Rules Spreadsheet Bar

The Rules Spreadsheet provides a method for viewing information about Differential Pairs, Signal Paths and Nets in a tabular form whilst editing the PCB design. The data table is represented as cells in an array, organised in rows (one for each data item) and columns (one for each information field). The rules spreadsheet for nets can also be used to view information about Sub Nets.

The spreadsheet cells are kept up-to-date whilst you edit the design allowing you to instantly review information on multiple items in order to help make the correct design editing decision. The main use of the bar is to indicate track length and differential pair rule failures as they happen, so they may be quickly corrected or avoided.

Other uses for the spreadsheet is to provide an alternative method for finding and selecting particular parts of items in the design, and to directly edit some rules without having to first find the item in the technology dialogs.

Shortcuts

Default Keys: None

Default Menu: View

Command: Rules Spreadsheet

Locating this option

Available from: View menu > Rule Spreadsheet Bar

Using The Rules Spreadsheet

If not already displayed, display the spreadsheet by using the Rule Spreadsheet Bar option from the View menu. The modeless rules bar dialog is displayed as a configurable Dockable Window.

The spreadsheet will use most of the normal grid editing techniques, but you can also sort by left clicking in a column header, drag the line at the bottom of the header row to resize its height, and use double click on some of the information cells to find the item the row represents in the design.

Cells are colour coded to represent what type of information they represent and whether the information is editable. These colours make it easier to focus on information representing rules and where values fail to obey these rules. The colours can be changed using the Colours dialog (see below).

Choosing the spreadsheet type

Use the dropdown list in the dialog header to set the current spreadsheet type, or if the list is not visible select the required spreadsheet type from the shortcut menu. Choose between displaying a list of Differential Pairs, Signal Paths, Nets or All Item Types. Differential Pairs and Signal Paths have one row per item, Nets can have additional rows to display sub nets (defined by pin attribute) or to display pin pairs in the net. The existence of these rows depends on which columns have been included. The additional rows can be shown or hidden by pressing the small triangle icon in the owner row above them.

Highlighting important items

Using left click in any cell in the first column that represents a differential pair, signal path or net (i.e. not a pin pair or sub net row) will mark the item the row represents as “important” to you. The row will be highlighted to enable you to quickly see the information whilst editing the design. You can specify how the row is highlighted using the spreadsheet Colours dialog. Use Remove Important Items from the shortcut menu to clear the spreadsheet of any highlighting of important items. Use Make Selection Important from the shortcut menu to highlight all rows that have selected items in the design.

If a single differential pair, signal path or net is selected or is being edited, the row will be highlighted as the “selected” row. How the selected row is highlighted is defined in the spreadsheet Colours dialog. There is a spreadsheet option (see below) to ensure that the selected row is always scrolled to be visible.

Sorting the spreadsheet

Use left click on any column header to sort the spreadsheet rows in an ascending order based on each items information for that column. Subsequent clicks on the same column header will reverse the sort order. Two rows that have the same value in their column being sorted will retain their position from the previous sort. To return to the default item order, use the Edit Columns dialog and press OK.

Sorting the first column will move the “current” item, (the item that is selected or being edited) to the top, followed by the items that have been marked by you as being important.

If you are over the spreadsheet framework outside of the data cells the menu contains docking commands described in the Dockable Window help pages.

Right click in a spreadsheet cell to pop up the shortcut menu and use commands that are relevant to the cell. The top section has commands to quickly edit the differential pair, signal path, net or net class in the design technology. This is followed by commands to mark, select and find relevant items or parts of those items in the design. The Find commands will use the same Find Options as when using the Find Bar. For example, whether to select, highlight and flash the found item. If some of the pads on the item being selected are in the component bin, you will be warned and the components in the bin will be selected. This way you can use Find Net from the bar to select all components in the bin that are connected to a particular net.

The next section contains commands to clear the selection or highlights in the design.

The last section contains commands that alter the spreadsheet. Use Add Pin Pair Row and Remove Pin Pair Row to change the pin pairs that are shown for each net (See Nets Spreadsheet below for more details about pin pairs). Use Remove Important Items to clear the spreadsheet of any highlighting of important items. Use Make Selection Important to highlight all rows that have selected items in the design. Use Refresh Spreadsheet to rebuild the list of design items that is currently displayed in the Rules Spreadsheet. It is possible that some operations do not update the bar, so if the item you are looking for is not in the list, or you think one of its properties has not been updated, refresh the spreadsheet.

If you want to maximise the space available for the spreadsheet, use Hide Dialog Buttons to remove the dialog controls above the spreadsheet and move the spreadsheet up. Use Show Dialog Buttons to bring them back. When hidden you can still change the spreadsheet colours, options and columns by using the shortcut menu. Also, if the buttons are hidden the title of the bar is changed to indicate which spreadsheet you are using.

Defining spreadsheet columns

The Edit Columns button is used to change the information that will be displayed for each design item for the current spreadsheet type. If the button is not visible, Use Edit Spreadsheet Columns from the shortcut menu. For more detail about specific columns see the relevant spreadsheet help sections below.

The list shows the columns that are currently displayed in the current spreadsheet, in the left to right column order. The text shown describes the information that will be extracted and is used for the column header.

Change the order of the columns by selecting an entry in the list and moving it up or down with the Move Up and Move Down buttons.

Remove a column by selecting it in the list and pressing the Delete button. The column name will be removed from the list and added to the New Column dropdown list.

Add a new column by selecting it in the New Column dropdown list and pressing the Add button. The name will be removed from the dropdown list and inserted after the selected column name in the Current Columns list.

Use the Restore Default buttons to set the list back to one of the default list sets. The difference between Minimum and Full is it does not contain any of the minimum and maximum rule limit values.

Press OK to apply the chosen columns to the current spreadsheet. The columns and their order are retained in the system registry so that your choice is preserved for future use.

Changing the spreadsheet colours

Use the Colours button to change the colours of the spreadsheet cells, and to define how to highlight the row that represents the item that is currently selected or being edited in the design. If the button is not visible, Use Spreadsheet Colours from the shortcut menu. All colours in this dialog are retained in the system registry so that your choice of colours is preserved for future use.

The top section shows a set of colour buttons showing the colours that will be used for each cell information type. Click on a colour block to change its colour.

Not Used - This colour is used for cells that are not needed, i.e. their column is not relevant for their row. For example the “Net Name” cell on a pin pair row.
Information - Used for cells that represent non editable information about the rows data item, that is not directly associated with a rule. For example the two net names for a differential pair.
Rule - This colour is used for non editable values that represent a rule limit. For example the maximum track length for a net. To change these values you must visit the appropriate dialog in the technology.
Editable rule or value - Used for values that are editable. These usually represent a rule limit that is directly editable in the spreadsheet (like the differential pair rules) or an information cell that you can alter to change what data its row represents (pin name cells in a pin pair row on a large net for example).
Value that satisfies the rule - This colour is used for values that are within their corresponding rule limits, and therefore represent a rule pass. For example a nets track length that is within the defined minimum and maximum rule values.
Value less than the minimum rule value - Used to highlight values that fall short of their corresponding minimum rule limit. For example a pin to pin track length that is less than the minimum pin to pin length defined for a net, or a net complete cell on a net that has tracks missing.
Value more than the maximum rule value - Used to highlight values that exceed their corresponding maximum rule limit. For example a pin to pin via count that is greater than the maximum number of vias allowed between pins on the net class.

The lower section shows how the selected or important items in the design have their rows highlighted in the spreadsheet. For each highlight type you choose a colour that will be shown as a block in the first column of the row, and choose whether the text in the row is displayed with this colour, and also if the row is underlined with the colour.

Selected Item - This row represents the single net or differential pair in the design that is selected, or a part of it that is being edited (a track being edited for example).
Important Item - These rows represent nets, differential pairs or signal paths that have been marked as important in the spreadsheet. See above for information about highlighting rows for important items.

The Reset To Defaults button will return the colours and highlight check boxes to their original “factory” settings.

Setting the spreadsheet preferences

The Options button is used to set up your preferences for the rules bar behaviour and to specify which items are not to be included. If the button is not visible, Use Spreadsheet Options from the shortcut menu. The options are retained in the system registry so that your choice is preserved for future use.

Update Whilst Dynamic - Generally information in the spreadsheet is updated as soon as items in the design are changed. For large nets on some designs this can take a while, especially whilst placing items and adding a track segments. Unchecking this box will stop the “continuous” updating that happens whilst moving items during interactive operations, and they will only be updated when the item is dropped or a corner is added. Leave the box checked if you want to see the track length changing “on the fly” as you move across the board, for example if you are using the spreadsheet instead of the head up track length display on the cursor.
Auto Scroll To Selected or Dynamic Item - Check this box to ensure the current item in the design is always visible in the spreadsheet by automatically performing a vertical scroll.
Only Show Selected or Dynamic Item - If this box is checked the nets, signal paths and differential pairs you will see in the spreadsheet are only the items currently selected or being edited plus all other items that are in a match length group with them. This enables you to focus on the information relevant to the item being edited.

Note: With this option selected, it is easy to wonder why nothing is being shown in the Rules Spreadsheet. Remember, you must have a net item selected or being edited in the design.
Include Power And Ground Nets - Check this box if you want to include nets that use a net class with type power or ground. These nets are often not required as net track length is not an issue with them. They usually have a lot of nodes and can take a long time when calculating values, like completion for example, as they need to check planes and poured copper.
Include Default Nets - Check this box if you want to include nets that do not have a user defined net name.
Include Nets Without Rules - Check this box if you want to include nets that do not match any length rules. These nets are not normally required in the nets spreadsheet as they have no rules to check against.
Use match target attribute - Check this box to use a Matched Target attribute if defined in the Technology - Track Length Match Rules dialog

CSV Format

CSV Format - Use these controls to specify the field specification character used when using the Export CSV option. Type a character in the edit box or check the Use tab check box. By default, it is a comma, but can be changed as required to suit local requirements. When selected, the Use tab check box will override the separation character and produce a ‘CSV’ file containing tabs as the separation character.

Nets Spreadsheet

This spreadsheet enables you to view information and rules for each net in a dockable modeless bar. You may want to use it for the following:

To view the rules defined on each net or sub net, extracted from its net class.
To quickly find a net in the design by using the various select and find options from the spreadsheet the context menu. Note: double click on a net name will find the whole net, double click on a Sub Net attribute name will find all pads and tracks in the sub net, and double click on a pin name will find the pair of pins and the track path between them.
To quickly view the current status of all nets, to see whether they are complete and obey their track length, via count and test probe rule limits.
When adding tracks as an alternative to using the head up display to help keep within length rules. Using the spreadsheet allows you to compare lengths with other nets whilst editing.

Most of the parameters that you can display as a net column are described in the net, net class, length rule and length match rule technology pages. Some of the less obvious parameters are described in more detail here.

Sub Net Attribute - If this column is included and a net has attributes on pins dividing them into sub nets, then a small triangle icon will be shown. Click on the icon to open an additional row for each sub net.
Pad1 and Pad2 - If these columns are included a small triangle icon will be shown in them for each net. Click on the icon to open up additional pin pair rows. If the net has only a few component pads, a row will be created for each pin pair, so that you can see their pin to pin track lengths, number of vias etc. If the net contains more pads, a single pin pair row will be added with the ability to choose the two pins you want in the pair. If you want to see information for more than one pin pair, use the Add Pin Pair Row command from the shortcut menu. This way you can add as many pin pairs from the net as you want to view in the spreadsheet. Use Remove Pin Pair Row from the shortcut menu to remove all but the first pin pair.
Length - This is the length of all tracks, wires and unrouted connections in the net, sub net or pin pair the row represents. There are two characters that can be displayed depending on the current status of the Net, these are “EST” and “A”. If the length includes unrouted connections the length has the text “Est.” attached to show it is an estimated length. If there is the “A” character displayed, this indicates Additional length has been added due to a High Speed rule on the item, e.g. Track Length Factor or Layer Change Length rules.
Complete - A box that is checked if the net, sub net or pin pair has an unbroken physical path between all pins. Note: A pin pair is only marked as complete if the tracks over the pads are actually attached to them. A net is complete if a track is over its pads.
Bus Name - This column will contain the name of the schematic bus the net belongs to. Use Synchronise Designs to tell the PCB design about bus names in the schematic. After doing this the names will appear in this column. Sorting on this column will place all nets in the same bus together in the spreadsheet.
Num Vias - For a pin pair row this represents the number of layer changes in the track path between the pins. So if another component pad is passed through and the layer is changed on exit then this is counted in the via count. if the path contains an unrouted connection the via count will have the text “Est.” attached to show it is an estimated count.
Matched Target - If the net is in a match rule group, this column shows if it is marked as an explicit target for the other items in the group to match their lengths against. Normally, with no nets marked as an explicit target, the longest item in the match group will be used. Check the box to change whether the net is to be considered as an explicit target for the group. This value will be saved with the design. If there are more than one explicit targets for the match group, other items in the group will have their lengths matched against the minimum and maximum of the target lengths.
Length Diff - If the net is in a match rule group, this column shows the difference between the minimum and maximum track lengths of all items in the group.
Diff To … - If the net is in a match rule group, as well as the Length Diff column mentioned above there are three other columns you can include to display the length difference in other ways. Use Diff To Shortest to show the difference between the track length of the net and the shortest track length in the match group. Use Diff To Longest to show the difference between the track length of the net and the longest track length in the match group. Use Diff To Target to show the difference between the track length of the net and its nearest track length of any item marked as a target in the match group. If there are multiple targets (see above) and the length is between the shortest and longest the difference will be zero.

Differential Pairs Spreadsheet

This spreadsheet enables you to view and edit differential pair and differential pair chain parameters and rules in a dockable modeless bar. You may want to use it for the following:

To quickly find a differential pair in the design by using the various select and find options from the spreadsheet the context menu. Note: double click on the net name or pad name cells will find the whole differential pair.
To quickly view the current status of all differential pairs, to see whether they are complete and obey their length rules.
When adding tracks to differential pairs as an alternative to using the head up display to keep track of length rules. It allows you to compare data with other differential pairs whilst editing.

Most of the parameters that you can display as a differential pair column are described in the Differential Pair technology pages. Some of the less obvious parameters are described in more detail here.

Complete - A box that is checked if the differential pair has a full track path between both pin pairs.
Paired Length - This is the length of the track path that is explicitly paired or at the minimum gap distance apart. The value shown is the minimum paired length of the two track paths, they can differ slightly due to the different inner and outer length of track corners.
% Paired - This is the percentage of the Paired Length to the total path length. The value shown is the minimum value for the two track paths.
Pair Skew - The amount the two track paths differ in length.
Matched Target - See Nets Spreadsheet above.
Length Diff - See Nets Spreadsheet above.
Diff To … - See Nets Spreadsheet above.

Signal Paths Spreadsheet

This spreadsheet enables you to view and edit signal path parameters and rules in a dockable modeless bar. You may want to use it for the following:

To quickly find a differential pair in the design by using the various select and find options from the spreadsheet the context menu. Note: double click on the net name or pad name cells will find the whole differential pair.
To quickly view the current status of all signal paths, to see whether they are complete and obey their length rules.
When adding tracks to signal paths as an alternative to using the head up display to keep track of length rules. It allows you to compare data with other differential pairs whilst editing.

Most of the parameters that you can display as a signal path column are described in the Signal Path technology pages. Some of the less obvious parameters are described in more detail here.

Complete - A box that is checked if the signal path has a full track path between the start and end pads.
Has Spurs - This box is checked if the track path between the start and end pads in the signal path has any spurs (branches to other pads and vias not in the path).
Matched Target - See Nets Spreadsheet above.
Length Diff - See Nets Spreadsheet above.
Diff To … - See Nets Spreadsheet above.

All Item Types Spreadsheet

This spreadsheet enables you to view and edit the parameters and rules for all differential pairs, signal paths, nets and sub nets all together in a dockable modeless bar. It is intended for use to view track length and length match rules. You may want to use it in preference to the above mentioned spreadsheets for the following reasons:

To view and compare all important net based data items at the same time.
If you are switching from editing tracks on signal paths and on differential pairs you will not need to keep changing the spreadsheet type.
If you are using track length match rule groups that contain different types of items.

Most of the parameters that you can display in this spreadsheet are the same as mentioned in the individual spreadsheets above, but in order to use the same column headers for different types of items there are some differences and restrictions as follows:

Nets without any track length rules, track length match rules or testpoint rules will not be included. Use the Nets spreadsheet if these are required.
The display of extra rows for any pair of pins in a net is not available. Use the Nets spreadsheet if you want to see the length of particular pin pairs within a net.
Unlike the differential pair spreadsheet which has one row per differential pair, in this spreadsheet they will use two rows, one for each signal line in the pair. The first signal line row will show the differential pair name or chain name in the name column. The name in the second row will just be marked with a “(2)” indicating it represents the second signal line in the pair.
Differential pair gap rules are not included. Use the Differential Pairs spreadsheet if these are required.
Sub Name - This column used to display the name of sub nets for nets and the name of differential pairs that are part of a differential pair chain. If the column is included and you have nets with sub nets or differential pair chains, a small triangle icon will be shown. Click on the icon to open an additional row for each sub net or differential pair link in the chain.

Export CSV

The Export CSV button is used to take a snap shot of the current spreadsheet grid and save it to an external CSV format file. If the button is not visible, Use Export CSV from the shortcut menu.

Prior to use, you may want to use the Options dialog to define how the CSV (Comma Separated Values) file is exported. In different geographic regions, CSV data is formatted slightly differently, this dialog allows those variations to be catered for.

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Rules Spreadsheet Bar

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