PCB Fabrication Enhancements

aP Pro 2024 R1 SP2 provides the following enhancements to the PCB Fabrication process group:

Support for Gerber files from P-CAD

The PCB process group now has an XSLT mapping for Gerber Files exported from P-CAD, extending the number of ECAD systems aPriori supports for Gerber files.

In 2024 R1 SP2, the PCB process group adds support for Gerber Files exported from the P-CAD PCB design software systems. The XSLT mapping file has a dedicated mapping for each system, allowing aPriori to open and cost these ECAD files out of the box.

Improved Gerber Extraction Robustness

The PCB process group now includes several targeted enhancements to improve the robustness of Gerber file extraction.

aP Pro 2024 R1 SP2 improves the extraction of Gerber files from supported ECAD systems, as described below:

  • Altium files that contain only a Bottom Copper Layer now are extracted correctly as a single layer PCB. Previously aPriori failed to extract GCDs for these parts.

  • Altium files that contain buried or blind vias between layers starting with the names Primary, Secondary , or Layer are now extracted correctly

  • aPriori now automatically resolves unit type mismatches between the Gerber drawing and accompanying drill files. Previously, if the drill file did not have unit type defined, aPriori assumed it was the same unit type specified by the Gerber files. This is not always true, so aPriori now checks that the unit type being assigned is sensible.

Support for XSLT Mapping File Export and Import

This release resolves an issue with export/import functionality for XSLT mapping files.

Previously, when a PCB XSLT mapping was exported, it contained a formatting issue that prevented it from being imported by aPriori. This issue now is resolved.