the board, such as title blocks, targets, crop marks, etc.
We recommend that any documentation for the board be done on a separate Drawing layer. If you wish to keep the data, placing it on a drawing layer assures it will not interfere with any processing, such as netlist extraction.
If you have any drawn pads in your database, select one of the Tools|Convert|Drawn Pads commands to convert them to flashes.
If any layers are misaligned, use the Edit|Align Layers command to align them.
Use the Tools|Pad Removal|Stacked command to remove any redundant pads.
Extract a netlist from your data using the Tools|Netlist|Generate command.
If you plan to run the Netlist Compare (NLC) analysis, import your CAD system (external) netlist using the File|Import|Netlist|IPC-D-356 command.
Select the Analysis|DRC/MRC command and run your analysis.
After performing the analysis, VisualCAM automatically displays the errors in the Navigator, which you may use to view and automatically fix the errors.
Analysis|Find Duplicates command