GBRPLOT Revision History

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

v6.56 Solaris&Linux (08/21/2009)

Incorrect page size in -autosz mode

This argument automatically chooses the media data is to be plotted on. It was choosing the wrong media in Postscript II output when the DPI was 300 or 600 on a particular file. For the same file at 1000 DPI, the media was correct. This has now been fixed.

v6.46 Solaris&Linux (11/7/2007)

Polygon with over 5000 vertices

Gbv_Rip had a problem converting filled polygons with over 5000 vertices. This has been fixed.

v6.38 Solaris&Linux (4/20/2007)

Directory problem

Gbv_Rip had a problem running in directories of form "/"
This is UNIX related. The program was trying to create temporary files in root directory, and without write permission it would fail to create them. This has now been fixed..

v6.34a Linux only (1/3/2007)

error while loading shared libraries: libcxa.so.3

Gbv_Rip Linux was updated to include this library. In previous version, the program crashed if the library was not in the path specified by LD_LIBRARY_PATH.

v6.34 (12/5/2006)

Gbv_Rip with -autosz

Gbv_Rip with -autosz argument, scaled, and in PostscriptII format now specifies the correct page size. Margins needed to be considered when calculating the page size needed.

Auto rotate orientation problem

Auto rotate orientation is now correct. Plots were always rotated before this fix.

v6.26 (6/13/2006)

Extent calculation

The data extents have been adjusted to take into account the custom aperture extents.

Sync with Windows version

Upgrade to gbr_rip to be in sync with all the Windows fixes.

v6.15 (5/20/2005)

Sync with Windows version

Upgrade to gbr_rip to be in sync with all the Windows fixes.

v6.03 (10/4/2004)

Large Polygon Dropped
The bug was in the vector Postscript 1 driver only. Problem fixed for Charlie from Harris.

v6.02 (9/24/2004)

Flexlm Support
The new version supports Flexlm floating license installation.

New Postscript Raster Driver

GBV_RIP now supports the raster Postscript format (PSII). It supports color and black and white output.

These are the command line options available with this version...

-ps2:

-cps2:

-color:


-ps2 and -cps2 indicate that the output is to be encapsulated Postscript level 2.

-cps2 indicates output is compressed (RLE)

unless the -color option is provided output is black and white.

primary_color_name can take on the following values:

red, green, blue, cyan, yellow, magenta, black

Rendering problem at high DPI

GBV_RIP was not rendering correctly one of the customer files at high DPI (12000). he problem was the result of a clipping routine that produced incorrect output at the higher resolutions when passed polygon data that exceeded 10 inches in extent. The file extents are about 20 inches on a side. The clipping routine now protects against integer overflow while retaining full precision of the data passed to it.

Other fixes and enhancements

This version is in sync with the Windows 6.02 version so all fixes that are listed in the revision history of the Windows version, apply for this UNIX version as well.

v5.54 (7/10/2003)

Flexlm Support
The new version supports Flexlm floating license installation.

RS274X support
Major upgrade to our RS274X support. We updated the 274X reader on UNIX to match the Windows one.

New Install
New, easier install to match our other product release.

v5.54 (2/29/2000)

Fix Thermal Rotation Angle Bug
Thermal aperture rotation angle was ignored in previous versions.This is now fixed.

v5.53 (12/15/1999)

Rasterizer update
Solid B/W rasterizer, rstrzpw, PATH handling is completely rewritten. PATH plotting is now faster and more precise.

v5.52 (11/29/1999)

Limit polygon size to 8150
Previous polygon vertex limit was 8192. This limit was actually a bad limit that would overflow an internal buffer. The new 8150 limit is a safe choice.

Add -mV### option
Add a new command line option -mV### where ### specify the maximum number of vertex allowed per output polygon. This ### cannot be larger than 8150 (the absolute maximum).

Add -ares### option
Gerber arcs are converted into line segments during plotting. The resolution used to convert arcs is controlled by the ARCRES resource of the APT file. In case of a non-RS274D gerber file, APT file is created automatically; thus user loses the control of this ARCRES resource. A new command line option: -ares### is added where ### specify the ARCRES value in degree. Default ARCRES is 9.0 degree.

v5.50 (11/9/1999)

Floating license
Network (floating) license support added.

Add -server option
By default, license is locked during plotting. (Previous versions release the license immediately at startup.)
Add -server option to release the license immediately at startup. (Old behavior.)

v5.45 (10/21/1999)

Fix Negative layer problem
- RS274X negative layer was not handled correctly in previous version.

Add -outline option
- When -outline option is given, only outline of boundaries and traces are plotted
- i.e. no filling. (Traces are outlined with width).

Add -ext, -extinch and -extmm options
- When one of the 3 options is given, the program will compute and report the extents of the input gerber file. No plotting will be done.
-ext option will report extents in APT file specified unit
-extinch option will always report extents in inch
-extmm option will always report extents in mm.

v5.44 (9/23/1999)

Support "Scratch" macro definition
- RS274X aperture macro primitives have a flag that indicates On or Off (paint or scratch) status. This version adds codes to support this flag.

v5.43 (3/15/1998)

Fix Buffer Overflow Bug
- About 7K of xy buffer was mistakenly overlapping with the input buffer. This means when a polygon with more than 4100 vertices or more than 4100 flashes of the same D-Code is encountered, the input buffer would get corrupted. This overlapping problem is now fixed.

v5.42 (11/04/1998)

Use new import library
- Support latest RS274X and MDA import library routine.

v5.41 (7/22/1998)

Use acs.key in UNIX
- Support acs.key keycode file operation in UNIX.

Note: Since GBRPLOT is based on GBRVU as its engine, any revision to GBRVU will result in an automatic change to GBRPLOT.

Version 5.33 (6/24/97)

Better 274X support

Added a command line to gbrvu -274X which tells it that incoming file is RS274X. Previously one had to run a complex shell script that would call two different awk programs that would prepare job file and aperture list. Now gbrvu does this if it sees the -274X command line option.

Removed GBRMON and associated Scripts

GBRMON (our own plot directory monitor program) has been eliminated in favor of integrating gbrplot into UNIX lp services.

No more X-term needed

a new command line switch for gbrvu, -noxwin, prevents gbrvu from staring up an x-term. Previous versions required an X-term even if they ran in iconic mode. This reduces the load on the machine and does not require a machine that supports xterm. License hangup eliminated

Version 5.22 (5/20/97)

Printcap (print spooler) filter scripts added (SUN/OS)

Added gbrplot.sh script to use system print spooler to perform the old gbrmon function. Transfered all unknown options to gbrvu engine until '--' option specified - All unknown options to gbrplot were transferred to the gbrvu command line. Doing this allows X-Windows related options to be specified in the gbrplot command line.

- Added '--' option to indicate end-of-option-transfer operation.

Version 5.17 (1/14/97)

Last known version

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