Documentation

Swap Pins

3 min read

Use this to swap all connections between two pins. There are two modes of operation.

  • The Normal mode of operation is to only allow the swap of two pins that are equivalent.

    Equivalent pins are on the same gate, within the same component, and in the same swap group. In this mode the swap is recorded in the Back Annotation data used for updating the corresponding schematics design.

    The Back Annotation data can be viewed using the Back Annotation Report.

  • The Swap Any Pins mode is to allow swap of any pins in the design.

    In this mode the swap is not recorded for Back Annotation. This may be useful in some cases, but is not recommended as it could lead to synchronisation problems with the schematics in the future.

Shortcuts

Default Keys: None

Default Keys: Utilities

Command: Swap Pins

Locating this option

Available from: Utilities menu > Swap Pins option

How To Swap Pins

First select the Swap Pins option on the Utilities menu, or use one of the above mentioned shortcuts. If the Swap Any Pins mode was last used, you will be warned that Back Annotation data will not be recorded, and asked to confirm to continue in this mode.

  1. Use the shortcut menu Swap Any Pins option to toggle between the two modes. If Swap Any Pins is enabled, you will be warned that Back Annotation data will not be recorded, and asked to confirm to continue in this mode.

  2. Use the shortcut menu Swap Routed Pins option to enable or disable the swapping of pins that are routed. If enabled, the track segment attached to any chosen pad will be unrouted before a swap is performed.

  3. Choose the first pin.

    Use the mouse to move the cursor over the component pads in the design. Notice that if a pad can be swapped it is drawn in the select colour whilst the cursor is over it. Click on the selected pad that you wish to swap.

  4. After the first pad has been selected, all equivalent pads that can be swapped will be drawn in the highlight colour. If allowing Swap Any Pins no pins will be highlighted as all pins can be swapped.

  5. Choose the second pin.

    Move the cursor over the highlighted pads in the design. Notice that the highlighted pad is drawn in the select colour whilst the cursor is over it. Click on the selected pad to choose the second pad for the swap.

  6. As soon as two pads are selected the connections are swapped between them and, if normal swap mode, the swap is recorded in the design’s back annotation data. All pads are then de-highlighted and deselected ready for repeating step 2.

Swap Rules

The following rules restrict the swapping of a component pin:-

  • A routed pin can only be swapped if the Swap Routed Pins option is enabled.

The following rules apply when using the normal swap mode:-

  • The two pins must be on the same component.
  • The two pins must be on the same gate within the part data.
  • The two pins must be in the same swap group in the part data.

If no swaps can be performed because the part’s swap data is not set up, use the Part Editor to add swap data to the part in the library, and then use Reload From Library to update the components in the design.

Swap Gates | Back Annotation | Part Edit | Reload From Library

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