下边是节选的一些官方的说明,P-CAD面军SP4是由官方提供的文件
P-CAD 2004 SP4 New Features and Enhancements
The following features and resolved issues have been included in this P-CAD 2004 SP4 Release:Features
General
- DXF In: DXF In has been greatly enhanced to now support all versions of AutoCAD's DXF files.
In addition to being able to read all versions, blocks are now read and decomposed into the appropriate P-CAD objects. So you no longer have to "explode" blocks in AutoCAD before loading the file into P-CAD. When a scaling value other than 1 is applied, blocks will be a scaled, but only on the X scale value, as non-uniform scaling is not supported.
Closed Polylines will now be translated as polygons instead of line segments. In the case where the polyline would translate into a degenerate or complex polygon, the polyline will be converted into lines instead. For PCB, DXF layers may now be mapped to P-CAD Signal layers, thus allowing for DXF items to become copper objects.
- Allow user configurable paths for default output locations: A new command called "Output Path Options" allows the setting of the default output location for all the File Export commands, the File Report command, the Design Rule Check
Report and the Utils Generate Netlist command, for PCB and Schematic. These settings are saved in the application’s INI file. Changing the explicit output paths in the respective commands will override the general "Output Paths Options" and
will be saved in the design file.
PCB
- Advanced Route Tool -- improve via pushing location hunt: Fixed and improved via placement and via pushing. Via placement will now search for a valid location if the via being placed is in violation with a non-movable object, like
a pad. Via pushing is now more successful at finding a new via location that is not in violation of a non-moveable object.
- Support drawing of Drill Symbols to the Screen and Design Views: The user can now obtain a display of the drill symbols using the new Tools >> Drill Symbol Configurations dialog and the Options >> Layers >> Drill Symbols page.
These options allow you to define Drill Symbol Display Configurations and assign them to non-signal layers. When you enable a layer that has an assigned Drill Symbol Display Configuration, P-CAD PCB displays drill symbols in the primary graphics windows according to the configuration parameters. To display drill symbols in a Design View window, merely include the layer in the Design View.
- Gerber vertex limit on polygonal pads: The polygon shape feature of pad and via styles has been enhanced. The number of points in polygon shapes was restricted by the number of polygon points allowable by the Gerber polygon primitive (maximum of 48 sides). This restriction has been removed in P-CAD; however, P-CAD polygon pads and vias that contain more than 48 points must be exported to Gerber output as DRAWN items, and cannot be flashed.
- Tools Complete Route to Pad Center: Due to concerns of changing a customer's older file when loaded into P-CAD 2004, it has been decided to remove the automatic cleanup of routes and attempting to connect them to the center of the pads or vias. Instead, a new command – Tool >> Complete Route To Pad Center – will find those itty bitty unrouted connections where the track is inside a pad or via but doesn't reach to the center and will add one or two line segments to finish the connection. The newly added segments will have a width equal to the smaller of either the existing track or the shorter side of the pad or via. Since the added segments are complete inside the pad area the width is not an issue except to ensure the added segments don't cause any clearance violations. This command will only work on partial routes where the existing track has an endpoint that is inside a pad's geometry on the layer the track exists. If the endpoint is outside the pad's area the connection will be left unfinished. Using Utils >> Trace Cleanup and Tools >> Complete Route to Pad Center will fix most of the problems concerning connectivity when loading older designs into P-CAD 2004.
DBX
- DBX Allow creation/removal of text/pad/via styles. The user now can use the DBX communication mechanism to add, modify and delete pad/via styles in a PCB design. Also new DBX functions to add, delete and modify a text style in PCB and Schematic have been provided.
Minor Enhancements
- Remove message to save symbol or pattern when closing Symbol Editor or Pattern Editor: Pattern Editor and Symbol Editor will no longer ask to save a pattern or symbol to a file, if the pattern or symbol has already been saved to a library.
- Improve selection of small parts in PCB: For selection of small components PCB will now exclude the component attributes area during the selection hit test of the component if the attributes are on disabled layers. By not taking the disabled component attributes into account during selection hit test, this allows for easier selection of other components when the disabled attributes overlap.
- Don't throw away single node nets: PCB's net management has been improved so that net object delete operations are less strict when determining whether the net requires auto-deletion from the design. If a net node is removed by deletion of a free pad or a component, the net is now allowed to continue to exist if it contains at least one pad and there are other accompanying net objects.
This behavior is similar to Remove From Net operations, while still providing reasonable net auto-deletion.
- Advanced Route Tool obstruction zones need polish: Obstruction zones around objects created by Advanced Route tool have been improved. In the past, the unroutable areas created by an object's non-orthogonal edges were often grossly inflated to approximate the shape of the object. Obstruction zones along such edges now conform more tightly to the object, thus increasing the area where routed traces and vias can be placed.
- Set PCB default workspace size to 60in by 60in: Added a new check box "Save As Default Size" next to the Workspace size in the Option/Configure dialog box. PCB will save the workspace size in the PCB.ini file upon exit and use that as the default workspace size for a new design.
- Solder mask improvement: Pad and via styles have been enhanced to allow more flexibility regarding Top Mask layer and Bottom Mask layer shapes. You can now define specific shapes for top or bottom mask layers of pad and via styles, and the dimensions of such shapes are unrestricted by the style's hole size. This will allow the creation of Mask layer shapes smaller than the hole size.
- PCB Utils >> Trace Cleanup: This has been enhanced to remove all net tracks that have a width of zero. This may cause some nets to become partially unrouted.
