Announcement: Update 19 for Altium Designer

The Altium Development team are pleased to announce the 19th update for Altium Designer.

This release focuses on additional enhancements to Altium Designer, with some of the notable inclusions being:

SubVersion 1.7 support:

Support for the latest version of Subversion has been added. This also includes support for the new working folder format, as well as updating the built-in Subversion Client to version 1.7.4.

Improved Proxy support:

Users connecting to the Internet via a Proxy Server will now be able to get full access to all content stored in all of our Vaults & also any Vault they set-up & is cloud based. This will include downloading, uploading items and getting previews.

Added support for script parameters:

It is now possible to add parameters to Projects and Project Variants through scripts.

Air gap attribute added:

Added air gap attribute to Polygon Connect Style rule for finer gap control during polygon pouring process.

Continued improvements to importers and exporters:

This update includes additional improvements to the Hyperlynx exporter and the P-CAD importer.

Along with these inclusions, there were many other enhancements that were requested through BugCrunch, Forums and support channels. Full details can be found in the release notes.

Accessing the Update

To update your Altium Designer installation, first ensure you are using a license with valid subscription. Proceed to the Plug-in page (DXP >> Plug-ins and Updates) and select “Update All”. If you don’t see the update, use the “Refresh” link in the top right hand corner of the Plugins page.

This release includes changes to our Run Time Libraries, which requires the majority of modules to be updated. For those users who experience a lengthy update process due to anti-virus programs, using the full download option becomes a much faster process. For more info, see Wiki.

Installation of the updated modules will bring their revision up to 10.1089.24016. The Platform Build number will also update to 10.1089.24016 as the Altium Designer Base module is updated.

Note: If you are using a Private Server license or Standalone license and you have renewed your subscription since activation, you will be required to reactivate your license to obtain this and future updates.

For those who installed directly from DVD, you can access the updates by changing a setting in preferences: System >> Installation Manager, change the Remote Repository Location to http://installation.altium.com

If you are wanting to install a new build containing this update, we have also released a new version of the Altium Installer and Uninstaller. These

 

Altium Designer » How can you export dxf files with traces and pours/planes outlined?

The short explanation is this:
1. Set electrical clearance rule to 1 mil
2. Select all critical copper areas (tracks, arcs, pads, fills, etc) and do Tools>Outline Selected Objects
3. Delete all the items you used to create the outline. You are now left with 8-mil tracks with 1 mil clearance from deleted objects.
4. Publish gerbers and open in CAMtastic
5. Export to DXF as zero width lines
6. Import into SolidWorks as a 2D sketch
7. Select all sketch entities and use offset tool to inset them 5 mils so that they now represent all the objects you outlined (the contours might not be perfectly closed - the only way I know of to close them is to tell SW to extrude the whole sketch and it will prompt you to let it close them)
8. Extrude sketch of the copper and place onto board.
9. Cut copper with drill holes (not shown in picture)

It's a lot of work but it's something. I advise not exporting inverted text because SW has a hard time with all the contours.

 

 

 

Altium Designer » Design Secret 45 - How to rapidly customize the Altium Designer

In this design secret, Chris Carlson goes in to much greater depth and explains exactly how custom toolbars, button icons, drop-down menus and even the right-mouse-click context menus can be modified to include your most common commands. As an added bonus, he shows how you can even make placement of your most-used components like mounting holes, fiducials, and more, as simple as a single click on a toolbar button.

Check this and other great videos out at the Design Secrets area in the content store:

Design Secret 45 - http://designsecrets.live.altium.com/#Detail/1213/True
All Design Secrets - http://designsecrets.live.altium.com/

Announcement: NXP Semiconductors Content Update

The Altium Content Team is pleased to announce an update to the Altium Vault and Content Store. NXP Semiconductors has just been revised to bring the three 32-bit ARM-based Cortex-M families up-to-date with the latest source data from NXP. Working closely with NXP has allowed us to update the quality and coverage of the following families, and marks the start of a continuous roll out of NXP content for Altium Designer users.

1. NXP Semiconductors Cortex-M0
2. NXP Semiconductors Cortex-M3
3. NXP Semiconductors Cortex-M4

These components can be found in the Unified Components section of the Content Store. You can also use these components directly from within Altium Designer via the Vault Explorer - where you will also find supplier links and pricing information. For integrated libraries, look for the ‘Download Library’ button on the Content Store pages.

A total of 105 new components and 65 revised components have been released this week across the three Cortex-M families

 

How to make your own FPGA Port Plug-In Components

How to make your own FPGA Port Plug-In Components

 

 

If you have ever experienced the pain of diagnosing an FPGA project design error down to an incorrectly defined IO signal or constraint mismatch, then you will appreciate the concept of Port-Plugins. Port-Plugins are a convenient way to specify the correctly named and complete set of signal IO connections associated with specific peripherals interfacing with an FPGA.

While you may already be familiar with the Port-Plugin libraries specific to all NanoBoard products, did you know that you can easily create Port-Plugins for your own custom PCBs and third-party evaluation boards? Have a look at this Design Secret video to find out how.

Play Video (3:00http://altiumvideos.live.altium.com/#Detail/1212/True:00)

 

 

Announcement: STMicroelectronics STM32 F0 Content Release

The Altium Content Team is pleased to announce a new release in the Altium Vault and Content Store. STMicroelectronics’ STM32 F0 board-level components have now been added to the previously released STM32 component families.

1. STMicroelectronics STM32 F0

The STM32 F0 is the entry-level ARM Cortex-M0 microcontroller series that ST released earlier this year. It joins the F1 (mainstream), F2 (high-performance), F4 (high-performance + dsp) and L1 (ultra low-power) 32-bit ARM Cortex-M series in the STM32 family.

These components can be found in the Unified Components section of the Content Store. You can also use these components directly from within Altium Designer via the Vault Explorer - where you will also find supplier links and pricing information. For integrated libraries, look for the ‘Download Library’ button on the Content Store pages.

For details on the STM32 F0 devices you can find more at ST’s website here.