Documentation

Report Maker - Rules Commands

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These commands are used to report information from attribute based Rules in a PCB or Schematic design, and to report items that use these rules. The commands also allow you to report absolute and matched Track Length rule failures.

List Of Rules

Use this at the top level of the script to report information about each rule of a specified type in a PCB or Schematic design. It can also be used within a List of Nets, List of Signal Paths, List of Sub Nets, List of Differential Pairs and List of Differential Pair Chains to list the rules that are used by the particular item.

Edit the list command to choose the type of rules you want reported. The following dialog will be displayed:

Choose a specific type of rule, or use “Any” to report all rule types or choose "" to specify the rule type at run time using a named variable. All attribute based DFM/DFT rules, all High Speed Rules and the Match Pair Level Spacing Rules can be reported.

Note: You can alternatively use List of Track Length Rules and List of Track Length Match Rules for those two types of rules. These enable you to report more detailed information about the rule and allow you to report where the items do not satisfy the rule. See below for details on use these list types.

For each rule you can report the following:

  • Type - The type of rule, for example “Track Length Rules”. This would used if listing all rule types to report their types.
  • Attribute Name - The name of the attribute that defines the basis of the match criteria for the rule. An item must have this attribute to use the rule.
  • Is Enabled - Reports if the current rule is enabled.
  • Match String - The wildcard string that is used to match the attribute value on an item for it to use the rule.
  • Maximum Spacing Value - Only used for rule type “Match Pair Spacing Rules”, reports the maximum value from the rules Match Pair spacing grid (not including text and board spacings).
  • Minimum Spacing Value - Only used for rule type “Match Pair Spacing Rules”, reports the minimum value from the rules Match Pair spacing grid (not including text and board spacings).
  • Notes - Reports the user supplied note on the current rule.
  • Rule Name - A combination of the Attribute Name and Match String, representing the name used for the rule.
  • Rule Condition - Reports any extra match criteria that are used as a condition for an item to use the rule. For example it could be a layer name or the name of an area the rule applies within.
  • Rule Values - Reports a string containing all the values that apply for the rule to be satisfied on an item. For example the minimum and maximum track lengths.
  • Second Attribute Name - Some rules apply between two items. If this field is not blank it represents the attribute name that defines the second item. For example, the
  • Second Match String - Some rules apply between two items. If this field is not blank it represents the match string used to match the attribute value of the second item.
  • List of Items - Use to report the names of all items that match the Attribute Name and Match String criteria for the rule. See details below.
  • List of Extra Matches - Only used for “Track Length Match Rules”, used to report the extra match strings for the rule. See details below.

List Of Items

Use within List of Rules to report the name of each item that potentially could use the rule. It will report the names of all items that match the Attribute Name and Match String criteria for the rule, the detail of an item is not checked against the Rule Condition. For example if a net has an attribute that matches a “Track Size Limit” rule it will be reported, even if it does not currently contain any tracks on the layer specified as the rule condition.

For each item you can report its Type and Item Name. The other fields available are generally only used when this list is used within the List of Groups command.

List Of Track Length Rules

Use this at the top level of the script to report information about each Track Length Rule of a specified type in a PCB or Schematic design. It can also be used within a List of Nets, List of Signal Paths, List of Sub Nets, List of Differential Pairs and List of Differential Pair Chains to list the track length rules that are used by each particular item.

For each track length rule you can report the following:

  • Attribute Name - The name of the attribute that defines the basis of the match criteria for the rule. An item must have this attribute to use the rule.
  • Is Enabled - Reports if the current rule is enabled.
  • Match String - The wildcard string that is used to match the attribute value on an item for it to use the rule.
  • Notes - Reports the user supplied note on the current rule.
  • Rule Name - A combination of the Attribute Name and Match String, representing the name used for the rule.
  • Rule Condition - Reports either “Total Length” or “Pin to Pin”.
  • Rule Values - Reports a string containing all the values that apply for the rule to be satisfied on an item.
  • Minimum Track Length - Reports the minimum allowed track length value from the rule. If the value is not defined it reports a blank string.
  • Maximum Track Length - Reports the maximum allowed track length value from the rule. If the value is not defined it reports a blank string.
  • Maximum Via Count - Reports the maximum number of vias allowed from the rule. If the value is not defined it reports a blank string.
  • List of Length Rule Items - Use to report all items that match the Attribute Name and Match String criteria for the rule. This can be used to report how the items actual values match up against the rule. See details below.

List Of Length Rule Items

Use within List of Track Length Rules to report the name of each net, signal path, sub net, differential pair, and differential pair chain that uses the rule. It will report the names of all items that match the Attribute Name and Match String criteria for the rule.

For each length rule item you can report the following:

  • Type - The type of item, for example “Signal Path”.
  • Item - A description of the item.
  • Item Name - The name of the item.
  • Track Length - Reports the track length of the item, i.e the length of all tracks on the item (or just the tracks in the Pin To Pin path if that is the rule condition) including estimated lengths for unrouted connections and applying length adjustments. See How the Lengths are Calculated for more information on adjusted lengths.
  • Is Enabled - Reports if the current rule is enabled.
  • Is Track Length Adjusted - Reports “true” if the track length calculation has included any adjustments, otherwise reports “false”.
  • Is Track Length Estimated - Reports “true” if the track length calculation has included the estimated lengths of any unrouted connections, otherwise reports “false”.
  • Is Complete - Reports “true” if the item is fully routed.
  • Satisfies Rule - Reports “true” if the items track length and via count does not fall foul of the rule limits.

List Of Track Length Match Rules

Use this at the top level of the script to report information about each Track Length Match Rule of a specified type in a PCB or Schematic design. It can also be used within a List of Nets, List of Signal Paths, List of Sub Nets, List of Differential Pairs and List of Differential Pair Chains to list the track length match rules that are used by each particular item.

For each length match rule you can report the following:

  • Is Enabled - Reports if the current rule is enabled.
  • Attribute Name - The name of the attribute that defines the basis of the match criteria for the rule. An item must have this attribute to use the rule.
  • Match String - The wildcard string that is used to match the attribute value on an item for it to use the rule. Note, additional match strings can be defined for a rule using the List of Extra Matches command.
  • Notes - Reports the user supplied note on the current rule.
  • Rule Name - A combination of the Attribute Name and Match String, representing the name used for the rule.
  • Rule Condition - Not currently used for this type of rule.
  • Rule Values - Reports a string containing all the values that apply for the rule to be satisfied on an item.
  • Maximum Length Difference - Reports the maximum allowed length difference value from the rule. The difference between the shortest track length and longest track length of the items using the rule must not be more than this value. If the value is not defined it reports a blank string.
  • Net Name - Only used if the rule attribute is "" and the rule has the “Only Match Sub Nets Within the Same Net” flag set. This means there will be a separate rule for each net that contains the sub net, and this field specifies the net name for this particular rule.
  • Shortest Length - Reports the shortest track length of all the items currently using the rule.
  • Longest Length - Reports the longest track length of all the items currently using the rule.
  • Minimum Target Length and Maximum Target Length - Items that match this rule can be marked as a track length Matched Target (in the Rules Spreadsheet) for other items to match their lengths to. If no items are explicitly marked as a Matched Target, the current longest track length will be used instead. Minimum Target Length and Maximum Target Length represent the spread of track lengths either side of the target outside of which a track length is considered a fault.
  • Matched Target Attribute - Reports the Matched Target Attribute that is used in this rule.
  • Matched Target Value - Reports the Matched Target Value that is used in this rule.
  • List of Extra Matches - Used to report the extra match strings for the rule, each of which can contain an extra length to be applied to a matching items track length to represent an additional delay. See details below.
  • List of Match Rule Items - Use to report all items that match the Attribute Name and Match String criteria for the rule, or match the Match String criteria for any of the Extra Matches. This can be used to report how the items track lengths match up against the rule. See details below.

List Of Extra Matches

Use within List of Track Length Match Rules to report extra match strings to be used when gathering items to have their track lengths matched.

For each extra match rule you can report its Match String attribute value matching criteria and its Extra Delay Length. All the matching items for this extra match rule can have an Extra Delay Length applied to their calculated track length, skewing their lengths with respect to the other item groups.

List Of Match Rule Items

Use within List of Track Length Match Rules to report the name of each net, signal path, sub net, differential pair, and differential pair chain that uses the rule. Each of the two differential pair lines will be included separately as they may well have different lengths. Use this command to report the names of all items that match the Attribute Name and Match String criteria for the rule, i.e all items that will have their track lengths matched within the tolerance defined in the track length match rule.

For each match rule item you can report the following:

  • Type - The type of item, for example “Signal Path”.
  • Item - A description of the item.
  • Item Name - The name of the item.
  • Net Name - Only used if the item is a sub net. Reports the net the sub net is within.
  • Track Length - Reports the track length of the item, i.e the length of all tracks on the item including estimations for unrouted connections and applying length adjustments and any extra delay length. See How the Lengths are Calculated for more information on adjusted lengths.
  • Extra Delay Length - Reports the extra length that was added to the total track length for this item when calculating its length to be matched against other items using the rule.
  • Is Track Length Adjusted - Reports “true” if the items track length calculation has included any adjustments, otherwise reports “false”.
  • Is Track Length Estimated - Reports “true” if the items track length calculation has included the lengths of any unrouted connections, otherwise reports “false”.
  • Is Complete - Reports “true” if the item is fully routed.
  • Satisfies Rule - Reports “true” if the items track length falls between the match rule Minimum Target Length and Maximum Target Length.
  • Is Matched Target - Reports “true” if the item is explicitly marked as a track length Matched Target (in the Rules Spreadsheet).
  • Difference To Target - Reports the difference between the items track length and the closest Minimum Target Length or Maximum Target Length. It will be zero if the items length lies within the target band and therefore satisfies the match rule.
  • Is First Pair Line - Only used if the item represents one pair line of a differential pair or differential pair chain. Reports “true” if it is the first line (side) of the pair.

Commands | Rules | Report Maker | Track Length Rules | Track Length Match Rules

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