This page defines the usage of each of the navigation buttons to the side of each Rules dialog and options available on the context menu when you right click in the grids.
Shortcuts
Menu: Setup
Default Keys: T
Command: Technology
Locating this option
Available from: Setup menu > Technology option > all rules pages
Using the dialog
’Enable’ check box
On the rules grids, the Enable check box on each can be one of two states - unchecked (not enabled) and checked (enabled). This means the rule can be defined but not used. If you double-click on the Y, a report will be displayed showing you where that item is used in your design.
‘Used’ Indicator Y or y
On Styles grids, there is a Y indicator to show that the value is used in the design. This can also be a lower case y to indicate that the value is defined but only used in by a rule and not by an actual item in the design.
Grid Status Indicators
In some grids, coloured triangles are displayed in the corners of the cell in the first column. These indicate the current status of the entry.
| Triangle Colour | Description |
|---|---|
| Red | The data in that row is in error |
| Blue | A warning |
| Orange | A newly added entry |
| Grey | A modified entry |
| Green | A note is attached to the entry. A note can be added by right clicking the cell and selecting Notes |
Some practical examples of the ‘triangle’ colour coding within your design might be:
Red is an Error
For example, on a Rectangle Pad Shape where the Width defined exceeds the Length.
Blue is a Warning
For example, a Drill Hole larger than the pad on a Pad Style.
Orange indicates a new row.
Grey is a modified row
This extends to all pages that have a Used or Enabled first column, for example Styles, Layers, etc.
Green indicates row contains a note
For Rules pages only, the Green triangle in the top right corner of the cell indicates the rule contains a note, this could be a usage note or note about the values used.
The editing pane beneath the grid shows you the values for the currently selected row. In some cases, there is a diagram to help show how the values will be applied. You cannot leave the page until the current item is made valid and complete. An error message may be displayed in the editing pane, or an error dialog shown if you try to leave the page.
As the Technology dialog opens, any items selected in the design are examined, and the corresponding rows on the dialog are preselected to guide you to the technology details (styles etc) for the selected item. For example, if you select a whole component, the pad styles page will preselect the row for the pad style of the first pad on the component, the line styles page preselects the row for the first doc shape, and so on.
To allow more information to be displayed in a grid in any of the tabs, the Technology dialog may be resized by dragging one of it’s corners or edges with the mouse.
Where appropriate, there are buttons along the bottom of the dialog. These allow you to Save or Load the technology. Some pages allow you to Import from or Export to a CSV file. A button displays the current length units, by pressing this button you can temporarily swap the units (indicated by a *) for the duration you are in the Technology dialog.
Each kind of technology information is presented as a category branch in the tree control on the left of the dialog. Left click on a branch to display the tab containing information about the category. Right click on the tree to open and close all branches of the tree quickly using commands from the context menu.
‘Enable’ check box
To the left side of the grid, there is an Enable check box. This will be ticked (checked) when a new rule is created but it gives you the ability to disable rules that either are not required or if you wish to run ‘what if’ checks on a particular rule.
Navigation Buttons
The details below do not apply to all dialogs, this is a superset of all the buttons available:
New
Press the New button to add a new entry to the list. To edit an existing entry, select it, the row will be underlined with a red line. The information can then be edited directly in the cell row or in the editing pane below it.
Copy
On the Spacing Rules - Match Pair Level page, you can copy a Rule with all its parameters by selecting the row and pressing the Copy button.
When copying a Pad Style with all the exceptions, a new style is created with a name of the form ’
Merge
On Styles pages, when multiple styles are selected, press the Merge button to begin merging multiple styles into one. Once pressed, you will be asked which style you wish all the other selected styles to merge into.
Delete
Remove items from the list by selecting it and pressing the Delete button. Use Delete Unused to remove any styles in the list that are not currently used in the design. Used styles cannot be deleted.
Delete Unused
Selecting this option removes unused items from the list. This will be any item not marked with a Y to show it has been used.
Top/Bottom Up/Down
Each line in the grid represents a separate rule, rules are used in priority from the top of the list down. Use the Up, Down, Top and Bottom buttons to re-order the rows to make them more or less significant.
Alternatively, on some grids, such as Layers, you can drag the row to the desired position. You can only place the row in a legal position in the grid.
Only Show Used Entries
The Only Show Used Entries check box is used when you only wish to view used entries in the design. This does not remove the entries from the design, it simply hides them from view.
Show Default Names
Use this check box if you wish the Net Names list to include any default Net Names in the design.
Where Used:
Using the Selected button will report where the selected rule is used in the Technology. Likewise, using the All button will report where all the rules in this dialog are used in the Technology.
Sorting and Filtering
Some Grid column headings have a small ‘down’ triangle next to its name. 
This indicates the column can be filtered. Clicking this will display a context menu
from where you can choose to Sort the column and Filter it.
When a filter is set, only rows with values matching the filter are visible. This feature is available on grids, such as the Technology dialog and the Grids dialog.
Clicking on the filter button (the small ‘down’ arrow next to the name header) displays a pop up menu with a list of commands:
Sort A to Z - Sorts column rows in ascending order
Sort Z to A - Sorts column rows in descending order
Set Filter - Allows a custom wildcard filter to be set, using the Wildcard Wizard
Clear Filter - Clears the currently set filter (enabled only when a filter is set)
(Values list) - A check list box with search filter functionality that can be used to quickly filter row values
If a filter is set that matches none of the rows in the grid, the text No items match your search is shown.
Multiple columns can be filtered at the same time to further refine the filtered rows.
The filter popup menu can be resized to allow more items in the values list to be shown.
Sort Columns Ascending / Descending
To show that a column has been filtered, a filter icon is shown on the filter button. If sorting has been applied, an arrow is also shown on the button to indicate the sorting direction (ascending or descending).
Hovering the mouse over the filter button in a column header will show a tooltip with the current filter information for that column.
Context Menu Options
Right clicking on the Technology grids will display a context menu from where you can select additional options. The details below do not apply to all dialogs, this is a superset of all the options available:
Applying to Entire Columns and Empty Cells
In some dialog grids, if a value has been entered or set, you can right click, and from the context menu, opt to Apply to entire column so everything in the column follows that entry, or Apply to empty cells which can be used on cells in the column with no entries.
If you right click within cells that are Net Class based, such as Local Net or Colours, then the following context menu is displayed that allows the selection to be applied to items on the same Net Class:
Resizing Columns
In dialog grids, all columns can be resized to fit their contents by using the command Resize All Columns to Fit. This option is available on the context menu when right-clicking a column header.
Clear All Column Sorting
Right-clicking on a column header when sorting has been applied to a column will display the command, Clear All Column Sorting,. When selected, will remove the sorting set on that column.
Clear All Column Filtering
Right-clicking on a column header when one or more filters are set will show a context menu with the command Clear All Column Filtering, which will remove all filters set on the columns in the grid.
Report Where Used
Use this option to report where the Rules or Style has been used in the design.
Advanced View
Dialogs that do not have additional rules defined, such as Pad Styles have additional parameters that are not displayed unless you select this option.
View Named Rule
Dialogs such as Net Names or Signal Paths can display additional rules, such as Track Length Match when you select this option.
View Track Length Rule and View Differential Pair Rule
Dialogs that do not have additional rules, such as Net Names and differential Pairshave additional parameters that are not displayed unless you select this option.
Add Rule
Use this option to add rules to item. For example, within the PCB Net Names or Schematic Net Names dialogs where rules can be applied.
Edit Rule
Use this option to edit an existing rule. For example, within the PCB Net Names or Schematic Net Names dialogs where rules can be applied.
Notes
You can add your own notes to rules, for example your name and the date the rule was added, or why a rule was disabled.
Apply to entire Column
Use this option to apply the currently selected field to all fields within the column. For example, the Enabled field on rules pages.
Apply to entire Row
Use this option to apply the currently selected field to all fields within the row. For example, the Allow fields in the Layer Spans dialog.
Apply to entire Grid
Use this option to apply the current setting to all fields in the grid. For example, within the Spacings grid.
Expand All / Close All
Use these options to Expand (or Close) fields where some items can be hidden, such as Layer Exceptions (under Layer) on the Pad Styles page.
Reset All
Use this option to reset all the field in the grid to their original settings. For example, within the Spacings grid.
All Styles Use…
Two options are available when using Styles pages and where Naming Rules have been used. For example, with the the Pad Styles page:
All Styles Use Naming Rules - Use this option to force all styles in the dialog to use Style Naming rules regardless of their current status.
All Styles Use No Rules - Use this option to force the removal of naming rules on styles in the dialog. The Naming style will revert to Typed.