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Importing Eagle Files using ULP Files

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Eagle PCB and Schematic designs, Part, Footprint and Schematic Symbol libraries files from Version 6.0.0 can be read directly into Pulsonix. For older versions of Eagle the data can be transferred to Pulsonix using the Eagle ULP interface. Using the ULP files method is described below.

Designs and libraries up to Version 7.4.0 are supported. For verification that versions newer than this are supported, please contact the Pulsonix help desk.

Exporting data from Eagle

Eagle designs and libraries are held in a binary format, so we have supplied programs that can be run in the Eagle environment. These translate the designs and libraries into an intermediate ASCII format that can be imported into Pulsonix.

Exporting PCB designs From Eagle

  1. Start the Eagle Control Panel
  2. From the File menu, select Open and then select Board file .brd.
  3. Open the board that you want to transfer.
  4. If the board file is part of a project then the schematic will also be opened. The schematic must be kept open as it holds data that the translation program needs.
  5. Either from the toolbar select the icon ULP, or from the File menu select Run U LP.
  6. Browse to the EagleULP sub folder of your Pulsonix installation. This folder contains the Eagle to Pulsonix translation programs. All old Eagle versions back to 4.09 are supported using these ULP files.
  7. Select PCBToIntermediate.ulp
  8. A file browser will prompt you for the intermediate file that you want to write to. The name should have the extension .eip
  9. This file is now used for the import into Pulsonix.

Exporting Schematic designs From Eagle

  1. Either switch to the Schematic design program that was opened when the PCB board was opened, or
  2. Start the Eagle Control Panel; from the File menu, select Open and then select Schematic.
  3. Open the schematic design that you want to transfer.
  4. Either from the toolbar select the icon ULP, or from the File menu select Run ULP.
  5. Browse to the EagleULP sub folder of your Pulsonix installation. This folder contains the Eagle to Pulsonix translation programs.
  6. Select SchematicToIntermediate.ulp
  7. A file browser will prompt you for the intermediate file that you want to write to. The name should have the extension .eis
  8. This file is now used for the import into Pulsonix.

Exporting Libraries From Eagle

  1. Start the Eagle Control Panel
  2. From the File menu, select Open, the select Library required.
  3. Open the library that you want to transfer.
  4. Either from the toolbar select the icon ULP, or from the File menu select Run ULP.
  5. Browse to the EagleULP sub folder of your Pulsonix installation. This folder contains the Eagle to Pulsonix translation programs.
  6. Select LibraryToIntermediate.ulp
  7. A file browser will prompt you for the intermediate file that you want to write to. The name should have the extension .eil

Importing the Intermediate Design files into Pulsonix

To create the appropriate designs from the design intermediate file:

  1. The PCB and Schematic intermediate files can be read into Pulsonix by using the File menu and Open.
  2. When requested for a Technology File, select from the drop down list. The Technology file is not required for importing Eagle files unless you wish to use existing technology items, such as Layers etc.

Importing the Intermediate Library files into Pulsonix

To create the appropriate Libraries from the library intermediate file:

  1. In Pulsonix, select Libraries from the Setup menu.
  2. In each of the Schematic Symbols, PCB Footprints and Parts tabs, create a new library and then use Import in each library to import the appropriate intermediate file.

Alternatively you can use the Data Transfer Wizard to import multiple libraries of multiple types in one go.

Importing Eagle Projects and Synchronising Designs

Actual Eagle Project files (.epf) do not need to be imported, only individual design files and libraries.

Once a set of Eagle Schematics files and a PCB have been imported as part of a project, the Schematic and PCB designs will already be synchronised with each other as they are in Eagle.

Now in Pulsonix, you will need to run the Synchronise Design option from the Tools menu to re-align their integrity. The integrity is maintained when importing but running this Pulsonix option brings them into line within the Pulsonix environment.

Report Messages Displayed

Please Note: On import of the intermediate design file, a report may be displayed, highlighting points for review. As an example, one could be “Footprint ‘XXX’ contains explicit shapes on a ‘Paste’ layer”. This informs you that on this footprint, defined paste shapes have been imported. This means that to use them a By Layer, for the Paste layer, has to be added to the Pad Style and set to zero size, which suppresses the automatic creation of the Paste shape, which would otherwise cover the defined shape.

Open Design | Data Transfer Wizard | Synchronise Design | Layer Mapping

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