Changed to AutoTRAX Design Express (DEX) In the last 12 Months
Saturday 4 February, 2017 Fix for missing duplicate terminals in part replacement dialog. Added color coding to in part replacement dialog. Improved terminal name matching. If not exact, then color coded gray - gray area.
Friday 3 February, 2017. Added ability to replace a part by dragging the part from the library onto the symbol for the part to be replaced in a project schematic. Electrical connectivity can be maintained. This will not replace multi-symbol parts.
Thursday 19 January, 2017 Added Twitter button to menu. Added optional speck prompt to text capture from PDFs etc. Add option hiding of the application during to text capture from PDFs etc.
Saturday 14 January, 2017 New description attributes for parts. Now short and full description. Full description now has a full text editor with fonts, tables, colors etc.
Tuesday 10 January, 2017 Improved text capture for PDF in symbol builder.
Monday 9 January, 2017 Housekeeping – moved DexDesign.dll to Python.dll.
Sunday 8 January, 2017 Fix for copper pours with transformed PCB border.
Saturday 7 January, 2017 Removed Set Pad panel – functionality contained elseware.
Friday 6 January, 2017 Enable all add symbol terminals buttons even if no symbol terminal magnet present.
Sunday 1 January, 2017 Improved Prepare for manufacturing add a ReadMe.txt file. This contains NC drill details.
Thursday 22 December, 2016 Improved PCB track optimizer. Hidden tracks no longer selected.
Wednesday 21 December, 2016 Fix for polarity band on axial devices.
Tuesday 20 December, 2016 Fix for false Electra pin limit for demo software. Fix for Electra ‘.rte’ file key word change from ‘Net’ to ‘net’.
Monday 19 December, 2016 Fix for copy symbol not copying footprint. It is now possible to rotate footprint/tracks together.
Sunday 18 December, 2016 Interwire properties editor now shows if name overridden by wire.
Friday 16 December, 2016 DEX now searched for Electra: o User defined location o C:\Program Files (x86)\ELECTRA o C:\Program Files\ELECTRA o Distribution demo
Wednesday 14 December, 2016 You can now added pre-routed designs to the library. When you drag the design onto a project, after you place the schematic, you will be shown the PCB and you can place the pre-routed circuit. Library diodes now have polarity bang. Refresh part in the parametric footprint builder now sets symbol terminal correctly.
Sunday 11 December, 2016 Added an option in File Settings popup to set a common base directory to save ALL archives/auto- backup file to. If this is not set then they are saved to the same directory as the project/part.
Saturday 10 December, 2016 Added option to File Settings for AutoArchive - automatically save to archive every N changes. If this is set to 1, then every change you make is automatically saved. If set to 2 or more then changes may be not saved. Only the Nth will be saved. e.g. if you set it to 5 then 4 changes will not be saved and the 5th one will be saved. Every time you open a project the first change is always saved. This feature allows you to save on archive storage space.
Thursday 8 December, 2016 Improved copy and paste. Now works with sub-picked items. How it works: Copy something using pick or sub-pick. This will put the data on the clipboard. You can close and restart DEX and it will paste! You can also start up another version and paste.
When pasting, o if an entity container is selected, e.g. a footprint, symbol or group the pasting adding the pasted objects inside the entity container o else it pastes as normal.
Monday 28 November, 2016 Electra 5.60 usage improved.
Sunday 27 November, 2016 Improved 2D package visuals for SOIC and Quad parts. Updated to Electra 5.60
Saturday 26 November, 2016 Yellow circle around SMT circular pads. DXF output now has units option. Added button to Panels menu to view the first top level schematic. Fix to vertical inner and outer settings for quad packages wrong values when changed. Add J-lead option to SOIC and Quad packages. Add straight lead option to SOIC and Quad packages. Improved gull-wing leads on SOIC and Quad packages.
Monday 14 November, 2016 Improved 3D for resistors. Spherical ends. Added polarity band to axial devices not banded.
Sunday 6 November, 2016 New location for DEX support services.
Wednesday 2 November, 2016 Added option to hide all nets (unrouted tracks) when moving footprints. It’s in Settings->Application->PCB and is off by default.
Tuesday 1 November, 2016 Improved installer.
Monday 31 October, 2016 Option to optimize STL output for 3D printing.
Saturday 29 October, 2016 Added 3D export to Wavefront OBJ files. Autodesk’s Inventor and 3DStudio MAX will import these. You can the animate and/or create 3D manufacturing assemblies.
Friday 28 October, 2016 Fix for incorrect display on copper plated holes.
Wednesday 26 October, 2016 Update web links in help file. Fix for search panel not showing result if the panel is too short. Vertical scrollbar now works OK. Fix for Open Project dialog not previewing projects if the name is clicked.
Monday 24 October, 2016 Fix for via hole clearance on inner signal planes.
Wednesday 19 October, 2016 Fix for snap to grid when manually routing and segment is snapped horizontally/vertically to a terminating pad X,Y coordinate. Footprint tooltip now displays value. Locked object now show tooltips.
Tuesday 18 October, 2016 Restored in-application problem reporter.
Monday 17 October, 2016 Fixed – pressing backspace during manual routing would lose 45 degree snap.
Thursday 6 October, 2016 Fixed - Trace disappear while block moving – Mantis 8 Fixed - Part value text cannot be set to invisible – Mantis 10 Fixed - Value for "Maximum Size" field is not used for export to png (with predefined dpi) – Mantis 4 Fixed - PNG files exported from Dex have an unnecessary border – Mantis 5 Fixed - Remove www.kov.com from DEX UNO Sample project – Mantis 9 Fixed - Duplicates desktop icon - Mantis 3 Fixed - Please add Mantis Bug numbers to Whats new Document - Mantis 12 Fixed – L ist of fixed bugs for Build from Wednesday 5 October, 2016 is incomplete – Mantis 13
Wednesday 5 October, 2016 Fixed - slow startup with library panel open. – Mantis 2,
Tuesday 4 October, 2016 Added option to grid settings popdown to have the grid display to metric or imperial units.
Monday 3 October, 2016 New Mantis bug reporter.
Saturday 1 October, 2016 Fix for STL output units. Update installer does not add desktop icon if it is not there. Added user forum button to Help->Support
Saturday 25 September, 2016 Version 9. New free non-commercial license. Fix for place footprints net temp drawing error. Fix for package layers turning on selecting footprints in the Navigator panel.
Friday 23 September, 2016 Place all footprints around border is faster. Interactive layout improved. Double click to end added.
Thursday 15 September, 2016 Web site changed to DexPCB.com
Monday 5 September, 2016 Fix for polyline optimizer sometimes removing last segment on non-closed polylines.
Saturday 3 September, 2016 Fix to prevent setting thickness of copper on the top/bottom too thick.
Sunday 28 August, 2016 Dragging part onto schematic now sets focus to the viewport so pressing delete will work on the viewport not the library panel. Dragged part remains selected in the library panel. Deleting in the parts panel display what’s deleted and beep. Added restore button for files/directories deleted in the parts panel. Shortcut = Ctrl+Z. Can restore more than 1 delete. You can now set parts as read only. Stops delete.
Saturday 27 August, 2016 New track editing moving vertical/horizontal track segments keeps segment the same length. Bug fixes.
Saturday 13 August, 2016 Check to hide unrouted track segments in nets that are not selected when routing. This will provide a clearer view when routing. Automatic breaking of unwanted PCB track loops when manually routing a PCB. Backtracking. PCB Orthoginal Routing and Corner Beveling.
Friday 12 August, 2016 Changed visibility of unrouted tracks when manually routing.
Thursday 11 August, 2016 Improved net connections to pads on footprints as they are moved. Fix for copy and paste PCB cutouts and holes.
Wednesday 10 August, 2016 Added option to manual router settings to automatically optimize all unrouted tracks in selected net when manually routing. This is on by default.
Monday 8 August, 2016 Improved net reconnections when manual routing. Added command to optimize all un-routed tracks. Route->Tracks->Optimize Un-routed.
Sunday 7 August, 2016 Updated manual. Bug fixes. Added option to allow ‘splitting’ of net routing. See router settings menu.
Saturday 6 August, 2016 Improved editing of polylines by double clicking on them. Adds vertices from closed vertex to double click point. Like manual routing.
Friday 5 August, 2016 Fix for copying symbol that’s connected.
Thursday 4 August, 2016 Fix for moving drill holes. Improved symbol terminal editing by double click on them.
Wednesday 3 August, 2016 Bug fixes.
Tuesday 2 August, 2016 Bug fixes. Fix for routing under SMT pads. Improved drill pilot holes for plots.
Monday 1 August, 2016 Added option to set maximum pilot hole size for plotting in the CAM settings.
Sunday 31 July, 2016 Nets now truly draw on top.
Friday 29 July, 2016 Fix for Unicode characters in Pick & Place output file. New Arduino demo. Fix for bug with drill holes drawn in wrong position (sometimes) when only bottom layer visible. Gerber output OK.
Thursday 28 July, 2016 Unrouted tracks (yellow nets) draw above silkscreen and package layer.
Monday 25 July, 2016 Greatly speeded up moving parts and imported models in the 3D viewport. Fix for crash with part builder. Bug reporter now shows your reported bugs - only those reported after 25 June 2016. Improved ‘ideal placement point/arrow’ when moving footprints. It auto-sizes smaller as you get closer to the ideal position. This improves visibility.
Sunday 24 July, 2016 You can now add top level directories for designs and artwork. Fix for imported 3D model not translating correctly when dragged in parts/3D view.
Saturday 23 July, 2016 Fix for copy paste tracks.
Friday 22 July, 2016 OpenGL resilience improvements.
Thursday 21 July, 2016 Manual routing target arrow now semi-transparent and auto-sizing. Fix for layer color button not updating in the status bar. Fix for manual routing losing the cross cursor if you pan or zoom in.
Wednesday 20 July, 2016 Improved manual routing. Improved DEX UNO demo. Fix for icon.
Tuesday 19 July, 2016 Improved manual routing.
Sunday 17 July, 2016 When manually routing, nets (un-routed tracks) will be shown even if hide nets in the layers panel is checked. After routing, the visibility of nets will be restored.
Saturday 16 July, 2016 Changed selection of schematic nodes (wires). DEX UNO now manually routed ( By Kjocoka )
Friday 15 July, 2016 Modified Arduino demo. New schematic. [email protected]
Thursday 14 July, 2016 Layout ordering now works on sub-entities.
Wednesday 13 July, 2016 New Arduino compatible demo board added.
Monday 11 July, 2016 Improved Eagle import. Copper fill now clips to PCB border.
Sunday 10 July, 2016 Fixed 3D memory leak. Actually a resource leak.
Thursday 7 July, 2016 Added new sample project – Serial BackPack.
Sunday 3 July, 2016 When you export Gerber files or drill files your design will be checked for design rule violation. If any errors are found you will be asked if you wish to continue. If you continue then the files will be generated and it is your responsibility. Design rule errors will be shown on the PCB. Added PCB holes will warn of DRC violations. Tooltip for PCB holes will show diameter violations.
Saturday 2 July, 2016 Electra 5.2 New icons.
Friday 1 July, 2016 GUI API update. Code optimization.
Tuesday 28 June, 2016 Fix for footprint reference not visible in part builder. Improved editing of schematic buses. Add a Bus optimizer.
Monday 27 June, 2016 Minor fix for importing Eagle 7 files with buses. Fix for pad holes sizes importing Eagle files.
Wednesday 22 June, 2016 Changing footprint style in the part builder from a library type, now updated all displays.
Monday 20 June, 2016 Step and repeat for dill files now done, compatible to Gerber step and repeat.
Sunday 19 June, 2016 Fix for quad devices pins spacing in 3D.
Friday 17 June, 2016 Several minor bug fixes. Improved routing for small track segments. Add capacitor dialog remembers settings.
Wednesday 15 June, 2016 Fixed castellated PCB NC drill output. Fix for rounded SMT pads appearing on both layer in 3D if placed on bottom.
Tuesday 14 June, 2016 Improved castellated PCB part.Gerber output and Drill file fixed.
Monday 13 June, 2016 Improved silkscreen textures in 3D. Improved PCB textures on the edge of the board. Castellated parametric PCB part works with pads with non-rounded corners.
Sunday 12 June, 2016 Added texture mapping mode selection to the part builder.
Saturday 11 June, 2016 Added option for gold plate all pads and vias. Added new castellated PCB part to the part builder. This adds pads on the edges with holes offset to the edge. DRC OK for these.
Wednesday 8 June, 2016 Finer picking for the placement point. Lines, arcs, ellipses, circles, rectangles, polyline ,polygons, text, noteboxes, curves and closed curved now show in 3D as 3D copper if on the top or bottom layer. Sunday 5 June, 2016 Fix for smart pan in footprints sometimes not working. All parametric parts can now have rounded outer/inner rectangular pads (where sensible) Recover now shows your local date/time. Splash-screen and the about box now shows your local time for build.
Friday 3 June, 2016 Fix for poor quality arcs. Added properties to pads and part builder for rounded pad corners on just one side. Improved position of silkscreen rectangle in Dips, and SOICs.
Tuesday 31 May, 2016 In 3D viewport, press Ctrl+C or copy, the image is copied to the clipboard with white background. Fix for transparent 3D images/note boxes. Fix for miss-sized courtyards when changing parametric part type.
Saturday 28 May, 2016 Copper pours and inner layer colors take on node colors if set.
Friday 27 May, 2016 Fix for swapping sides in DEX GL. Fix for polygonal copper pours being optimized out. (deleted!) Adding polygonal copper pours no longer forces the documentation layer to be visible. Copper pour properties panel fill button works. Added option in the layers panel to draw tracks in the same color as the schematic node color. The color is only used if you change the schematic node color from the default else it is copper colored. Colors also show in 3D if you turn off 3D copper.
Thursday 26 May, 2016 Improved initial 3D viewpoint. Solder mask visible in 3D is off by default on creating new projects and parts. If the 3D viewport fails it no longer shows transparent but displays an error. Minor bug fixes. Vastly improved shadow quality when zoom in. 3D view does not clip 3D objects. This means you viewport cannot be very close to the board. The camera angle changes between wide angle and telephoto. Fix for schematic errors not being deleted when the schematic is a child schematic of another.
Wednesday 25 May, 2016 Fixed several user interface bugs. Moving footprints in 3-D improved. Several other bugs fixed. Resetting panels settings now no longer changes the layout of the quick access bar or the ribbon menu.
Tuesday 24 May, 2016 You can now move footprints around in the 3D viewport. However, you cannot, as yet, rotate them.
Monday 23 May, 2016 Fix for the occasional non-appearance of the add resistor or add capacitor dialog.
Sunday 22 May, 2016 I have improved chip footprint 2-D and 3-D representations with better parameter handling. I have added a Width parameter to the chip footprint parameters editor. Fix for the problem when using the left or right arrow key when editing a numerical import control, the 2-D or 3-D viewport visible would pan left or right. Rounded extruded rectangles now correctly rendered in 3-D. Fix for auto sizing courtyards it when you move the footprint inside the part editor. The placement point is also correctly positioned. Improved rendering of 2-D footprint value text in parametric parts. In schematics when you are sub-selecting symbol values/references/terminals then the text will show the rotated value semi-transparent together with a dotted bounding rectangle. You will need to be in sub-select mode to select a symbol value/reference/terminal. Simply selecting the symbol will not show rotated values. You can turn this behaviour off in the application settings under the schematic settings. You can now move 3-D imported objects in the 3-D viewport. However at the moment you cannot move other parts. I hope to do that soon.
Saturday 21 May, 2016 I have added hemispheres to the base of BGA’s in the part designer so you can get a more realistic view of what the BGA will look like. When the BGA is actually place the PCB the hemispheres will not be drawn in 3-D as they will not be visible and it would just slow down the 3-D rendering. In the part designer, when you have a symbol that does not have a terminal magnet you will see the terminal name and terminal pad name as well as the symbol value and symbol reference have a small dotted rectangle, vertically orientated, round it. This shows you where the text will be when you rotate the part. So you can move the items and see if they will interfere with any other item such as graphic lines are text when the part is rotated. You can then press to rotate the complete part and you will see how the text rotates and hopefully does not collide with other items. Fixed for invisible symbol values in schematics. In the part designer with no terminal magnet, all symbol terminal names and symbol terminal pad names as well as symbol values and references will show a semi-transparent rotated text value to illustrate the position of the texts when you rotate the part 90°. Over-strikes in symbol names are now drawn the same color as a symbol name.
Friday 20 May, 2016 Fixed problem with viewing CNC files that have been generated for PCBs with polygonal/curved profiles. The CNC output is correct but there was just a problem with the viewer. Added bounding dotted rectangles to pad names, symbol terminal names, symbol references and symbol values when editing a part in part editor and there is no terminal magnet present. This help you avoid collisions when rotating parts in schematics. Pressing space bar in the part editor with nothing selected will rotate the part. This is great to see how a part will rotate when placed inside a schematic.
Thursday 19 May, 2016 Pad names and terminal names in symbols remain horizontally orientated if no symbol terminal magnet is present. Add do not rotate in parts and sub-pickable in parts to image entities.
Wednesday 18 May, 2016 Non-OpenGL 3D graphics version now phased out. Faster graphics for OpenGL 2. Fix for missing 3D hole in copper pour for rounded rectangular pads. Not a problem with the PCB, just visual.
Tuesday 17 May, 2016 Faster rendering for OpenGL version 2. There are some things still to do e.g. 3D tracks wrong color, and some UI interactive changes.
Monday 16 May, 2016 For OpenGL version 2, DEX runs a reduced 3D render. This will be speeded up shortly. Fix for centering PCB. Some track corners did not move. Fix for layers importing Eagle board files.
Sunday 15 May, 2016 Fix for importing VRML in countries where ‘,’ is the decimal point. Added 3 different pin configurations for SOT143 packages. Added hue slider control to loaded package image texture for parametric parts.
Saturday 14 May, 2016 You can now set the material for part leads in 3D to either gold, dull gold, silver or matt silver. You can now set the color for IC sockets. Currently only DIPs can have sockets. New 3D package material parameters for brightness, contrast and saturation. Turns 1 texture into 100’s. Fix for holes in parts not cutting holes in copper pours in the correct position. Fix for SOT-143 sizing.
Friday 13 May, 2016 Fix for 3D entities (rectangles/ellipses etc.) not swapping layers inside footprints. Changed orientation and improved sizing of text on 3D packages. Fix for the left and right arrows panning the viewport when viewport foes not have focus.
Thursday 12 May, 2016 Reflective surface/power now works with textured added (3D). In projects, changing the symbol value for single terminal symbols e.g. Vdd, Vcc , AGND will set the user defined node for the terminal. This easily lets you change say Vdd into VDD. You can change the symbol value by either: o Double click it or o Selecting it’s and change it in the properties panel or o Selecting it’s symbol and change it in the properties panel.
Wednesday 11 May, 2016 Increase size of flat on LED. Added option to apply texture map to the body of all parametric parts except Metal Can. See Package Color property panel in the part builder.
Monday 9 May, 2016 Added flat for LED parametric parts. New polarizes silkscreen for LED parametric parts.
Sunday 8 May, 2016 Fix for top/bottom package layers turning on when rotating parts etc. Added Crystal parametric part. Added LED parametric part.
Saturday 7 May, 2016 Fix to Gerber output so a D code is always output with width > 0
Friday 6 May, 2016 Added option to rotate 3D package text by 180°. Added option to automatically add sockets in 3D. DIP only at the moment. Adding and editing schematic wires, holding down middle mouse button and dragging pans, scroll wheel zoom in/out.
Tuesday 3 May, 2016 Fix for gap error in rounded pads inside copper pour regions. You can now reorder the items in the quick access toolbar by simply holding down the left mouse button on the quick access toolbar button and dragging it to the desired location.
Monday 2 May, 2016 Reduced memory usage and file size for imported 3D. Approx. 20%. Materials editor for imported 3D Models now allow you to load a texture from a file.
Sunday 1 May, 2016 Added imported 3D model 3D material editor. Set color and reflectivity of materials that make up an imported 3D model. Fixed generation of 2D image from the 3D.
Saturday 30 April, 2016 Added textured PCB strength slider to 3D view panel. Added lighting control to 3D view panel. Added solder resist properties to 3D view panel.
Thursday 28 April, 2016 Added option to the layers panel to hide/show un-routed split power nets. Added option to display textured PCB material in the 3D view properties panel. Fix for 3D board thickness. Added controls to set copper thickness in ounces/square foot.
Wednesday 27 April, 2016 Changing package color keeps position of footprint reference etc.
Monday 25 April, 2016 Fix for grid not turning on/off in DEX GL. Stubs now have rounded ends in 3D. Improved shadow quality in DEX GL 3D.
Sunday 24 April, 2016 Minor bug fixes and UI improvements.
Saturday 23 April, 2016 3D viewport spin only triggered if mouse cursor on mouse up. WPF 3D now has same geometry as the OpenGL version. Parametric parts and solder.
Tuesday 19 April, 2016 Fix for floating 3D viewports not working. Bug fixes for 3D pads.
Monday 18 April, 2016 VERSION 8 New vastly improved 3D based on OpenGL 2 and later. Very fast. Improved 3D parametric models. More realistic. 3D option to add solder. 3D shadows. Reflective surfaces.
Saturday 16 April, 2016 Large drill pilot holes for drilling PCBs. Import Gerber removed.
Monday 11 April, 2016 Bug fixes for copper fill failing.
Sunday 10 April, 2016 Bug fixes in 3D.
Saturday 9 April, 2016 Faster import of VRML 1 and 2 files. Import 3D view is far faster.
Friday 8 April, 2016 Handled colors by face in VRML1.
Thursday 7 April, 2016 Faster 3D graphics. Improved board thickness management and display. Improved VRML import. Some bug fixes.
Friday 1 April, 2016 Changed background of 3D viewport to linear. Improved spin speed in 3D.
Tuesday 22 March, 2016 Internal router enabled.
Sunday 20 March, 2016 Fix for title bar redraw error when changing themes. Fix for loading corrupt files crashing DEX.
Thursday 25 Febrary, 2016 Fix for snap to angle being ‘too keen’. Auto-end manual route improved.
Wednesday 24 Febrary, 2016 Loads on improvements to Active3D. Active3D works with SpacePilot Pro.
Sunday 14 Febrary, 2016 Bug fixes. Extended functionality of Active3D.
Thursday 4 Febrary, 2016 Bug fixes – layers.
Wednesday 3 Febrary, 2016 Bug fixes.
Tuesday 26 January, 2016 New tooltips for the viewport.
Monday 25 January, 2016 Bug reporter shows your reported problems.
Sunday 24 January, 2016 Several bug fixes.
Friday 15 January, 2016 Fix for missing markers in the horizontal ruler. Improved DXF output, layers, pads, vias, tracks, lines.
Wednesday 13 January, 2016 Fix for layer visibility checkboxes not working in Gerber Viewer.
Sunday 10 January, 2016 Added Fix for decimal separator in POV exporter. POV files marked as Unicode. Utf8. Fix for tracks overlapping holes in POV files. Fix for degenerate triangles producing NANs in normals. (3D).
Saturday 9 January, 2016 Added support for POV-RAY. The Persistence of Vision Raytracer (POV-RAY) is a high-quality, Free Software tool for creating stunning three-dimensional graphics. Export POV-RAY files in Tools- >Export->POV-RAY You can download POV-RAY from http://www.povray.org.
Thursday 7 January, 2016 Import DXF improved. Curved polyline segments work correctly. Importing as PCB border retains original holes and cutouts. Copy and paste schematic symbols with connected wires and that have all associated footprint placed inside the PCB border will bring up the PCB view and let you place the copied footprints with routed tracks.
Sunday 3 January, 2016 Array rectangular and circular now works with part symbols in schematics. They must not be multi- symbol parts (e.g. TTL logic).
Saturday 2 January, 2016 Internal code optimization.
Friday 1 January, 2016 Fix for layer color and status of package layers.
Wednesday 30 December, 2015 Fix for color errors when adding inner layers.
Tuesday 29 December, 2015 Rebuild with Rosyln C# 6 compiler. This is still .NET 4 and will work on XP.
Saturday 26 December, 2015 Courtyard, Placement Point and Errors are now layer-less. That is, they are not drawn on the Documentation layer. Show/Hide them from the View/Edit menu. You are now free to rename part references and make duplicates, however you will be warned if the DRC check for duplicate references in on. Part List panel now displays selected footprint and updates reference and value in real-time. Fix for residual cursor when dragging parts onto schematics from the library.
Thursday 24 December, 2015 Check for reference duplicates added to the Design Rule Checker.
Wednesday 23 December, 2015 Added option to allow duplicate part references. This turns off checks for duplicate part references. Fix for properties editor not editing correct object if same type reselected after all deselected.
Tuesday 22 December, 2015 New Layers Panel; improved layer selector.
Monday 21 December, 2015 NET layer removed. New check box added to the Layers Panel to hide/show unrouted nets. A check button has also been added to the View menu. Added button to View menu to completely hide/show all copper pours. Fixed the 2 pixel offset in grid to markers in the horizontal and vertical rulers.
Friday 18 December, 2015 Stopped multiple connections of SMT pad to power planes.
Thursday 17 December, 2015 Fix for occasional selected viewport tab changing from PCB to schematic when selecting the properties panel. Fix for enabling automatic generation of 3D pins for pads controls in the pad’s properties panel. Fix for updating automatic SMT to power plane connections.
Wednesday 16 December, 2015 Fix for reading Eagle imported parts where terminals show red marker. Fix for rounded SMT pads not having yellow border. Fix for moving pads using sub-pick. Improved automatic connection of SMT pads to power planes. See o See https://youtu.be/kYQGRmh8MzQ
Tuesday 15 December, 2015 More Spice improvements. Adding vertical/horizontal guides, number entry works OK.
Friday 11 December, 2015 Added transparency slider to the Image properties editor so you can set the transparency of an image. Useful for tracing. Adding an image maintains original aspect ratio. Pasting an image now centres it in the viewport. Adding guides lines do not snap to guides. Copying terminal magnet and/or symbol reference and/or symbol value from one symbol schematic to another works correctly.
Thursday 10 December, 2015 Scale rectangular object by dragging corners or side center manipulators – hold down Ctrl or Shift key to keep aspect ratio – scale uniformly. Part search no longer finds part backups (In a .Backup directory).
Wednesday 9 December, 2015 Fix for scaling on Simulation Probe.
Tuesday 8 December, 2015 Compact XSpice. Project/File Open/Save now shows all schematics as well as the PCB.
Saturday 4 December, 2015 Spice modeler is now XSpice and not the basic Berkely 3f5 Spice.
Friday 4 December, 2015 Some bug fixes; moving pavement point, width scale in shape editor, pad renumber.
Thurday 3 December, 2015 Added new command to set pad numbers by clicking on the pads in order. Works both in the footprint editor and the PCB editor. Click on each in turn. No need to click on the last pad, DEX knows what to do for that one! Button in with the add pad button group.
Wednesday 2 December, 2015 Fix for PCB snap setting being saved.
Tuesday 1 December, 2015 Archive directories extended to all file types. Parts and Artworks now archive as well as Projects. Some improvements to file save/export/import/open dialogs.
Saturday 28 November, 2015 Improved File Open/Save dialogs for directory entry in file input. Moved web services over to https from http. On http web service data access was fully encrypted and remains encrypted on https. https just gives an extra level of security.
Friday 27 November, 2015 Added new ‘add preset pads’ check button to allow adding pads like you add rectangles and ellipses (uncheck the button). Move cursors, click and drag to define pad shape. Use Ctrl/Shift key to set center/square pads.
Thursday 26 November, 2015 When scaling images, hold down the Shift or Ctrl key and drag a corner to scale both horizontal and vertically uniformly.
Monday 23 November, 2015 Added 3D preview to Import3D dialog.
Sunday 22 November, 2015 Improved Open/Save/Export/Import dialogs and fixed some bugs.
Saturday 21 November, 2015 Added detailed view/preview option to the open/save dialogs. NOTE: No file previewers available as yet.
Friday 20 November, 2015 New Open/Save/Export/Import dialogs compatible with Windows 10 and also have same skin/theme as the main application. (31 dialogs in total).
Saturday 14 November, 2015 New Import 3D dialog. Fixes problem in Windows 10 where dialog keeps expanding. The dialog also now has the same theme/skin as the main application.
Sunday 8 November, 2015 Fix holes not displayed on yellow pads. View problem only. Holes still there.
Saturday 7 November, 2015 More changes to help file – videos. Fix for some Electra bugs.
Thursday 5 November, 2015 New Help File. PCB Layers Status now does not close when some changes are made.
Monday 2 November, 2015 Set default PCB units to MM. Electra now uses PCB design rules.
Sunday 1 November, 2015 Added current PCB layer status in the status bar (to the right of the zoom scrollbar). Click to show layers editor popup. Fix for print /plot preview when zoomed in, view always returns to top left.
Saturday 31 October, 2015 Added following shortcuts for PCB when in pick mode to set the current layer. o ‘T’ top layer. o ‘B’ bottom layer. o 1-9 – inner layer 1-9
Friday 30 October, 2015 Removed password for the installer. Title block now shows time. Grid settings popup now has 5 dimension buttons.
Thursday 29 October, 2015 Fix for manual routing ending early if only 1 segment routed.
Wednesday 28 October, 2015 Fix for print version if autofit not selected.
Tuesday 27 October, 2015 Lock footprints also locks the PCB border. Works with Freeware version of Electra : limited to non-profit or evaluation. Fix for missing PDF viewer.
Monday 26 October, 2015 Manual routing now snap line segments horizontally/45° to connection ends, e.g. pads/vias. Several improvements to manual routing. Added connected nets length to footprint properties panel. Added total nets length to PCB properties in the properties panel.
Sunday 25 October, 2015 In the Router Settings you can setup manual routing in pairs e,g, Inner 2 and Bottom.
Thursday 22 October, 2015 Create circular array of selected objects now fully interactive. Fix for some bugs in Create rectangular array of selected objects. Fix for library search displaying ‘busy symbol’ when it has finished but found nothing.
Wednesday 21 October, 2015 You can now copy a PCB Border complete with cutouts and holes into another Project using copy and paste. Select PCB border in design you want to copy from and copy. In the target PCB just paste. All holes and cutouts will transfer. You can so this with 2 separately opened designs on open first, copy, and open target and paste.
Saturday 17. October, 2015 Fix for the internal router for single sided boards. It now works with routing on top (SMT) Symbol capture now works on embedded PDFs.
Tuesday 20. October, 2015 You can now embed PDFs into you designs/parts.
Thursday 15. October, 2015 Added extra Ribbon Menu styles. Choose between: o Office 2007 o Office 2012 o Office 1013 o Office Universal o Tablet Office o Mac Office Dragging artwork onto a PCB, the objects will be placed on the current layer.
Tuesday 13th. October, 2015 Another graphics speed increase. You should find DEX to be 2.5x to 4x faster than a week ago.
Monday 12th. October, 2015 New panning cursor also has cross wires extending from left to right and top to bottom.
Sunday 11th. October, 2015 Fix for margin on rounded pads (100%) in copper pours. Faster 2D graphics without image ‘tearing’. (About 50%). Drawing of image (especially when zoomed in) is now far, far faster.
Thursday 8. October, 2015 Mouse wheel/zoom now works during manual routing. New smaller size for DRC error circles. Fix for DRC track to hole gap error. (Track width was included twice). New Windows 10 compatible installer.
Wednesday 7. October, 2015 New PCB error highlighting and extended tootlip.
Thursday 24. September, 2015 Bug reporter now has smaller layout and can be minimized.
Sunday 20. September, 2015 Set limit for bug reporter files to 100MB. Bug reporter now accepts pasted images etc. Bug reporter now has full Microsoft Word style editor.
Friday 18. September, 2015 Fix for empty copper pour fill save. Improved tooltips for tracks.
Wednesday 9. September, 2015 Fix for missing unrouted track segment when sometimes moving parts in the PCB
Wednesday 19. August, 2015 Adding a part to a schematic from the parts bin would automatically unplace all the parts on the PCB, this has now been fixed. The graphics for schematic wire jumpers has been improved. Fix for schematic wire jumpers not been added in some situations. This was caused by a math rounding error. Fix for missing schematic wire jumpers and missing schematic wire crossover markers.
Tuesday 18. August, 2015 Fixed false DRC errors for tracks for via with buried vias..
Wednesday 5. August, 2015 Fix for moving PCB nets where vias moved twice the distance. Fix for part search sometimes hanging.
Saturday 25. July, 2015 Symbol terminal editor now has length selector for short, medium or long wires where appropriate. Added option in the layers panel to display the current layer on the top of the other layers in the view. They actual physical layering does not change. You might find this easier to view/edit objects on different layers.
Wednesday 22. July, 2015 Fix for solder mask layer showing when creating a new part. Fix for quad footprint terminal list in Part Builder.
Sunday 12th. July, 2015 Fix for rounded rectangular pads in copper pours.
Tuesday 29. June, 2015 Updated GUI tools. Installer is now signed. The internal router now enabled for single sided boards.
Monday 22 June, 2015 Extra SMT solder paste layers in generate Gerber files removed. Track stubs can now be rooted on the bottom layer. Fix for dialog prompts adding selected artwork/part/design to the library. Restored terminal type editors to the symbol terminal properties panel. Clicking on a track segment selects only the track segment unless you press the shift or the control key in which case you can select multiple segments.
Thursday 18 June, 2015 Added new Add Stub command to the Add/PCB menu to add an open ended multi-segment track to another track.
Wednesday 17 June, 2015 Fix for removal of SMT pad to inner power plane vias. Added when manual routing the ability to reconnect track to itself further down the line. Great for optimizing/editing a route.
Tuesday 16 June, 2015 Fix to pads not being deleted in parts. Ability to delete pads, tracks in PCBs on by default. Manual routing no longer auto-completes route status of all the track being routed. It leaves unrouted segments. If snap to grid if off and you move a track segment corner then it will try to snap the selected track segment to an angle equal to a multiple of 45º when the segment angle is close to 45º. Fix for Build PCB command with no parts in the design crashing.
Monday 15 June, 2015 Improved manual routing where sometimes last vertex optimized away.
Sunday 14 June, 2015 Improved NET optimizer removes excess vias. Improved manual routing close to pads, vias. Track angle at 45º error indicator now set to 0.5º so 44.5º to 45.5º is shown as good.
Sunday 7 June, 2015 Selection box now dotted. Improved picking when dimming in PCBs. Hidden unrouted tracks do not pick.
Wednesday 3. June, 2015 Selecting footprint reference will also highlight the associated footprint.
Monday 1 June, 2015 Improved picking of un-routed nets when zoomed in.
Sunday 31 May, 2015 In schematics, if you window select by holding down the left mouse button and dragging the mouse from an unoccupied space to form a selection window wire sections will be selected. You can then drag the selected parts and selected wire sections by dragging on one of the selected parts.
Saturday 30 May, 2015 Fix for vertical distance and angle displaying the wrong values in the measure tool. Better picking of pad in sub-pick and the tooltips. Fix for un-routing selected track segment. It is now possible to select multiple track vertices using the standard method of pressing the Ctrl key while clicking on the track segments in turn or holding down the left mouse button and dragging the mouse from a space to form a selection window. This allow you to move some routed tracks with the attached footprints.
Thursday 28 May, 2015 Fix for auto-repeat measure distance not showing the result. Added option to disable deletion or addition of nets, pads and footprints in PCBs; this should only be done in schematics. Deletion or addition is disabled by default. The option in in the Design Rules and is near the top of the DRC panel. Improved adding of additional tracks to an existing net.
Tuesday 26 May, 2015 To add an addition track from an existing track, select Add Net, click on the start point and route to the end point which must be on the same net.
Monday 25 May, 2015 Added option in the track context menu to turn it off/on for a single net and a checkbox in the Router setup dialog to turn if off/on for all nets. To add an addition connection just add a net from the start to end point. Then route it. Will do a video and add to the help file.
Sunday 24rd May, 2015 Active3D .NET now works has reflective materials. Fix for Active3D export sometimes failing. Fix for SETTINGS, DESIGN RULES, INTERACTIVE CHECK always reverts to TRUE on restart.
Saturday 23 May, 2015 Active3D .NET now works with OpenGL 4.1 Fix for silkscreen not changing sides when you swap sides for the footprint. If you select a footprint reference, then mirror about the vertical or horizontal axis works.
Friday 22 May, 2015 Added new Active3D .NET version. This is a very early stage preview. You can now set tracks drawing order using Send To Back etc. Copper pour works correctly with transformed PCB borders.
Monday 4 May, 2015 Part editor show postfix for multi-symbol parts. Pan, zoom and home keys work when moving objects. When moving a selected object, if you hold down the middle mouse button then the viewport will pan. So, if you are moving an object by holding down the left mouse button and dragging it, if you also hold down the middle mouse button and drag the viewport will pan; releasing the middle mouse button will return the move action to actually move in the object itself not panning. When you are pasting objects the objects will follow the mouse, however if you hold down the middle mouse button as you move the mouse then the view will pan and release in the middle mouse button will return to moving just the object in the viewport.
Sunday 3 May, 2015 Added menu item to symbols context menu to save part back to library. Right click over symbol and select Save back to source. Added menu item to symbols context menu to save part. Added ribbon menu check button to hide/show all un-routed tracks/nets off the PCB board.
Saturday 2 May, 2015 In projects symbol terminals now will only move if you use sub-picking. This stops accidental movement in projects.
Friday 1 May, 2015 Fix for parts with holes where hole would be out of place when added to a PCB.
Saturday 25 April, 2015 Fix for part search hanging on some searches. Community library now working.
Thursday 23 April, 2015 Fix for editing rotated polygonal PCB borders where sometimes a vertex would incorrectly move.
Wednesday 22 April, 2015 Fix for editing polygonal PCB border where sometimes a vertex would incorrectly move.
Tuesday 21 April, 2015 Bug reporter moved to http://PCB.Software and is now working.
Friday 17. April, 2015 Speed up when making changed on large projects. Initial lag removed.
Thursday 16. April, 2015 Check for duplicate footprint references
Wenesday 15. April, 2015 Fix for popup properties box sometimes showing incorrect data. Fix for pads showing when PCB is draw solid and the copper layer is hidden.
Monday 13th. April, 2015 Removed non-function pads on inner layer. Now there a small round annular ring around the hole. Added right context menu item for footprint to swap the side for the part.
Sunday 12th. April, 2015 Added option in vias properties to extent via to the top or the bottom layer if buried vias are enabled. Fix for vias not removing enough copper in copper pours. Improved output for drill files with buried vias.
Saturday 11th April, 2015 Added buried/blind vias option. See layers panel at the top.
Wednesday 8 April, 2015 I have done some changes to the library part search and hopefully this will eliminate any hanging that some people experience. I have changed the color schemes for the library parts artwork and designs tabs.
Sunday 5 April, 2015 Standard length of terminals changed from 3 to 2 units. Added button to add medium length terminals. Standard library terminal length set to 2. Fix for changing length when units are not inches.
Saturday 4 April, 2015 Website moved to PCB.SOFTWARE
Friday 3 April, 2015 Added units to measure dialog.
Thurday 2 April, 2015 Reversed shift/ctrl keys for measure dialog.
Wednesday 1 April, 2015 At the end of measuring a distance, a dialog appears allowing you to copy the values to the clipboard.
Monday 30 March, 2015 Holding down the shift or control key while adding wires lets you wire to any angle. Pressing the space bar during manual routing toggle auto-routing on/off. Optimized non-auto-routing of wires on schematics.
Friday 27 March, 2015 Fixed for creating sibling symbol.
Tuesday 24 March, 2015 Fixed add resistor dialog box problem when switching from TPH <-> SMT. Parameters wrong. In Part Builder fixed auto-sizing PCB in the part editor when changing device type.
Monday 23 March, 2015 Fix for pin numbering on SOT23 transistors. Right pins of DIPs in symbol number from bottom up. Export to PDF now embeds text sheets direct into the normal PDF so you can view them in the PDF and not as an attachment. Fix for some missing fonts in PDF export.
Saturday 21. March, 2015 I have added a sample flowchart to the help->samples menu. There are also some flowchart symbols in the library and some flowchart graphics in the art section. These are simply symbols without footprints and most have only four connection points at the centre of horizontal and vertical sides are at the four corners for the decision symbol. I hope this shows the flexibility that is available in AutoTRAX.
Friday 20 March, 2015 Holes added to vias in view.
Thursday 19 March, 2015 Much faster start-up. Reduced Internet access to make antivirus software less ’ touchy’. Loads of code optimisation and minor bug fixes. New license manager that uses a software key that is independent of the machine and is yours to keep. No need to have Internet access to authorise the software.
Wednesday 18 March, 2015 Several minor bug fixes.
Friday 13th March, 2015 The start-up banner now appears at the centre of the screen that DEX will occupy. Changing the text properties on multiple is selected objects without text will now change all the properties that are relevant. Changing the visibility properties of symbol references and symbol values will work for multiple selected references/values. Changing the visibility properties of symbol references and symbol values for multiple selected symbols. Several minor bug fixes.
Thursday 12th March, 2015 Fix for sometimes DEX hanging during startup. Fix for restoring to screen. Several other minor bug fixes.
Tuesday 10 March, 2015 Fixed several problems with extruded graphics in 3-D. Z dimension is now referred to as depth while the X dimension is width and the Y direction is height.
Monday 9 March, 2015 Fix for swapping a part’s side in the PCB. Sometimes custom 3-D objects would not get swapped.
Saturday 7 March, 2015 Fix for ‘flashing’ of PCB color control in 3D view. 3D VRML import, both VRML1 and 2.
Friday 6 March, 2015 Fix for copy and paste not working sometimes in PCBs.
Thursday 5 March, 2015 Fixed the selection of symbol references that are part of a multipart symbol. Previously the selection rectangle was too small, it ignored the postfix. Symbol references can now have an optional preferred sibling name for each sibling. DEX automatically takes the name from the sheet unless a sheet name is of the form Symbol N where N is the symbol sheet number and the sheets by default are named Symbol 1, Symbol 2, Symbol 3 … Symbol n. So you can override (set the preferred name) by renaming the symbol sheet using the Project panel see below. Just don't use Symbol xxx for the sheet name. If the preferred sibling name is not been set then the symbol reference will look like the old-style e.g. U2-XXX The symbol reference properties panel now has a text input box for the sibling name. If you clear the text then a number will automatically be added otherwise the sibling’s name will be what you typed in. When you split a symbol using the right context menu, the new symbol is selected and you are placed in more selected mode. As you move the cursor the new symbol will follow. Fix for copying and pasting graphic shapes where sometimes the shape would not be pasted. Fix for export to PDF where some texts would be invisible (actually it was totally transparent).
Wednesday 4 March, 2015 Reordering parts by schematics now takes into account multi symbol parts including sibling parts that are in the parts bin. Selecting an inter-wire connector will select all related inter-wire connectors on all schematic sheets. Fixed problem where sometimes selecting a node in the schematic would not highlight a sibling node in the same schematic. Fixed the increase and decrease track Width menu items in the manual routing context menu.
Tuesday 3 March, 2015 Fixed zoom slider in the status bar. It was not correctly showing the zoom scale. Selecting schematic wires on one schematic will also select all sibling node schematic wires both on the same sheet and other schematics. Symbol borders have now been renamed terminal magnets. This is to reflect their true nature where they act as magnets for symbol terminals and as you drag terminals around thee always stick to the terminal magnets. If you delete a terminal magnet in a symbol (the all symbol border) all the terminals are converted to point terminals. Symbol point terminals now draw as a solid circle with the same color as the default wire color and the same diameter as wire junctions.
Monday 2 March, 2015 Fixed some bugs that were displayed when the mini properties panel was visible. Fixed problem with origin display wrong values for the tooltip. Fixed problem with origin editor not displaying incorrect values for mm. Fixed problem with pads that were transformed were not move correctly using the pads properties panel. A similar problem existed with copper pour regions, keep out regions, closed regions as they all derive from the same graphics shape.
Saturday 28 February, 2015 Improved responsiveness when manual routing and the mini properties pop-up is enabled. When plotting you can disable the output of the top and bottom solder paste layers. Fixed bug in plotting where an extra page that was blank will be plotted.
Friday 27 February, 2015 Added new context sensitive floating properties dialog for selected object. If you select an object then a properties dialog will appear showing editors suitable for the selected object. If no object is selected then the floating dialog will be hidden. If you close the floating dialog using the close button at the top right of the dialog then the dialog will not appear again. To make it automatically reappear right click in the viewport and select show-> mini properties panel. Improved deletion of symbol borders in projects. All terminals converted to point terminals. Improved adding selected part to the parts library. The parts library will preview the added part. Fixed problem when adding selected part to the parts library when the footprint will be in the wrong position.
Wednesday 25 February, 2015 Two new layers have been added to PCBs. These are the top solder paste layer and the bottom solder paste layer. Any graphics you add to either of these layers will be added as solder paste. Surface mount pads normally automatically add their own solder paste but you can turn this off using the pads properties panel. You will then most likely add your own solder paste area. No mask areas normally do not add any solder paste but you can have them automatically add solder paste by checking the add solder paste checkbox in the no mask areas properties panel. The two solder paste layers are automatically output to Gerber. No mask areas can now be grouped. This is useful for making a combined object which consists of an area of copper created by drawing a graphics object on the top or bottom copper layer and adding a no mask area to create an opening in the solder mask and finally adding a series of solder paste areas. Grouping the copper shape, the no mask area and the solder pastes creates a useful object that can be moved, rotated and scaled. Export to PDF now embeds any text documents. These can be opened by Microsoft Word or any compatible reader. Fix for create symbol sibling and add to parts bin failing.
Tuesday 24 February, 2015 The part builder’s symbols now sort correctly by pad names, taking into account pad names being numbers. Numbers come before names. Spiral Inductors and Aerial’s can now be mirrored. Fix for library panel where if you moved a part into the same directory using drag then it was placed in the Recycle bin! Array rectangular and circular controls now have Create buttons disabled if arraying is not possible.
Sunday 22 February, 2015 PDF export now supports Unicode.
Saturday 21 February, 2015 Page scale works in PDF export. Transparency in images for PDF export implemented.
Friday 20 February, 2015 New improved PDF export. PDF export can optionally include the current project/part. Work still to do one PDF export includes line style, transparency in images and radial/linear color fill. Create a rectangular array improved. Create a circular array now has interactive command. Click on the interactive button in the create circular array dialog to start. Hold down the left mouse button and drag the cursor to see the circular array change size. There is a similar feature in create rectangular array. It is now possible to create arrays of horizontal and vertical guides.
Thursday 19 February, 2015 Added more to the help file. Improved Part Builder changes for parts in projects and when changing footprint type in the part editor. Wherever possible the schematic symbol is not changed.
Tuesday 17 February, 2015 Fix for rotate 90/180 and mirror for polygonal pads. Guides now draw with dashed style to reflect the construction line nature of guides. Change scale up/down scale control to have a calculator.
Monday 16 February, 2015 Fix for pasting. When pasting, if the mouse cursor is inside a viewport, the viewport will displays the pasted objects and they will follow the mouse. Press to finally place the objects. If in normal pick mode, click mouse button 4 or 5 copies selected to the clipboard and pastes it. Move to place and click mouse button 4 or 5 will place it and show you another to move and place. Left click ends it. Dominant object selection indicator improved. Dotted rectangle around dominant. Added origin context menu item to place origin at the placement point in the part editor.
Saturday 14 February, 2015 Hide status bar in the status context menu updates controls. Set pad center in rectangle and ellipse shape editors now works. Rotate 3D buttons now work in PCBs.
Friday 13th February, 2015 New web services for problem reports. Added help for soldermasks. Fixed problem the initial margin for soldermask had a point in error. It did correct itself but now it’s always OK. Default soldermask margin now 4 mil. Copy and paste, pastes over the original position.
Tuesday 10 February, 2015 Part tweaks in the library. Courtyard auto-sizes(optional) in part edit. If DEX cannot save then DEX will not close.
You have to: Close without saving or Save to another location or Fix the reason it can't save. e.g. put the USB back in! Fix for silkscreen control in part builder. Now works ok. Monday 9 February, 2015 Fix for occasional sporadic resizing of parametric footprint when adding additional pad.
Sunday 8 February, 2015 Add auto-dimming button to route settings panel and auto-dimming button to the route menu. Improved snap to objects for the PCB border. Stopped snap to courtyards, silkscreens when they are hidden.
Friday 6 February, 2015 Chip packages now have color. Selected symbol terminals that are normally invisible in schematics now show has a red spot is selected. View selected entity now shows slightly more of the surroundings. Checklist UI improved. Fixed bug when placing footprints around border. Some track not unrouted and appear white. Rotating and moving footprints will do real-time DRC if enabled.
Thursday 5 February, 2015 Added end manual routing key (press enter). During manual routing press enter to leave the track you are editing as it is. Align and distribute now works with sub-picked objects. Changed page scale control in the sheet properties to a spin editor. When you change the scale the page content is centered and the viewport shows you all the page.
Wednesday 4 February, 2015 Improved switch of footprint types in part edit and in project. Maintain pad count, terminal name and terminal to pad mapping. Single sided boards do not have copper for pads/vias on the non-copper side.
Monday 2 February, 2015 Bug reporter – increased font size and formatting in description. Added option in application settings to increase/decrease zoom when using the mouse wheel. It is in Application->User Interface->Mouse Wheel Scale.
Sunday 1. February, 2015 Improved Add Resistor dialog and Add Capacitor dialog. Also new library part parame you are a a is a you are ters.
Saturday 31 January, 2015 Fix for libraries not installing some artwork files. Improved quality of combining shapes with circles/ellipses.
Thurday 29 January, 2015 Status bar now has more controls. Improved status from some commands. Move units display from the windows title bat to the tabs for each viewport.
Wednesday 28 January, 2015 Status bar now appears on the top. Right click to see context menu to switch location. Added toggle rotation snap to the viewport right click context menu. rotation snap on by default. Added units button to Part Builder-Footprint. This shows/sets PCB units. When viewing schematics this is the PCB units not the schematics units. Removed imperial/metric buttons.
Tuesday 27 January, 2015 Fix for erratic behaviour when moving rectangle corners. Added units text in the window caption. (at the end). Units can be different on different sheets. Fix for moving rectangular objects. Sometimes would snap to ½ snap space. OK now. Fix for library footprints for polarized capacitors. Silkscreen marker added.
Monday 26 January, 2015 Symbol terminals (pin number and text) now show selection box not selected as red. This allows you to see the color if you change it interactively. Search result in library panel now sorted. Status and tooltips displayed when resizing objects.
Sunday 25 January, 2015 Fix for reference designators for capacitors in the parts library. Empty community directories removed.
Saturday 24 January, 2015 Improved CHIP parametric footprint parameters and new .csv file.
Friday 23 January, 2015 Fix for ‘disappearing’ symbol terminal in part editor if you changed the font size. Set minimum size for some modal prompt dialogs. Stops them looking too small. Removed context menu for progress bar in the library search panel. Removed ‘Not for Commercial Use’ text in footprint preview in the symbol editor. Fix for non-closing of small start-up dialog.
Thursday 22 January, 2015 Removed installer password. Keeping life simple!
Tuesday 20 January, 2015 New non-commercial version.
Sunday 18 January, 2015 Fix for some missing graphics (rounded rectangular pads and copper pour) in PCB export to SVG.
Saturday 17 January, 2015 Added increase (F8) decrease (F7) to change thickness of track during manual routing. Right click during routing to see the context menu with loads of choices and their shortcuts. Fix for renumbering symbol references - error in displayed text for footprint reference.
Friday 16 January, 2015 Added track necking during manual routing. Press the ‘N’ key. See video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8d9t2KGKSeE Thursday 15 January, 2015 Added option to renumber parts by position in the PCB or the position in schematics.
Friday 9 January, 2015 SVG export fixed for locales that use ‘,’ for decimal points. SNG needs ‘.’
Thursday 8 January, 2015 All save as image file format now supported.
Monday 15 December, 2014 Save image and copy to clipboard now sets the DPI. Export to Active3D now has option to export only top or bottom copper and parts. Export to STL now has option to export only top or bottom copper without parts.
Sunday 14 December, 2014 Added option to have solder mask removed over selected tracks. See the properties panel for the track. Added optional to swap the side for a complete track rather than just the selected segment. Press the Control or the Shift key when you press the space bar. Layer panel now has column for current layer. This makes it more obvious which is the current layer and prevents ‘accidently’ changing the current layer. Added option to export image as DPI.
Saturday 13th December, 2014 Minor bug fixes.
Wednesday 3 December, 2014 Minor bug fixes. Zoom in/out centers on the cursor position if the cursor is inside the viewport. Excessive zoom in/out and pans restricted.
Tuesday 2 December, 2014 Minor bug fixes.
Monday 24 November, 2014 Fix for automatically added PCB holes reverting to default size/position on undo. In 3D view, view left/right/front and back are ‘square on’ if the view is non-perspective (ortho).
Saturday 8 November, 2014 Improved UI for manual routing.
Friday 7 November, 2014 Fix for parts bin losing footprints.
Thurday 6 November, 2014 New context sensitive cursors for manual routing and route editing.
Wednesday 5 November, 2014 Fix problem with parts bin, sometimes symbols said no associated pad. Improvements to the add resistor/capacitor dialogs. Improved manual routing when connecting tracks to tracks.
Tuesday 4 November, 2014 Redesigned layers panel. Fix for add resistor/capacitor dimensions when units not in inches. Added option to draw drill centers in all pads when plotting Gerber. Added new Route ribbon page containing useful routing commands.
Monday 3 November, 2014 Added solder mask margin settings control to the layers panel. New tooltip for tracks, show you how to edit them. If real-time DRC is on, selecting a track shows you it’s errors.
Sunday 2 November, 2014 Added units control to DRC control panel. Setup menu button links to WIKI and blog. Help->Support->WIKI and Help->Support->Blog
Saturday 1 November, 2014 Modifying 3D for header keeps 2D footprint unchanged. Fix for new part wizard not saving manufacturer’s details. Changing pad hole diameter in the part builder keeps other parameter constant and does not change any things added to the part.
Friday 31 October, 2014 Setting pad size/shape in the parametric editor keeps other settings. Added free, ortho, angled manual routing buttons to View/Snap->Tracks. Default manual router style set to angled. Default move track segment set to move parallel. Improved manual routing – no un-routed track segment left.
Thursday 30 October, 2014 Navigator panel now show more when auto-zoom selected, the navigator view is also updated. Changing width/height of 3D cylinders not updates 3D view correctly. Added center spacing input for quad parametric footprints. Symbol border now not changed if pad pitch changed on DIP and SOIC parts.
Wednesday 29 October, 2014 Added option to correct nomals when importing STL 3D files.
Tuesday 28 October, 2014 Multiline text output to Gerber can now be left, center or right aligned. Will now import AutoTRAX EDA files with sub-system sheets.
Monday 27 October, 2014 Printing footprint does not show PCB border if no cutouts and holes are present. However if the PCB border property ‘use border’ is set then the border will print. New Quad Footprint builder. New parameters for outer and inner distances between pad rows/columns. Sunday 26 October, 2014 Added leadless checkbox for SOIC and Quad part packages. Text (Part Value) now added to SOIC and Quad part packages. Added right scrollbar to the Part Builder. (only shows when needed).
Saturday 25 October, 2014 Fix for setting pad shape to rectangular in the part builder.
Friday 24 October, 2014 Added plot menu button to the Gerber Viewer. This allows you to print each layer. It is also useful if you have want to step and repeat a plot. Removed redundant design rules in PCB settings panel.
Thursday 23 October, 2014 Added option to oversize drill files to take into account the plating thickness. See Tools/CAM settings button (small button on the bottom right). Fix for non-functioning export to PDF in classic menu. You can now set the fill color/pattern/style for inter-wire connectors.
Wednesday 22 October, 2014 Editing pad values in the part builder does undo changes to independent courtyard/silkscreen. In the part editor, the PCB border resizes on changes to pad size in the part builder. Fix for pin numbers for SOT223. Fix for symbol border context meny - symbol rebuild only doing sides as in footprint.
Tuesday 21 October, 2014 Add port now works in the Classic drop-down menu. Improved header parametric part - added extensions for pin beneath the boar
Sunday 19 October, 2014 New user forum at http://www.forum.kov.com I also changed the web link in DEX.
Saturday 18 October, 2014 When manual routing and adding jumper, route style set to free routing and returns to previous state after the jumper has been added. Ortho manual routing: start segment uses layer routing settings (vertical/horizontal).
Friday 17 October, 2014 Footprints can now be grouped. Fix for pasting tracks where original copied track was un-routed. Improved manual routing. Auto-routing of segment to complete. Removal of some ‘quirks’.
Thursday 16 October, 2014 Reinstated 45 and 90 degree routing for manual routing (free style). Added manual routing settings to the router settings menu.
Wednesday 15 October, 2014 PCB cutouts placed inside parts now output to Gerber profile. Copying and pasting pads in the footprint editor creates unique pad names. Add right context menu when manually routing. Added orthogonal and angled manual routing. See right context menu when manually routing.
Friday 10 October, 2014 Fix for text with overstrike in symbol terminals placed on the top or bottom of symbols. Overstrike is positioned correctly. Added auto-position symbol reference and value to symbol/symbol border right click context menu. Added auto-size symbol border to symbol/symbol border right click context menu. Fix for size on end-capture button. Via holes are removed when outputting inner layers to Gerber if connected to the inner layer.
Thursday 9 October, 2014 Fix for incorrect un-routing of tracks near the edge of the board. Adding connections now does not un-route a net, will add an un-routed track segment.
Wednesday 8 October, 2014 Inner signal layers now no longer show holes if connected to a via/pad and show holes is set to false. Fix for sizing for thermal relief on pads in inner layers.
Tuesday 7 October, 2014 Added optional attributes to ALL objects. Select object and add/delete attributes in the properties panel. Added rebuild symbol to symbol’s context menu in projects. Right click on a symbol to view the menu.
Saturday 4 October, 2014 Added custom part request in Parts->Library menu->Request Part.
Friday 3 October, 2014 Improved Eagle library conversion.
Saturday 27 September, 2014 Added option in properties panel when viewing board in 3D to show holes. Fix for resize pads sometimes undone later. Fix for elliptical pads restoring ad rectangular. Elliptical pads now have corner and side manipulators to set the size.
Monday 15 September, 2014 Improved manipulator identification/coloring for polylines/polygons and curves. Curve manipulator remains visible for selected vertex when editing. Fix to update nodelist panel when setting selected tab.
Thursday 11th September, 2014 Fix for adding dimension - offset shown when showEdits false Fix height for text height +/- buttons in font control Disabled thumbwheel for 3D editor if no 3D entity Moved show page, show rulers and show scrollbars to viewport/Show.. context menu moved show/hide panel menu items to Show sub-menu for viewport context menu. Improved picking of patterned line styles. Dimension lines offset from start and end point if gap > 50 thou.
Wednesday 10 September, 2014 Added control to set height above board for imported 3D models. (Properties panel). Added show numeric input boxes and tooltips to the viewport context menu (Show…). Fix for edge color editor not updating viewport.
Tuesday 9 September, 2014 Fix for combining shapes where some were not included. Text input for adding polylines now works. (Shortcuts sometime overrode input).
Saturday 6 September, 2014 Fix for dxf importer where straight segment after a curved segment in polylines was drawn curved.
Friday 5 September, 2014 Speeded up graphics on some curved shapes. Option added to import DXF to import as PCB. 1. Only closed polygons, ellipses and circles will be imported. 2. The first polygon will be converted into the PCB border. 3. All ellipses and other polygons will be added as PCB cutouts.
All circles will be converted to PCB holes. Wednesday 3 September, 2014 Adding multi symbol parts sometimes did not correctly set symbol references as unique. Double click to edit symbol reference/values on multi symbol parts correctly updates all siblings.
Tuesday 2 September, 2014 Tracks within a copper pour region that have the same signal name as the track are not flagged up as unrouted by the DRC.
Monday 1 September, 2014 Tracks within a copper pour region that have the same signal name as the track are not drawn as the copper pour will connect the end points of the track. Fix for some missing relief of pads inside copper pour. Improved rotation of symbols with additional text included. Schematic wire junctions now same color as the wires. Fix for unrouting tracks connected to off-board footprints when adding more parts.
Sunday 31 August, 2014 Thermal relief for rectangular pads with rounded corners now shows rounded gaps.
Thursday 28. August, 2014 New button - Edit->Group->Combine will convert 1 or more selected entities into a polygon, PCB border, PCB cutout, pad, keep out, copper pour or split power plane.
Wednesday 27. August, 2014 Point Cursor now snaps to objects as well as the grid. Fix for zero pen width not restoring on read : was set to node pen width. Fix for dimensions not being drawn in PCBs if stick text selected. Tuesday 26. August, 2014 Resized placement point for footprints. Check and fix for shared footprints. Clearance DRC fix for track to rectangular pads. Fix for rotated no mask areas border draw incorrectly. Adding polygonal no mask areas now show cut-out in real-time.
Saturday 23 August, 2014 Fix for slow copper pour fill.
Friday 22 August, 2014 Added design rule check for minimum PCB hole sizes. Nets (tracks), PCB holes, PCB cutouts, pads and vias now have optional copper pour gap override so you can set custom clearance. If you set the copper pour gap for a net, then all pads and vias connected to the net will have the net’s copper pour gap unless you set the copper pour gap on the pad/via. If keepouts are hidden then copper pour now still uses them.
Wednesday 20 August, 2014 TPH Pads can now have rectangular holes (slots). These are output to drill files.
Monday 18 August, 2014 Add more Python coding examples to scripting. Extended Python-DEX API.
Sunday 17 August, 2014 Fix for copper pour ignoring start and end spaces in text. Rotating part symbols sets alignment of references and values. Added more demo plugins. Extended scripting interface to DEX. Stick text viewable in PCB (See CAM settings)
Friday 15 August, 2014 Improved scripting panel. Added some demo plugins. Loads more to follow this weekend.
Wednesday 13th August, 2014 Added intelliSense for Python scripting editor. You have 4 built-in Python variables: o design o viewport o sheet o app Show/Hide tooltips now works for all tooltips (except intelliSense).
Sunday 10 August, 2014 Improved directory selection dialog. New Font selection dialog. Saturday 9 August, 2014 Added ruler, navigation side bar and font selection to Python program editor. Right click for context menu.
Friday 8 August, 2014 Added syntax highlighting to Python program editor.
Thursday 7 August, 2014 New scripting panel where you can add your own custom menu buttons with Python scripts.
Friday 1 August, 2014 Added scripting panel (See panels menu). This is a IronPython (Python) scripting engine. Currently it will only run IronPython and there are no AutoTRAX DEX objects yet. Try print ’Hello World’. o See https://docs.python.org/3/reference/index.html I will add extensive access to the project/part data in the coming days. You will be able to add your own command buttons with Windows forms!
Friday 25 July, 2014 Import Eagle : Symbols with no terminals (not really a part) are converted to grouped graphics. Improved import of Eagle files with some fixes and added options on import.
Thurday 24 July, 2014 Fix for circle symbol terminals in schematics. Electrical position was wrong. Added option (on by default) to create AutoTRAX style symbol borders when importing Eagle schematics.
Wednesday 23 July, 2014 Eagle boards with curved edges implemented. Previously edges were straight.
Monday 21 July, 2014 Fix for radial and linear fill of symbol borders. Added menu buttons for Wiki, Blog and Twitter.
Sunday 20 July, 2014 Import of Eagle files with multiple sheets. Seems difficult to find examples! Only found 1 on the Eagle site.
Saturday 19 July, 2014 Eagle import 1.0 now complete.
Friday 18 July, 2014 Eagle import now converts Eagle buses to DEX buses.
Wednesday 16 July, 2014 More improvements to Eagle import. Split parts (symbols) references ok. Handles Eagle PCB with tracks going nowhere etc. (Eagles fails to sync PCB from schematic correctly).
Tuesday 15 July, 2014 Optimization of PCB nets for Eagle import.
Monday 14 July, 2014 First version of Eagle project import. This will combine both Eagle schematic and board files into a single design. This only works for Eagle version 6 files and is provided as an initial preview. Please do not use for production work. Feedback very welcome.