HI Mike, First, thanks for responding to my question because I have been trying to understand just what is in the files that I send to the board fabricators because my CAD tools now provide me with new options concerning them. It appears that my CAD vendor has done everything that you stated a board fabricator would probably want in a drill file, or files, and that is why I don't understand why he would still want just the one file. Just to repeat again, I can generate 3 types of drill files whereas each one contains an identical 'part program header' that lists all of the different tools needed for a design and they all use the same zero datum location. And if there is a plated and non-plated hole that reflects the same hole size from the design info, then the file will contain 2 tools, one for the plated and another for the non-plated holes, so that there doesn't have to be any manual editing of one tool sequence to separate the plated from the non-plated holes. So I could generate one file that contains coordinates for only plated holes, another file with coordinates for only non-plated holes or another file that contains both plated and non-plated holes, with separate tool selections for each one. The only problem that I can see with the combined file is that there is no way of distinguishing the plated tool selection from the non-plated tool selection. You would then have to refer to a fabrication drawing and the drill table symbols to figure that out. I guess that in trying to reduce any possible errors in fabricating a board today, I would think that having 2 drill files (plated and non-plated) with the content that I have described above, would be better than having 1 file and having to refer to a fabrication drawing to figure out which are the plated and non-plated holes if they were both set to be the same finished hole size. Thanks again for your feedback. Bob Walker [log in to unmask] ---------- From: TechNet Sent: Friday, September 25, 1998 7:43 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [TN] drill files-plated/non-pl The real problem is not having both plated and non plated holes of the same diameter in the same file, but to have them in the same tool sequence of the file. The manual editing involved in separating them has certainly seen its human factor. Multiple files have also seen their human factor. Sometimes CAM systems won't give multiple files the same zero datum and they could end up not registering correctly to one another on the board. Mike Mikucki Product Engineering Hadco ______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________ Subject: [TN] drill files-plated/non-plated holes Author: Bob Walker <[log in to unmask]> at SMTPLink-Hadco Date: 9/24/98 4:45 PM Hi All, I'm trying to better understand the process of drilling holes in a PCB and the files that are used by the board fabricators to do this. I am a PCB designer and presently send gerber files (fabrication gerber included) and a drill file (excellon format) to my board house for boards to be made. The fabrication drawing contains a drill table with symbols that represent each hole size and whether or not it is a plated or non-plated hole. I never allowed a plated and non-plated hole to be the same size in any of my designs because my CAD tools couldn't recognize that a plated and non-plated hole could be the same size and thus couldn't generate 2 different symbols for each. Well now my CAD vendor has provided me with the ability of tagging my padstacks as either a plated or non-plated hole so that I can generate a different drill symbol for my fab drawings. And I can also generate different drill files that can either include all hole styles, only plated holes or only non-plated holes which I thought would help my board fabricator out by not having to separate out the plated from the non-plated hole coordinates in the drill file. But when I called him to see if he could make better use of 2 drill files (plated and non-plated), he said he only wants the 1 file that contains both the plated and non-plated hole locations. Wouldn't it be better to have the 2 files? What don't I know? I would greatly appreciate all feedback from any designers or board fabricators. Regards, Bob Walker [log in to unmask] ################################################################ 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. 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