Quick Start Gerber Connection
Quick Start Gerber Connection
Quick Start Gerber Connection
Revised 3/31/2016
Thank you for evaluating the Unisoft ProntoGERBER CONNECTION software. In minutes Unisoft
ProntoGERBER CONNECTION software translates Gerber and Bill of Material (BOM) files into real
reference designators, netlists, theta rotation, part numbers, X/Y component pin geometries,
values, tolerances, etc. This data is then used by Process Engineers to create manual assembly
sheets, process documentation, first article inspection, program SMT and Thru-hole Automatic
Assembly Equipment, AOI/X-RAY inspection equipment, and by Test Engineers to program
Automatic Test Equipment and aid repair, rework, etc. ProntoGERBER CONNECTION is
reasonably priced and available by subscription, rental or purchase.
We are available anytime to go online with you and help you review the Unisoft
software. Also the software has HELP for most menu items by hovering over the
menu item for a second then click any of the videos, manual or website links.
Please note that Unisoft has added a powerful new feature to ProntoGERBER
CONNECTION. You can now automatically create the Netlist from your raw gerber files in
addition to the real reference designators, theta rotation, part numbers, X/Y component pin
geometries, values, tolerances, etc. The netlist is a mandatory item for most Test
Departments and repair technicians. ProntoGERBER CONNECTION does this by
automatically tracking and connecting the copper traces on the PC Board assembly to the
correct components, pins and vias for each net.
In this quick start overview of ProntoGERBER-CONNECTION we will process a sample PC
Board provided and you can also process one of your own PCB assemblies. For help and
questions call (203) 913-0782 or [email protected].
*** It is advisable to print out this document and follow along the procedure below! ***
l) Click FILE from the main menu, then click EXIT then click NO and the software exits.
Start of Tutorial:
*** We suggest you printout this document to follow along. ***
To start the software click START on your Windows desktop then click PROGRAMS and select
the "Unisoft ProntoGERBER-CONNECTION Software" folder and click the icon ProntoGERBERCONNECTION inside that folder. The ABOUT UNISOFT window is displayed click OK. The
"Importing Your CAD File" window is displayed, click OK. By default it comes up in split screen
mode. Place your mouse on the split screen divider line hold down the mouse key and drag the
divider line all the way to the right.
Below is the pull down GERBER CONNECTION menu we will be working with for the majority of this
process.
The following window will be displayed. Scroll down the window until you see the file "samplegerber.ger" and click on that file to select it. Click OK.
Next put a check mark in the box to the left of "Add sample-gerber.ger to list of files to be imported".
Repeat this process for any additional layers that need to be added.)
Next zoom into the lower left quarter of the PCB. There are several ways to zoom in or out. The simplest
is to position your mouse in the center of the area you want to zoom into and then use the thumb wheel
on the mouse to zoom in. Another way to zoom in is from the main menu click TOOLS then ZOOM
TOOL then click and hold down your left mouse button and drag a rectangle in the lower left section of
the board and release.
2) Making Components:
Select component:
Click the SELECT tool (bulls eye) then locate the component U1 (U1 is the component in the lower left
corner of the PC-Board see illustration below.). Click the left mouse key and drag a rectangle around
the 64 pins on the component and release the mouse. The 64 pins should now be selected and will be
enlarged.
Click GERBER CONNECTION from the main menu and then click MAKE COMPONENT. For item
REFDES type U1 and default the other items, click Ok.
(Note: It is important to import the Bill Of Materials (BOM) to as outlined in step 3 below to insure a
stable database.)
Removing a component:
It is important to import the Bill Of Materials (BOM) to as outlined in step 3 below to insure a stable
database before removing components.
To remove (Kill) a component that has been assigned either an incorrect reference designator,
device type or has been assign to the wrong surface.
Click the SELECT tool (bulls eye) then select the component in question.
Click KILL COMPONENT from the Gerber Connection menu and click YES.
The component can now be assigned the correct reference designator by following the
procedure above "2) Making the component".
Above we outlined the basic process for ProntoGERBER-CONNECTION. Quickly we can teach
the entire PC board by repeating this process for each unique shape component. The standard
order is the largest part shape is defined first then the next largest and so on in order of
decreasing size.
which is the third icon from the left on the top menu. Then
Note that the U1 BOM information including Part#, Tolerance, Package, Description, etc. have been
imported.
For details on how to import your own Bill of Material (BOM) click the following link:
http://www.unisoft-cim.com/features.htm#Importing-Your-BOM-Files
4) How to Tutorials:
For this tutorial we will open a PC Board with additional annotation notes and steps we have
previously added. From the main menu click FILE click OPEN, click CONTINUE and select the file
SAMPLE3.F2B and click OPEN and click NO in the Save Changes to sample window. The PC
Board is displayed and click CLOSE in the Messages from importer module window.
There are over a 100 features of the Unisoft basic software module ProntoVIEW-MARKUP below
are a few example tutorials.
The SMART COLOR window at the bottom is sortable either by Part Number, Step Number,
N=number of components for that part number, Operation, number of Pins on the component, etc.
The Operation field is optional and it is easily populated by the .OPR file which is a simple text file.
The .OPR file contains the Part Number followed by a tab then the Operation text for that part
number (Example: 396051-01-4
HAND INSERT SOCKET PRE-WAVE). The Operation
information in the .OPR file is automatically assigned to every part number on the assembly. The
SAMPLE.OPR file used in our example is located in the directory by default c:\program
files\unisoft or c:\program files (x86)\unisoft . Also the Operations can be manually entered by
double clicking on the Part Number and editing the OPERATION field directly in the window
provided. Then you can export and save the Operation information you have manually entered to
an .OPR file by clicking EDIT then BOM then EXPORT P/N operation (NOTE: This exported file
does not append to an existing .OPR file it simply exports the Part Number and Operation field to a
new file. Of course if you wish at that point you can manually append that file to another
existing .OPR file.).
For our sample board we have previously created five process steps. Now for each one of these
steps we can optionally add .F2P annotation overlay notes. In the figure above for example Step 1
is selected on the left and on the right 3 .F2P overlays boxes are checked. These four overlays will
be printed on top of the PC Board display for step 1. The results would look something like the
figure below. Please click on step 2 through 5 on the left side and you will see the .F2P overlays
that will be printed for those steps.
(NOTE: The sample PC board we are working with already has 7 .F2P annotation overlays preloaded into it. It is not necessary now but in the future to add F2P Annotations to the Window
above you need to Load them first. To Load Annotations from the Main menu click EDIT, click
ANNOTATIONS then click LOAD ANNOTATIONS and select the .F2P file you wish to load then
click OPEN.).
The result is that each part number and the components associated with that part number have
been assigned a unique color and pattern according to the sort sequence of the part numbers in
the SMART COLOR window at the bottom of the display. You also have the option to repeat the
color sequence for each Step Number in the process. To do this in the window at the bottom click
the REPEAT COLORS/STEP button and the colors on the PC Board will change. Note the same
color will appear for different part numbers because these part numbers are in different steps. Click
the UNREPEAT COLORS/STEP button again to toggle the colors to their previous state.
To manually color a part number or change a color thats applied to a part number click on a part
number in the lower left of the SMART COLOR window. Next click the CHANGE COLOR button
located in the center right of the SMART COLOR window and the CHANGE COLOR/BRUSH
ORDER window appears. Select any color in that window and click OK. Click any other part
number in the lower left of the SMART COLOR window in the previous part number displays the
new color.
To freeze the colors that are currently applied to the part numbers click the FREEZE COLORS
button located in the center right of the SMART COLOR window then click YES in the window that
appears. Click UNFREEZE COLORS to unfreeze the colors applied to the part numbers.
To view the order that the colors are applied on the main menu click ASSEMBLY SHEETS/1ST
ARTICLE and click SET COLOR/BRUSH ORDER and the Change Color/Brush Order window is
displayed. This window displays the order of the colors on the left and the order of the brush
patterns on the right. The order can be changed if you wish. Click OK to close the window.
Print assembly sheets and matching load lists for each process step:
The assembly instructions for this PC Board are now complete. For this PC Board we have
previously added 5 process STEPS. To Print Assembly Sheets and matching Assembly Load Lists
for each process step in the window at the bottom of the display click the button PRINT
ASSEMBLY DOCUMENTS .
There are two options for printing Assembly Documents. The first option is SINGLE PAGE EACH
STEP which results in a document that looks like the one below where each Step in the assembly
process is printed on one sheet for each side of the PC Board assembly. Note in the figure below
that the load list of the components to be inserted at that step are listed by part number at the top
of the same sheet with the PC Board assembly under it and on the PC Board the components to
be inserted at this step are colored with matching colors to the load list above it.
To print this drawing below in the window above under PRINT select SINGLE PAGE EACH STEP
and under STEPS select SELECT ALL STEPS. Next click OK and select the printer or PDF file
you wish to print to and Click OK and the document will be printed.
Note: The check box above Create additional sheet for part numbers that exceed maximum listing
length if checked will add an additional sheet for any part number with more components then will
fit on the single sheet printout.
The second option for printing assembly documents is SEPARATE PAGES EACH STEP which
results in a document that looks like the two figures below. The assembly drawing and the load list
for each step are on separate sheets and this allows for additional space to print more information
on the load list. Note in the two figures below that the load list of the components to be inserted is
on its own sheet and the PC Board assembly drawing is also on its own sheet. The load list and
PC Board assembly drawings have color matching components to be inserted at this step.
Note in the two drawings above that in the second drawing which is Assembly Sheet #1 of 5, CR1
to CR32 are colored green. Also printed are the 3 .F2P annotation overlays selected earlier for
step 1 including Hand insert all diodes that are this color, insert J1 custom bend connector,
and the legend box ABC Electronics. In the first drawing above which is the matching
Assembly Load List Sheet #1 of 5, the third item is part number 385-848-05-6 which are
components CR1-CR32 and for this item we have included automatically the part number, the
operation text hand insert diodes, the quantity of 32, the device type THD, the component part
number color of green, and optionally additional Bill Of Material (BOM) information of
tolerance/package/description and top side reference designate listings of CR1 through CR32.
To print the drawings above at the bottom center of the main display click the button PRINT
ASSEMBLY DOCUMENTS and the window below appears. Under PRINT select SEPARATE
PAGES EACH STEP and then put a check mark in all the 6 boxes located under SEPARATE
PAGES EACH STEP. Next under STEPS select SELECT ALL STEPS. Then click OK and select
the printer or PDF file you wish to print to and Click OK and the document will be printed.
To use this feature the Smart Color window should be open at the bottom of the display and there
you will see the field KITTING LABEL. By default all the thru hole component Part Numbers under
the KITTING LABEL field are checked. All checked component part numbers will be included in
the Kitting Label to be printed. You may add and remove checks as you wish.
To print the Kitting Labels for the checked part numbers click PRINT ASSEMBLY DOCUMENTS at
the bottom middle of the display. Next select the PRINT KITTING LABELS button and click OK
and OK again and select your printer output.
The labels created are the default standard Avery 5160 type (30 labels - 3 across & 10 down).
Drag a rectangle within a top or bottom view window. Release the mouse button after dragging
your rectangle. The tabbed Object Properties dialog opens. This is where you can specify
properties for your annotation.
Click the TEXT tab (if necessary). In the Text box, type the text you want to appear in the
annotation. Click OK. The display contains the annotation.
With the Annotation Tool selected, click the annotation you just added. A shortcut menu appears.
Click Call Out. A callout line appears to the right of the annotation. With the annotation cursor, click
and hold the tip of the callout. Drag the callout to the desired location. While you drag, a thick line
will stretch from the center of the annotation to the tip of your cursor. Note: If the tip of the callout
is not in view, you may have to use the panning tool (TOOLS / PANNING TOOL) to move it into
view. Release the mouse button. The callout line will move to the desired location.
Click and drag the annotation to the desired location and note that the other end of the callout has
not changed its anchor position.
Line draw tool: To create a line use the Line Draw tool by clicking the Annotation Tool
button
on the top toolbar until you see this icon
with a vertical line on the left side
of the yellow note then you are in the Line Draw mode. Similar to annotations, if you left-click on
the line, you have the choice of deleting the line or changing its properties.
Our sample SAMPLE3.F2B file we are working with has the 7 sample .F2P Annotation
overlays listed in the window above already loaded into it. These same 7 .F2B files are also on the
directory by default c:\program files\unisoft or c:\program files (x86)\unisoft . The list of the 7
F2P's are in the figure above starting with SAMPLE2-assembly-sheet-2-of-6.f2p . Feel free to load
and unload them as you wish to get a feel for this feature.
NOTE: When you first start a new project no F2P annotations will appear in the window above. To
add F2P Annotations to the Window above you need to Load them first. To Load Annotations from
the Main menu click EDIT, click ANNOTATIONS then click LOAD ANNOTATIONS and select the .
F2P file you wish to load then click OPEN.
The CHOOSE F2PS TO DISPLAY feature is also in the free VIEWER software so for example in
the figure below an assembly person on the production floor can select the HAND INSERT
overlays to help guide them with assembly.
Or as in the figure below PC Board Test personnel can use the free VIEWER software
to select the "SAMPLE2-test-adjust-r12-to-3 volts.f2b" overlay to guide them with a test setup
procedure.
The ProntoVIEW-MARKUP free Viewer software can display these aid results for personnel at their
computers on your production floor or if you do not have computers they can be printed for exact
Generally First Article Inspection is done on the first PC Boards assembled. When the assembly
inspection is satisfactory at that point the PC Board can be built reliably in quantity.
After completing the tutorial above in the lower left of the SMART COLOR window at the bottom
right of the display click REMOVE COLORS. A new window opens put check marks in all the
boxes and click OK. The result is all component coloring is now cleared. Now single click the first
part number displayed in the SMART COLOR window at the bottom under the "PART NUMBER"
field. Then click BLINK 1 P/N located on the right side of the SMART COLOR window. This will
blink those components with that part number. In real life the person doing the first article
inspection would check each of those components for the correct part number installed. If all
components with that part number are correct then they would check off that part number to
indicate it is correct. Please do this now by clicking CHECK OFF 1 P/N located on the right side of
the SMART COLOR window. Note a check mark has been inserted to the left of the part number
indicating it has been completed and also a color has been inserted to the right of the part number
in that same color has been applied to components with that part number on the displayed PC
board. The inspector would continue this process for each part number until all part numbers are
checked off and colored at which point that would indicate all components on the PC Board have
been assembled correctly. At that point the PC Board can be built in quantity as needed.
To locate a short between two traces in the FIND window in the top left field type U4.4 and in the
top right field type U4.5 and click APPLY . Note as in the figure below the two traces in question
are highlighted. One trace is in yellow and the other blue. A technician would then follow along the
two traces and where they came closest to each other would be the most likely place to find the
short.
Choose any of the other tabs to experiment with the different types of search options available.
Click CLOSE to close the FIND window.
For further details on features and operations please review the manuals by clicking the
"ProntoVIEW-MARKUP VIEW Manual" icon and clicking the "ProntoVIEW-MARKUP MARKUP
Manual" icon in the Unisoft folder.
If you review the C code in the file (RAPI_Test.c) you will see how the actual DOS prompt program
was written. You can write similar functions in your own code that will call up the program and
launch the necessary API functions you wish.
Thank you for evaluating the Unisoft software. Please contact (203) 913-0782 or
[email protected] with any questions.