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  3. NC Route file doesn't include hole/drill size

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NC Route file doesn't include hole/drill size

BIGRAY
BIGRAY 4 months ago

My fab house has warned me a couple of times that the slot hole/drill size isn't present in the NC Route file. It's present in the FAB drawing but their system pulls info from the drill and route files and it always throws an error for slots. Today, I tried something. I took the format of the hole size from the drill file and copied it into the route file and updated it with the slot hole info. Now my fab houses system isn't throwing an error.

Is there a way to have the route file generated with the hole/drill size info or do I need to keep doing it manually? I've included my output file normally and then the bottom picture is what I added that started making things work for my fab house.

Thanks!
Ray

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  • excellon1
    +1 excellon1 4 months ago

    Hi Ray,

    There is no need to manually enter tool information. It looks to me your issue pertains to not using "Enhanced Excellon" format when creating your tooling info.

    Try the following.

    Go to the NC ROUTE and click on the Parameters button. In that panel enable by checking  the following

    Leading Zero Suppression.
    Enhanced Excellon Format.
    Automatically create drill ncroutebits_auto.

    When you generate your Route file allegro will assign a tool for the slot. Within the folder where the route file is located there will be also a log so you can see what the program did.

    Give that a try and see if it works for you.

    Best Regards.

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  • andakConsultingLtd
    0 andakConsultingLtd 4 months ago

    Tick the Auto tool select like shown below to get what you want.

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  • BIGRAY
    0 BIGRAY 4 months ago in reply to excellon1

    This was a huge help! Thank you! It added the tool info to the header and it's all automatic now.

    Thank you so much!

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  • excellon1
    0 excellon1 4 months ago in reply to BIGRAY

    Sure thing, glad that worked for you. By way of a value add here. The parameter file also applies to NC Drill too. It is fine to keep the settings as they are now. It is not obvious but some post production gerber editing tools that are used actually expect the enhanced excellon format so they can work properly.

    Best regards.

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