********** ViewMate Release Notes ********** March 31, 2000 ViewMate Version 6.3 ---------- Getting Started with ViewMate ---------- ViewMate is an accurate, high-speed viewer for printed circuit board data. When you have successfully installed ViewMate, you can: * Open Lavenir .BIN files. * Import Gerber, Drill, HPGL, and aperture files * View Plot Data * Print Plot data * Experiment with editing functions ViewMate has a graphical Windows interface featuring point- and-click menus and toolbars as well as a comprehensive accelerator key list for power users. ---------- What's New in Version 6.3 ---------- Several new features have been added and bugs have been fixed in ViewMate 6.3 since the release of ViewMate 6.1. NEW FEATURES: 1. Polygons: Polygons are a new element type that has been added to the database in addition to Pads and Traces. * Polygons result from importing Gerber data with G36/G37 codes, from importing MDA data with POEX/POIN D Codes or from converting F-type trace outlines in the CAM software. The command to convert F-type traces to polygons is Edit- Edit Selection-Polygons-F To Polygons. * Polygons may have trace or arc edges and polygonal holes. * Most, but not all, editing operation are supported for polygons. * Individual vertices of a polygon can only be edited (moved, deleted, added) by first converting the polygon to traces (Edit-Edit Selection-Polygons-Polygons To F), then editing the vertices, and then reconverting to polygons. * The Layers Table has an added field for per- layer polygon counts and the report files include per-layer polygon counts. If you have programs that read the report files, you may modify them. 2. Import Directory: The new File-Import-Directory command automatically imports recognized file types from a given directory. You can also drag-and-drop a directory, which will start the automatic import. 3. Import ZIP Files: The new File-Import-ZIP command automatically decompresses ZIP files and imports recognized file types contained within the ZIP file. You can also drag-and-drop a ZIP file, which will start the automatic decompression and import. 4. Changed Key Commands: A few shortcut key commands have been changed. The changes are in order to add shortcuts for Select-Global-Add and Select-Global- Remove. Also buttons for the Add/Remove variants have been added to the Selection toolbar. Another reason for the changes is in order to make it easier to use the redraw at cursor command (old key command Shift+End). The shortcut was swapped with Refresh (End), because it is a much more often used command. * New Global Selection Menu Command: Select-Global-New Old Shortcut: Shift+V New Shortcut: V * Add to Global Selection Menu Command: Select-Global-Add Old Shortcut: None New Shortcut: Shift+V * Remove from Global Selection Menu Command: Select-Global-Remove Old Shortcut: None New Shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+V * Paste (Windows standard, not yet implemented) Menu Command: None Old Shortcut: None New Shortcut: Ctrl+V (Reserved, not implemented) * Trace Zero-Width (Outline) Menu Command: View-Visibility-Element-Options Old Shortcut: O New Shortcut: O (Unchanged) * Pad Outline Menu Command: View-Visibility-Element-Options Old Shortcut: Shift+O New Shortcut: Shift+O (Unchanged) * Pad/Trace Color Contrast Menu Command: View-Visibility-Element-Options Old Shortcut: V New Shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+O * Open Job (Windows standard) Menu Command: File-Open Old Shortcut: Ctrl+O New Shortcut: Ctrl+O * Refresh Menu Command: View-Refresh Old Shortcut: End New Shortcut: Shift+End * Redraw at Cursor Menu Command: View-Center Display At Cursor Old Shortcut: Shift+End New Shortcut: End 5. Layers Table: Several changes have been made to the Layers Table. * A Print button has been added which allows you to print the contents of layers table. * Order Layers by B Layer: The Right-Click context menu for the B Layer column heading has a new command, Order Layers by B Layer. This command rearranges all loaded layers so that they are in increasing board layer number, starting from layer 1. Note that layers of board layer number 0 are an exception, they are moved to the end of the list. This is because board layer number 0 is used most often for drill layers, and it is customary to have the drill layers after all the other layers in the list. * Drag-and-drop of files into the layer name box is now supported. 6. Layers Toolbar Key Commands: Shortcut key commands have been added to the Layers Toolbar. Note that the keyboard focus has to be in the toolbar before the shortcuts become active (you need to click on the toolbar or press Ctrl+Shift+L if you are in the Viewing Area). In addition to the Up/Down Arrow keys and PgUp/PgDn, the following keys are active: * SpaceBar: Displays the Properties Menu. * Enter: Toggle Visibility of a layer. * N: Toggle Negative/Posisitve state of a whole board layer. * S: Toggle Scratch/Paint state of a layer. * V: Toggle Visibility of a whole board layer. 7. Layer Colors: An option has been added to combine the layer colors using XOR instead of OR (Setup- Advanced-Draw Layer Colors With XOR). This feature can help when many layers are loaded and a lot of white is generated on screen by OR combination. This can also be used for viewing the differences between to layers by setting the layers to same color. To avoid confusion, this setting is currently not saved between program activations. 8. View Layers with Selected Elements: A new command, View-Visibility-Layer-With Selection, makes visible only the layers that have selected elements. 9. Select Menu: The Select submenu has been moved from under the Edit menu and put on the main menu bar. 10. Selection/Properties Shortcut: The double-click single-element selection shortcut has been changed. Now, in addition to selecting the element, the properties of the selected element are displayed in the current element toolbar (D Code, Layer, etc). Selecting using the selection tool still works as before; the property displays are not updated. 11. Zoom On Frame: The Screen View toolbar has a new button for the Zoom On Frame command (Shift+Home). 12. Absolute Origin: A new command, Setup-Absolute Origin, allows you to change the location of the absolute origin (0,0). 13. On-Screen Rendering (Drawing): Several changes have been made to the way data are represented on screen: * Shape dimensions are more accurate. This is more important in tools that use the raster representation for computation (Raster Netlist, Raster DRC, Copper Area Calculation, etc.). * Custom shapes (D Codes of type M) that contain concave polygons are now displayed filled (previously only outlines were displayed). 14. Undefined Tool Type: A new tool type for NC drill D Codes, shape N, has been added. The new type is Undefined and is displayed as "?" in the Tool Table. The new type is in addition to the Plated, Non-plated, Tooling and Via types that are already supported. 15. Select D Code by Size: On the D Code Table, the Edit-Select-By Size command now selects from all the D Codes in the table. Previously only used D Codes that were selected by the reference frame and on active layers were considered. 16. Frame Around All Data: The Setup-Frame-Surround All Data command (Ctrl+W) now takes into account scratch layers as well as paint layers. Previously scratch layers were ignored. BUG FIXES: 1. When reading low-resolution job files with step- and-repeat block info, the step dimensions are now interpreted correctly. 2. Custom D Codes (Shape M) that contain scratch primitives are now displayed correctly. 3. The Undo command now works properly for step-and- repeat operations with Use Step and Repeat Blocks option not selected. 4. Several fixes were made to the D Codes Table: * Fixed the garbled display. * Fixed the problem in which the Build Shape command on the Custom Shapes (M) dialog did not accept pad primitives. * Fixed the problem in which the Undo command did not work properly for the Replace With Primitives command on the Custom Shapes (M) dialog. 5. The Edit-Edit Selection-Center To Frame command now works correctly even when part of the selection is not visible. 6. There are several fixes to the File-Import operations: * Gerber Extended: A Primitive 7 (Thermal) in an AM block no longer generates an error message when other primitives are also in the same AM block. * Drill (Excellon): R#X#Y# (Repeat hole) blocks are no longer interpreted incorrectly when combined with Step and Repeat with Axes Modification. 7. Selection Toolbar: Selection criterion for "Shape H" and "Shape M" now work properly. ---------- Send Us Your Comments ---------- Lavenir is committed to continuous improvement. Your constructive comments on ViewMate will help us to correct problems and improve features. * Please e-mail your comments and suggestions regarding ViewMate to feedback@lavenir.com. * Visit the Lavenir Web Site at http://www.lavenir.com. * You can reach Lavenir Technical Support at (925) 680-7400 between the hours of 8am and 5pm Pacific Time. * Lavenir is located at: 2440 Estand Way Pleasant Hill, CA 94523 ---------- Lavenir Technical Support ---------- Contact Lavenir Customer support with questions about Lavenir hardware and software or to arrange for training or maintenance. You can reach Lavenir Technical Support by: * Telephone: (925) 680-7400 between the hours of 8 AM and 5 PM Pacific Standard Time. * E-Mail: support@lavenir.com * Web Site: http://www.lavenir.com * Lavenir is located at: 2440 Estand Way Pleasant Hill, CA 94523 ---------- Download ViewMate Updates ---------- You can download the current ViewMate updates from the Lavenir Web Site. To Download ViewMate Updates: 1. Go to the Lavenir Web Site at http://www.lavenir.com. 2. On the Site Map, go to ViewMate-FREE. 3. On the Registration Form, enter your registration information. 4. Follow the instructions to download ViewMate.
Legal Notices