Hi Folks: Just a quick note to thank all of you for your suggestions on resolving my fatal database error 317. And also to update y'all on just what happened. In trying to save myself some post-processing work, I had added a polarity sign (text) to the silkscreen layer of a decal for an electrolytic cap. Turns out that at some point when I had ascii'd out to verify the PCB database, PADs couldn't handle the plus sign (text) attached to the decal's silkscreen layer and created what I'll call a detached decal record. This snowballed into some other nasty corruption which in subsequent import/export cycles implicated other sections of the database. At any any rate, here's the sequence of remedies, compiled from all the best ideas y'all gave me. 1) Examined the last known good ascii out file compared to the first known corrupted file to find the bad part decal record wreaking havoc. 2) Corrected the cap decal in the library to remove the plus sign. Actually a polarity sign made with two line segments may have been ok in hindsight. 3) Exported from the final layout, the parts (layout), pcb parameters, lines (board outline), and miscellaneous sections. 4) Imported ascii from last step forcing PADs to use new decals. 5) Net list compared PCB from step 4 with new ascii from Viewdraw. 6) Imported ECO from step 5 to PCB created in step 4. 7) Did an Import/Export cycle on PCB from step 6 to ensure database integrity. Now the card's good to go Thanks again for all the help. -- Have a Golden Day, Paul Anderson [log in to unmask] http://www.amherst.com/ ################################################################ DesignerCouncil E-Mail Forum provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8c ################################################################ To subscribe/unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the body: To subscribe: SUBSCRIBE DesignerCouncil <your full name> To unsubscribe: SIGNOFF DesignerCouncil ################################################################ Please visit IPC's web site (http://www.ipc.org) "On-Line Services" section for additional information. For technical support contact Hugo Scaramuzza at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.312 ################################################################ ################################################################ TechNet E-Mail Forum provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8c ################################################################ To subscribe/unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the body: To subscribe: SUBSCRIBE TechNet <your full name> To unsubscribe: SIGNOFF TechNet ################################################################ Please visit IPC's web site (http://www.ipc.org) "On-Line Services" section for additional information. For technical support contact Hugo Scaramuzza at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.312 ################################################################