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Swap file out of sync after renaming reference designators

JasonW

Greetings,

 I'm using version 16.01 capture and allegro pcb and I just finished my layout of a 1500+ component board.  Using Allegro PCB, I renamed the reference designators using the rename tool and went to back annotate back into capture when I received a bunch of errors of multiple reference designators within capture.  Now it appears that the capture and pcb editor swap file is out of sync because capture only back annotated some of the reference designators and I don't know how to fix this.

 

Anyone have any advice?

 

Thanks

  • redwire

     Did you save a copy of the board before you backannotated?

  • JasonW

    Unfortunately, I did not.  Does this mean I'll have to rename the components by hand?

  • oldmouldy

    Whatever happens from now is likely to involve some manual labour.

    Since you didn't save the BRD file from before (you changed the refdes), did you save the DSN file from before (you applied the SWP file)?

    First off establish that the BRD file has no duplicated references, IF that is OK, you could try editing the SWP file with a text editor and then apply it, you can do this through the Layout tab which only expects the SWP file and does no other processing,

    IF you didn't save the DSN file, bear in mind that the "was" in the "ChangeRef" entries may now have been changed - the SWP file will contain a section of "ChangeRef <was> <is>", this needs to match the existing annotation for the "was" and the intended annotation for the "is".

    This is unlikely to be the whole story though since a DRC on the schematic would have established whether there were any duplicate references and a Logic>Auto Rename Refdes would have avoided duplicates in the board referencing.

    I just noticed that you are using 16.01. Get the latest service release, you should be able to correct the referncing in the schematic and update the board with the schematic annotation. Ensure that you have backups of both the Schematic and Board data before attempting this.

  • JasonW

    I do have an older DSN file, but there have been a few changes to the schematic since then.  I may be able to modify the old dsn to include the changes.

    Also, one item I didn't mention is the design uses reuse modules.  Could that be a reason the back annotatioin messed up?

  • BillZ

    Hi,

    I would not recommend attempting to edit the swap file. It is system generated and may cause more problems. Out of sync boards are most often caused by changes to the schematic that were not forward annotated, renaming of the Capture dsn before backannotation, moving of the pst*.dat to some directory other than the one they were created in.

    I would suggest correcting the schematic and then forward annotating back into a copy of the board then rename the reference designators.

    Remember the DSN can not be renamed prior to backannotation and the *view.dat files need to be placed in the same directory as the original pst*.dat files. If you are backannotating properties I would also place a copy of the .brd in the folder with the netlist and backannotation files.

    You can also rename your ref des's with a text file. Below is the procedure from SourceLink


      

    How to Auto-rename ref des prefixes from U1 to XU1?

    Error Message:
    None
    Problem statement:
    Is it possible to rename the reference designator prefixes without changing the number(s)?
     
    Exsample:
       U1 U3 U10 U2  ---> XU1 XU3 XU10 XU2
    Solution:
    Allegro/APD provides a batch program called 'reftxt' to accomplish this. The program 
    is used with a text file that contains a list of current reference designators in 
    one column and the new/renamed reference designators in the second column. Each line 
    describes one reference designator to be changed followed by at least one space or 
    tab and the new reference designator to be changed to. This program is run after 
    components are placed. Reference designators can be listed in any order and previous 
    ones do not affect those further down the list. A sample list might appear as follows:
     
       U1   XU1 
       U3   XU3
       U10  XU10
       U2   XU2
     
    Detailed steps:
     
    To create a report of the existing reference designators:
       
       1. Select Tools > Report
       2. Click on the New/Edit button
       3. Under the Data Fields - Component view scroll down to REFDES and select it 
    (REFDES moves to the right field. Select REFDES_SORT if you want them sorted too).
       4. Click on the Save button and give it a file name (example - refdes.txt)
       5. Close the Extract UI 
       6. Scroll down in the Available Reports and double click on refdes.txt so that it 
    moves to the Selected Reports
       7. Click on the Report button to generate the refdes report for the existing design
       8. When the report is generated and displayed on the screen, copy all the refdes 
    listed by marking all, RMB > Copy
       9. Open an ASCII text editor or Excel file (Excel used in this example) 
       
    Create/Edit a file to create the new REFDES list:
     
      10. Paste the REFDES column copied in step 8 into columns A and B
      11. Make changes for the new REFDES in column B (example - if you want U2 to change 
    to XU2, enter "XU2")
      12. After changes have been finished in column B per your requirements, mark all 
    entries from the two columns A and B 
      13. Selected RMB > Copy
      14. Create a new ASCII text file in the same folder as the .brd file (example - 
    refdes_ch.txt) and paste the data copied in steps 12-13 into this txt file
      15.Save the txt file
      16. Open a DOS prompt and change directory (CD) to the folder where the files are 
    located 
      
    Running the REFTXT Command:  *
     
      17. Enter the command "reftxt"  
      18. You will be prompted for the .txt file created in steps 14-15 (enter the file 
    name and 'enter')
      19. You will be prompted for the .brd file (enter the brd file name and 'enter') 
      20. You will be prompted for a new board name (enter a new name for the .brd that 
    will contain the changes and 'enter')
      21. The new .brd file will contain the new refdes.
      
      * All inputs can be done at once. The syntax is: 
           reftxt rename_file design_name [output_name]
     

     

     

    Regards,

    BillZ

    EMA Design Automation

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