NEED HELP with P*otel 'From To' connections and Rules

[laser]

Hi all.
I´m designing a board in P*otel DXP, in wich, I need to have some
connections with a width diferent
from the rest of the nets from wich they belong.
So, to do this, I created some From Tos, by designating the pads for my desired connections, with the From To Editor.
Then I created a class named TEST, in wich I included
all of those From Tos.
Then, I created a width rule, with a query like this:
(InFromToClass ('TEST'))
Now, the problem is that when I autoroute my board, those connections that
were suposed to have the width
that I defined in the rule, dont show any diference from the remaining nets
all over the board.
It´s obvious that this design rule is not working.
I have also tryied diferent queries, like:
(InFromToClass ('All From-Tos'))
but the result is still the same.
Also, when I run a Design Rules Check, those connections are highlighted, indicating that the program knows that these connections should had been made with a diferent width.
What am I doing wrong here?
I´ll apretiate any help.
Thanks...

ICQ5453591

 

[bomba]

I'm a protel dxp user too, and I found the same problem.
I try to help you, first of all how many width-rules do you have?
Because if you conserve the default rule (query = all), in my experience the priorities don't work.

 

[laser]

Hi Bomba.
Thanks alot for your reply.
Well, I have 3 more width rules, respectively for GND, +5v and +25v.
But I have already thought about what you said, and I deleted that general rule that applies a width to all the nets in the board.
In fact, I have even tryied to disable all the rules, leaving only the one wich referes to the From Tos active.
But still, I only get tracks with 0.254mm width all over the board.
The GND,+5v and +25v rules, work very well, and I´m starting to think that this might well be one more anoying protel bug, insted of a mistake made by me.
Since I really need this funtion to finish my board, I dont give up, and I´ll keep trying until I´ll be sure about what causes this.

 

[Bukitoo]

Hi !
I always want to help, but in this case I won't...
I had the very same problem and I did't get the solution.
So..
I routed all my tracks manually, som times I autorouted some tracks, just for get the shortest path. Then I change some tracks witdh manually.
Of course, before do all this, I created the width rules, ande then ,when you use auto/manual routing those rules works (actually, the rules works whit the prefered with, then, if you want a wider track, you can change it manualy).

I know.. it sucks, but I needed to do that.

 

[Frosty]

If you want good ideas and help then you should as DXP question on DXP support forum at http://www.dxp.com for the knowledge base or **broken link removed**

I think if you search archive it has some data on this

or perhaps you asked there already ?

:R

 

[laser]

Yes, I have already asked about this on the Altium DXP Forum:
Someone told me this:

"This is what Altium have previously said about this issue:

Currently Situs will only follow width rules that can be applied to the
whole board or a net. This will normally mean scope queries formed from
the All, InNet and InNetClass keywords.It will also follow any different
widths per layer that maybe defined within these rules. Unfortunately the
from-to class rules you have defined are not being taken into account by
Situs. Naturally we are looking to improve rule support in future versions.

So you may need to manually route this from-to with your desired width, or set the whole net to the desired width."

I just hope they fix it soon...

 

[Frosty]

I would not count on a fix very soon.

I think protel have completely lost the sense of direction.

To spend so much development time on design entry & capture is nuts when they have so many other things broken.

The DXP tool could have been so much more for the PCB design market, now it seems they have looked at design capture market first, and pcb layout 2nd and autoroute is dead last.

The autorouter needs A LOT of work, more than can be done in a few months, for sure, and at some time they need to make some money, so what can they do to make more money, bring out new version & charge for it or bring out new features to charge money for & not fix old ones.

:R

 

[KP]

Hi anyone

I'm curious about the 'From -to' function in the Protel.I'm currently using the Protel 99 se.I've never use this function before.Could any buddy tell me in simple method.
For example,I've already make a layout of all the components.Then,is it 'From-to'
function can help us autoroute after we make some settings?Let's say P1-1 wanna
joint to Con 1-1.We just key in those keywords in the 'From -to' fuction table?And then what?I'm hoping that somebuddy can show an example how exactly it works.
Thank you.

Regards
KP