Ron, It depends on whether in your specific process it would make sense. In my opinion vendors would see so many variations from different companies that I do not see how it would help them any to make it standard, unless it where an industry standard, and I don't think we will see that happen. So using your particular software do it in the most automated fashion would be my vote and I would think it would be the most accurate. Executone Inter-Tel Business Information Systems, Inc. Robert M. Wolfe C.I.D. Lead PCB Designer 478 Wheelers Farms Road Milford, CT 06460 Phone: 203-882-6405 Fax: 203-882-2727 Email: [log in to unmask] > -----Original Message----- > From: Ron James [SMTP:[log in to unmask]] > Sent: Tuesday, March 07, 2000 2:13 PM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: [DC] Drill symbol standardization > > I would like to take an informal poll of other designers on the lists > to see how many companies use standardized drill symbols on > fabrication drawings. (i.e. always use the same symbol for .021 > holes, etc, on all fab drawings for all designs.) > > We changed from PCAD to Orcad a couple of years ago. In PCAD we > built > the padstacks to include the symbol, so by default used a standard > symbol for each size. Orcad handles drill symbols by automatically > assigning them and creating a chart in the database (a very nice > feature from my point of view.) The symbol/size association will be > different from one design to another. Also, Orcad is limited to 46 > different symbols, and we are already pushing that number of drill > sizes for our entire library. This means that if we want to use > standard symbols across all designs, we will have to bypass Orcad's > automatic symbol assignment and come up with a very manual process. > > This question is being prompted by engineers who really liked the > standardized symbols, and feel that their ability to check drawings > is > made significantly easier by that system. They have been burned in > the past by hole size issues and feel that such errors will be more > difficult to catch if they can no longer compare drawings at a glance > (new vs old revisions, or two unrelated designs that use the same > parts, etc.) > > To sum up my questions: > 1) Does your company use standard hole size symbols across all > designs? > 2) If so, does your software accommodate this, or is it a manual > process for you? > 3) If so, do your end users (design, manufacturing or process > engineers) find this to be valuable? > > > Thanks for any and all assistance. Please pardon the duplication > between lists. > > Ron James, CID > UT Electronic Controls