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Add jumpers to the layout

Soundman99

I work on very low-cost designs, and many times, we try to keep our boards to single sided boards, if possible.  One of the issues we run into here is with the use of jumpers.  We'll use thru-hole wire jumpers of various sizes all over the board.  If we know where they need to be, it's easy to place them in capture and then export physical, and place them on the layout.  The issue is when we get to the layout, and we find that we need to add a jumper or two.  We end up ending our connect lines, writing that net down on a sheet of paper, and then going back into the schematic and putting a bunch of jumpers in all over the design.

 Is there a way to place the jumpers in the layout and then import that back to the schematic?

 I'm thinking about trying to write a script that would do this for us, but I haven't gotten into scripts all that much yet, so I'm a little hesitant.

  • Ejlersen

    Hi,

    To my knowledge there is no way to get this back into the schematic if you're using Capture CIS (Allegro Design Entry CIS).

    I'm not sure if this also is the case for Allegro Design Entry HDL.

     

  • oldmouldy
    There is a way to get some assistance with this, whether or not it is worth the effort is questionable.

    In Capture, add a new property to all the Nets, let’s call this “NEEDS_JUMPER” and give it a default value of “NO”. Take a copy of the default “allegro.cfg” and add a new entry of “NEEDS_JUMPER=YES” at the end of the “[netprops]” section.

    Over in the PCB Editor side of things, open the Constraint Manager, go to the Properties domain, open the General Properties and right-click>Customize Workbook, then right-click on the created General Properties entry and select Add Column. In the Add Column dialog, leave the “type” at the top as “user-defined” and left-click on the Create button. In the Create Attribute Definition dialog, set the Name to “NEEDS_JUMPER”, Data Type as string, Treat as “Property”, check in the “Objects” group that only “Net” is checked, otherwise the property may not be added, give a description if required and OK, the OK to get back to the Net Properties spreadsheet. Scroll along and check that the column has been added, close the Constraint Manager and open it again to check that the property has “stuck”. IF all is well, close the Constraint Manager and save the board.

    Back in Capture, create the netlist and update this to the board. All the nets will now have the “NEEDS_JUMPER” property attached with a value of “NO”. When routing the board, if a jumper is required, edit the “NEEDS_JUMPER” property, set this to YES, or even the type of jumper required. When complete, save the board and Back Annotate the data to the schematic. Check the nets, these now have the updated NEEDS_JUMPER property value attached. In Capture, there is no method to search for property values BUT you could use Tools>Export Properties, pick Flat Net Properties, this will create an EXP file which is tab delimited text and can be opened with “popular spreadsheet programs” for viewing while you add the jumpers to the schematic.

    Whether this is worth all the effort …..
  • Ejlersen

    Hi,

    In the above case you could also do the following to get a list of nets needing this jumper.

    In project manager select the .dsn file, right click and edit object properties. Now select the Nets tab and sort the column/row named "NEEDS_JUMPER"

    You can sort both ascending and descending and it will be easy to pick the net names that needs jumpers.

    Best regards,

    Ole

  • Pirate 303

     Ejlersen .........I have seen you in a number of forums replaying to very same problem yet cant suggest a solution .........If you or anyone have one just make it clear .........the above procedure doesn't work ....atleast for me

  • KEN13

    Soundman,

        From what I have heard in the past it is not possible, even though it would be helpful.  If you defenitely want the jumpers in Capture, ignore the following suggestion.  What if, where you need to place a jumper you place a trace on the bottom side of the board using a via which will allow the use of a jumper.  On the top of the board draw a thick line to represent the placement of a jumper and a text designator.  The reason I say add the bottom trace instead of just a via is so when the board is complete you can view your status for PCB Editor / Statistics for Layout and verify all the connections are made.  When you generate the board file do not include the bottom layer.  I have not done this myself, it is just an idea.

     Ken

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