Can we Copy room format for not a multi channel design? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: ali_asadzadeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 27, 2020, 09:45:17 am
content: Hi,I have about 20 units of a small SOIC and some passive, I want to know is there a trick to create a room around them and place and route one of them and then copy the placement and routhe to the other parts?I have done this thing with a multichannel design, But this PCB is not designed in a multi-channel way, so is there any trick!?

author: ajb
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 31, 2020, 04:24:43 am
content: I don't know of a way to set the rooms up without them corresponding to a sheet symbol. What you can do in a situation like this, especially since each block is pretty simple, is lay one out and then copy and paste the tracks/vias to reach other one. As long as you're careful to route all of the tracks to the pad center points you can then snap the components into the right spots quite easily. If you don't have enough components in place the pasted tracks may not pick up the correct nets, but you can correct that after placing all of the components by using the the appropriate command. I think it's under design > nets > update primitives from connected nets or something like that. Shortcut might be D, N, U?

author: ali_asadzadeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 31, 2020, 06:14:57 am
content: Thanks for the hint, the problem is placement, How the parts can be placed relatively exactly the same spot, so that the route can be copy and pasted!

author: alexwhittemore
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 31, 2020, 10:58:28 pm
content: I'm reasonably certain there's no way to do what you want without redoing the schematic as multi-channel (which - that should be relatively simple, no?)The one possible workaround I can think of is that you can use PCBList view to do all the placement excel style - place one "cell" how you like it, then copy the same X/Y/rotation parameters across to all the other matching components of subsequent "cells" in a spreadsheet, but with a +x or +y offset on all the locations. obviously that will leave you with a probably-not-accurate placement of all the pseudo-channels side-by-side, but then they'll be wired up right so you can just select and drag the groups how you like.

author: ajb
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2021, 07:36:58 am
content: Quote from: ali_asadzadeh on December 31, 2020, 06:14:57 amThat was my point. You copy and paste the tracks and then snap the parts to the tracks.1) lay out one of the blocks. Be careful to always snap tracks to pad center points.2) place all of your ICs where you want them. Don't worry (too much) about the passives yet.3) copy the tracks and vias from the first layout onto each other IC. Use a convenient reference point like one of the IC's pads to snap the tracks into alignment.4) now move all of the passives into position by snapping their pads onto the ends of tracks.Voila, a bunch of identically laid out blocks. A couple extra tips (which you should know generally from working in altium but some people may not):- adjust the snap settings to what works for you. The auto align thing can be frustrating, so find what annoys you the least. I wish they would copy AutoCAD's snap/tracking system, it's pretty much perfect.- single layer mode is your friend. Makes it easier to isolate the snaps you want

author: ali_asadzadeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 02, 2021, 07:06:01 am
content: QuoteThanks for the hint