ASM 600 Revision History

This document summarizes enhancements and fixes to ASM 600. Please consult this page on a regular basis to determine what changes have been made to our programs.

v6.53 01-25-2008

A problem was detected when translating a GDSII path that had duplicate vertices (i.e. two vertex points on the same coordinate) at a point in the path where it was changing direction. The resulting path outline was incorrect. The routine to find duplicate vertices has been updated to find and correct such a condition. [reported by Optimal Technologies]

v6.52 03-18-2005

Bug fix to memory corruption found in GDS to Gerber engine. (Handles file from Advanced - t113.gds).

Update to Flexlm licensing and the addition of USB Safenet licensing.

Removal of the following controls from configuration settings: Miter, Cutline removal, Detail report.

v6.43b 07-14-2004

Fix to GBR2GDS engine which failed to convert properly (under unique conditions) Gerber arcs. This has been fixed.

v6.43 03-4-2004

Added Flexlm support for floating and node locked.

GBR2GDS had a limit on the size of the macro that it can handle. It has been fixed.

v6.42a 08-13-2002

ASM600/W now supports conversion of GDSII files with more than 8 characters.

v6.41 08-13-1999

For RS274X format, this version supports multiple files or multiple sections in 1 file with redefined apertures or custom apertures which are the same.

Previous versions would not use the user's specified flash names for custom apertures. This has been fixed.

v6.40 08-5-1999

Older version might crash on scanning if GDS file has layers numbers larger than 255. This has been fixed.

Maximum layer numbers is increased from 63 to 1024.

This version supports dcodes from D10 to D9999 and a max of 10000 custom apertures.

Older version would crash when a GDS file is selected if the number of structures in the GDS file exceeds 2048. This limit is increased to 8192.

This version has a much improved gerber filling routine that is cleaner and generates less gerber data.

GBR2GDS Update

This version supports dcodes from D10 to D9999 and a max of 10000 custom apertures.

Round flashes in gerber were generated as a circle in GDS which is an illegal entity in GDS. Flashes are generated as boundaries using ArcRes and ArcSag to control the smoothness.

This version supports draws using custom aperture. Under graphics mode, a flash of the custom aperture is generated at path ends and a path with width the diameter of the custom aperture is drawn. In connectivity mode, just a path with width the diameter of the custom is drawn.

v6.30 03-26-1999

Square Font
Older versions ship with pgfont.shx which would generate square-look font in the Gerber output. Added txt.shx to this version so users have a choice for font translation.

GBR2GDS - Invalid Output
Older versions would generate invalid output when Detail Report is turned off.

v6.10 10-21-1998

Gbr2gds

Fixed Bug: Missing or Incorrect POEX Data - G36/G37
POEX data might be translated incorrectly or generated with missing data. When a G36 code is followed by a standalone D02, the G36 code was ignored. e.g. G36*....*G37*G36*G1D2*X..D1*...

In this example, the transition G37*G36 pair was ignored by previous version. This means that the originally 2 separate polygons were merged incorrectly. This bug is now fixed.

Fixed Bug: Missing Data
A Gerber file was encountered that changed the D-code just prior to a new layer definition (LPD/LPC). Previous versions failed to pick up the correct D-code and instead used D10. This has been fixed.

v6.00 Windows 08-03-1998

New: GBR2GDS handling of foreign aperture files
When loading an RS274D file with a foreign aperture file, gbr2gds will pop up a message guiding users to convert it to Artwork format.

The aptgen program has been added to convert other format aperture file to artwork's format. Launch it from Tools |Aperture Generator.

Additional Aperture Formats (out)
Added Lavenir, Ecam and Wise aperture output. Users can select to output one of these 3 aperture format in addition to Artwork format aperture file. Selection is in the Configuration dialog box, Aux. Aperture. Output file(s) will be in the working directory. For Ecam, output is going to be .dsn and .gap; for lavenir, output is .env; for wise, output are .dsn and .map.

File Extension Control Refined
Added GDS file extensions control. Users can specify what extension(s) for the GDS files they usually use, so the GDS file selection dialog box will show the files with those extensions accordingly, instead of always fixed to *.gds.

Access this function via File | Preferences | File Extensions.

Log File Search
Added log window searching function.

Web Link to www.artwork.com
Users can go to the pull down menu Help/Artwork Web Page and link to Artwork's home page.

Lserv4 Support
This version supports lserv4 and has been tested for Y2K Compatibility.

Windows 95 Long File Names
This version supports long file names.

Improved Structure Dialog
This version has a new structure dialog box which has the features for showing the referencing tree, extents, etc. for each structure.

Demo Mode Output for RS274D
This version will activate demo output (film, RS274X and MDA output) so that Gbrvu installed in the same directory as Asm600 can view these demo output. Previous versions would not be able to launch GBBRVU in demo mode.

Fixed: Command Failed on Aperture Table
A "Command Failed" error message would pop up when clicking on the Aperture button. This happened when selecting aperture file not locatedin the working directory. This has been fixed.

Fixed: Dropped GDSII Boxes...
Customer Don Mikalson IBM/NY has a file with 4 boxes around the drawing which were dropped in Asm600 4.21. This has been fixed.

GBR2GDS v6.00 08-03-1998

This is a major rewrite of the old gbr2gds.

v6.00 08-03-1998 Handling of Foreign Aperture Files
The aperture import feature which never worked well has been replaced with a link to our new APTGEN program; a stand alone aperture generator. This will enable us to update APTGEN independently of GBR2GDS.

ArcSag Control
Added arcsag control in addition to arcres. Arcsag is in GDS output unit. To just use arcres, dial in 0.0 for arcsag. Arcsag allows the user to set the difference between the ideal curve and its approximation.

GDS Structure Names Checking
GDS structure names must all be unique. This version checks to make sure they are all unique as entered by users.

Default GDS Output Structure Names
Default names are the gerber file names without the path. Any characters other than alphanumeric, '_', '?' and '$' are changed to '_'.

Translation Engine
This version uses a brand new translation engine that supports advanced RS274X features like step and repeat (SR), apertures macros (AM), etc.

AutoDetects Gerber Type: 274X, 274D, MDA
GBR2GDS now automatically detects if a Gerber file is in 274X, 274D or MDA format. Users can also select the format of the files in the file selection dialog box to bypass the auto detect mode.

File Extensions Customization
Added gerber file extensions control. Users can specify what extension(s) each gerber format they usually use, so the gerber file selection dialog box will show the files with those extensions accordingly, instead of always fixed to *.gbr. Access this function via File | Preferences | File Extensions.

Embedded Layers in a Gerber File
Embedded layers are no longer shown as @<1>:12345. They are now shown in "gerber file name_L2", etc. Also, default GDS structure name for these embedded layers is now "gerber file name_L2", instead of "@<1>:12345".

Log Search
Added log window searching function.

Fixed bug in Aperture Table
Older versions might crash when openning the aperture dialog box when POEX dcodes are defined. This has been fixed.

GDS Output Resolution
This version has automatic output precision adjustment depending on the gerber input precision. No more control over GDS output precision.

Draws Control
Path Extension control is changed to Draws Control

v6.00 UNIX Related Fixes 9/30/98

Updated the Gerber Viewer to Version 5.50
6.0 comes with the new Xgbrvu 5.50. Refer to Xgbrvu revision history

New INSTALL Script and Node Locked Licensing
This version comes with a new INSTALL which support acs.key for UNIX. The acs.key does not change the internal executable and enables users to easily update their keycodes merely by changing the contents of ACS.KEY.

Version 4.21 02-03-97

AutoDraw scans the GDSII file for paths - it builds a table of each unique path width and then automatically assigns a d-code corresponding to each width. This enables the gds2gerber to use a single d-code to draw the path instead of filling it with small apertures.

This function is extremely useful for processing GDSII files that represent circuit boards, MCMs or IC packages with hundreds or thousands of

This function scans the GDSII file for boundaries that approximate circles. A boundary with more than 20 sides and all angles equal is considered to be a circle approximation. A table of unique diameters is built. Each unique diameter will be assigned a name and that name can be assigned to a d-code. At translation time the boundary is "flashed" by the appropriate D-code instead of filled.

The program accounts for any scale factor that has been entered into the configuration and also takes care of any conversion from GDSII units to Gerber units.

This function is very useful for GDSII files that represent circuit boards or IC packages where hundreds or thousands of round pads must be imaged.

To 'unflash' circles with a specific size, remove the dcode from the aperture table. Circles are flashed without any compensation. Default names are based on INCH for all english GDS units, and MM for all metric GDS units. Only dcode of type round will be used as circle flashes.

Version 4.11 12/17/96

Supports structure names that have spaces in them.

Previous version crashed when reading certain GDSII files where a structure was referenced in the file prior to defining it in the file.

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