Ioan, I've been using Unisoft's GERBER CONNECTION and PLACE software for this purpose. The only difference in the software capability and your requirement is that this software imports Gerber files and not CAD files directly. This software imports raw Gerber, imports BOM file, creates components using the pins associated to each pad, then each component can be linked to the information from the BOM file and here we are. All the information about each component can be viewed. PLUS you can also add text for any purpose, like some assembly instructions etc. I find it too good. Once all this data is created, the output file can be used as an input to the UNISOFT PLACE software to generate CAD data directly for any particular placement machine. In the free trial version, the CAD is created for MYDATA only. However, for the paid version any particular placement machine/machines can be selected. You can download a trial version for 28 days. I don't find the cost too expensive either. Just go to www.unisoft-cim.com. Regards Vinit -----Original Message----- From: [log in to unmask] [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Tuesday, July 09, 2002 5:27 AM Subject: Re: Inspection aids Ioan, I, too, have been looking for something like this, and failed! If anyone knows of a package that will permit the search for a circuit reference and display the location and component shape on the board layout, I would love to know about it. The problem with CAD files is that the text legend on layout views is not produced as text - it's produced as a series of lines and curves, made up to look like alpha-numeric characters, but as such is not "recognisable" or interpretable as text. Daan's Maestro is indeed very good as far as it goes, but I found that I needed to spend quite a lot of time editing neutral files and converting their format to MS Excel before it would work, and, as you say, there is no library of shapes built in to make identification of the real components easier. I asked Daan a long time ago if it were possible to develop the programme to include component shapes, such as is used by CAD programmes, but maybe there are too many formats around for this to be possible, and Daan's time is as limited as many of ours is. I'll eagerly follow this thread in the hope that someone out there knows something. Peter "Tempea, Ioan" <[log in to unmask]> 08/07/2002 09:12 PM Sent by: TechNet <[log in to unmask]> Please respond to "TechNet E-Mail Forum."; Please respond to "Tempea, Ioan" To: [log in to unmask] cc: (bcc: DUNCAN Peter/Asst Prin Engr/ST Aero/ST Group) Subject: [TN] Inspection aids Hi technos, lately I noticed the group is getting smaller, 1011 recipients, but since the quality of the forum did not diminish, I assume all the big boys are still there. And this is reassuring. Now, to get to my question. Our inspectors spend days to write the values of each part on the assembly drawings. This helps them inspect faster, but in terms of setup cost it sends everything through the roof. Not to mention the ECO control. I tried of course Daan's Maestro and it does a fantastic job when you look for a particular component. What I need is something that goes beyond and it would import the shapes of the components plus the values right inside these shapes. The question is: is anybody aware of the possibility to generate this kind of information right from the CAD system? Just another exported file, right at the source, by the PCB designer. If not, any software available that would do this? Thanks, Ioan ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- Technet Mail List provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8d To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/html/forum.htm for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.5315 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- [This e-mail is confidential and may also be privileged. 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