Expedition OUTPUT Files- Script

Discussion created by erik.Wainwright on Aug 18, 2010
Latest reply on Sep 1, 2010 by patrick.cashman

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Does anyone have a script or could they make one for me that runs all the output files for instance.

Silkscreen Generator

Gerbers

IPC356 netlist

GenCad

Drill files

PDF Drawings

I would like to do this in one script!

Can anyone help me?

Thanks,

Erik P. Wainwright

Sr. PCB Designer

Viasat Inc.

6122 El Camino Real

Carlsbad, CA. 92008

(760)-476-2454

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4 Replies

Satoru Aug 18, 2010 6:39 PM
Hello Erik-san,

Do you want the sample script which uses the Automatio Pro?

Regards,
Satoru
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N_Ray Aug 18, 2010 7:41 PM
PDF Files? You mean Assembly Drawings?
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Andreas.Schaefer Aug 19, 2010 1:25 AM
Hello Erik,

there be should some in Kendalls Auto Active Toolkit at https://sourceforge.net/projects/uwtoolbox/

Also see section Pro Engines in his thread http://communities.mentor.com/thread/3490

regards,
Andreas
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patrick.cashman Sep 1, 2010 7:49 AM
Erik,

What you are asking is not a trivial task. It is also not a 'one size fits all' kind of thing. There are several reasons for this:
- There is usually a company naming convention for output files that needs to be included in this kind of script.
- Some remove unused pads, some don't. This is part of Gerber Setup. Lots of other company specific rules about Gerber Setup.
- There are often user layers that are included in Gerber output. How to know which ones?
- Not all companies include the same output files in what they create/store/send to vendors.
- The way the files get collected and stored in the database file structure is probably unique.
- And so on . . .
Having said that, I can assure you that it is possible to do all the things you asked, and meet all the company specific requirements for what to output, how to name the files, and where to put them. A lot of it is done by writing out the Gerber/Drill setup files in the Config directory, then executing the output commands programmatically. In a lot of cases it's only a question of executing the command via a script. Getting the syntax right for creating those config files is a bit tricky. From there, it is a lot of File I/O operations to create directories, copy/move files, rename them etc.

The Gui.ProcessCommand function is very useful. It is what you use to execute commands via scripts. Here is an example that writes out Gerber data: (VB6)

Private Sub write_gerber()
    Dim gui As gui
    Dim dlg As Dialog
    Dim btn As button
    Set gui = app.gui
    gui.SuppressTrivialDialogs = True
    If gui.ProcessCommand("Output->Gerber", True) Then
        Set dlg = gui.FindDialog("Gerber Output")
        If dlg.IsValid() Then
            Set btn = dlg.FindButton("Process Checked Output Files")
            If btn.IsValid Then
                Call btn.Click
                'MsgBox ("Found Process Checked Output Files button")
            Else
                MsgBox ("The Process Checked Output Files button was not found.")
            End If
            Set btn = dlg.FindButton("Close")
            Call btn.Click
        Else
            MsgBox ("The Gerber Output Dialog box was not found.")
        End If
    Else
        MsgBox ("The Output Gerber Command was not found. Try restarting the Application.")
    End If
    MsgBox ("Gerber Data is in the /Output/Gerber directory.")
End Sub

I hope this gets you going on the right path.

-Patrick
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