Good afternoon everyone,

Thanks for all the responses. I was a bit surprised by all the responses
this issue recieved. I thought RS274X was the "fix all" for artwork problems.
I guess not!

An update on my particular problem. The fabricator is having a problem
with the layers compositing one on top of another. They can read the
data just fine. But their DRC reports give inaccurate readings.

Funny thing, in GC-Prevue the power plane is broken up into a number of
different layes. However when I veiwed the SAME artwork in camtastic all the
layers were condensed to one layer. However in camtastic each of the above
layer were converted into a huge polygon. Deleting anyone of the polygon  rendered
the artwork useless.

I called Allegro about this and they basically said Gerber has blessed their
RS274X output. They don't believe it's a problem on their end. Especially since
they've reduced the amount of layer composited on top of each other - I guess
in the past Allegro RS274X outputted a huge number of composite layers. And
I can view the artwork output in Allegro without a problem, thus reinforcing Cadence's
belief that it's not their output causing the problem.

I then asked the fabricator if I could call their CAM vendor. The rep at Tibor (their CAM vendor)
told me he hadn't heard of any problems with the Allegro RS27X and Tibor software. He in turn
contacted the fabricators. The fabricators said it wasn't that they couldn't read the data, but instead
the composite layers are causing inaccurate DRC readings. Wheew!

As for a true resolution I'm unsure if one will come. My next step is to submit the data to
Tibor and see what they think of the data. Maybe the fabricators aren't utilizing the CAM
software to it's fullest potential? I'm considering another fabricator using another CAM system
and see if the other CAM software has the same problem as the Tibor system.

In closing, I too am pleased when the fabricators give me a call when something is unclear.
It's very reassuring knowing someone is double checking my work (God know's I need it!).

Again thanks for all the input. It was definitely useful and educational.

Dennis Ward
Net to Net Technologies

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