Back Annotation of Pads PowerPCB Layout Changes to gEDA Schematic

Backannotation is the process of updating schematics to reflect changes made in the layout. This process is used, for example, when the reference designators have been renumbered on the layout, when pins have been swapped (e.g. on an AND gate), or slots have been swapped (e.g. on a multi-gate package). This section describes how to backannotate changes in a Pads PowerPCB layout to a gEDA schematic. The Pads PowerPCB tool supports three types of schematic backannotation:

  1. Reference designator changes. This is often times used at the end of a layout to give components which are geographically close a set of reference designators which are numerically close.

  2. Slot swapping. This is commonly found in digital designs where there may be multiple identical gates in a single package. For example, you may wish to swap which slot is used in a hex inverter.

  3. Pin swapping. During layout, the designer may wish to swap equivalent pins on a chip. For example, the two inputs on a NAND gate.

Currently only reference designator changes are automatically processed by the Pads to gschem backannotation tool. The slot and pin swapping changes are provided in a report which the schematic designer must use to manually correct the schematic.



Subsections
Ales Hvezda 2005-08-20