Release notes for Altium Designer 10 update (10.818.23272)
Additional Resources
Update 15: Updated plug-ins from release 10.771.23139 to 10.818.23272
Date: 19 December 2011
Key highlights
Custom pad shapes
As a result of the very first BugCrunch report that was voted in, this latest update adds the ability to add solder and paste mask expansion rules to regions, fills, and tracks. So now you can attach virtually any copper geometry to a pad and give it ‘pad-like’ solder and/or paste mask expansions. More information. View BugCrunch report #67.
Loop removal improvements
The Advanced Interactive Router's loop remove algorithm has been improved which will fix a variety of known issues as well as deliver better overall results. View BugCrunch report #132. View BugCrunch report #425. View BugCrunch report #596.
Print from PCB Library
This was the second issue to get voted through in BugCrunch and also very popular. So we've implemented the request and footprints can now be printed directly from a PCB library. View BugCrunch report #109.
Designators movable by multiple selections in PCB
Again, a popular item in BugCrunch. So, moving multiple component designators is now supported in PCB using the Move>>Selection command. View BugCrunch report #1089.
Additional FPGA Vendor Constraints and Device Support
This update includes added support for Altera’s Max V and Stratix IV CPLD/FPGA devices. In addition to this, Altium Designer’s constraint files have been significantly revamped to include support for a large array of extra Vendor constraints. This will let you continue creating vendor-neutral FPGA designs using the latest IO standards from within Altium’s Unified Design Environment.
Proxy scripts supported
If you have had problems previously with installing and updating AD10 because of access through proxy servers, we’ve implemented a couple of fixes that should now resolve those issues. Instructions for deploying improved proxy support. View BugCrunch report #103.
System Components: Altium Designer Base
5709 | FPGA Signal Manager has been improved. IO Standard constraints are correctly translated to Altium Constraint file. |
5794 | The issue causing blank pdf pages in schematic outputs under certain circumstances has been fixed. |
System Components: Altium Designer Installation System
4437 | AltiumInstaller and AltiumDownloadManager are updated with improved Proxy support. Proxy server settings must be configured in Internet Explorer's Internet Options > Connections > LAN Settings. Manual proxy sign-ins are not supported. Instructions for deploying improved proxy support. |
4438 | AltiumInstaller and AltiumDownloadManager have improved support for automatic configuration script files setup in Internet Explorer's Internet Options. Instructions for deploying improved proxy support. View BugCrunch report #103. |
System Components: Data Management
5781 | Changed warning displayed during connection to Vault dialog to be based on license subscription instead of AltiumLive plan. |
System Components: PCB System
3565 | Fixed PCB problem where Y coordinate of custom board origin and dimensions was reset if Hungarian Locale was used. View BugCrunch report #673. |
3567 | Resolved Paste Special issue of multiple nets on different layer |
4452 | Footprints can now be printed from a PCB library. View BugCrunch report #109. |
4794 | Fixed the Advanced Interactive Router to properly handle room specific clearance rules when in Walkaround Obstacles mode. |
5329 | TANGO ASCII file format importer will now work as expected. |
5401 | Added loop remove shortcut (Shift-D) to the Advanced Interactive Routers. View BugCrunch report #596. |
5539 | Non pad primitives have been given the applity to generate mask layer expansions when they are on the top or bottom layers. This will simplify the creation of complex pad shapes. More information. View BugCrunch report #67. |
5543 | Fixed a variety of problems with Advanced Interactive Router's loop remove algorithm. View BugCrunch report #132. View BugCrunch report #425. |
5722 | Fixed PCB crash when deleting component with .Designator special string which was in violation with another silkscreen object. |
5752 | Moving multiple component designators is now supported in PCB using the Move>>Selection command. View BugCrunch report #1089. |
System Components: Schematic System
5679 | Fixed slowness experience by some users on copy. View BugCrunch report #1182. |
5793 | Tabbed text in text frames is now rendered correctly with Render text with gdi+ option on. |
System Components: Soft Design Support
2598 | A parameterized blackbox module is instantiated correctly also if the blackbox is instantiated multiple times where each instantiation assigns a different value, or the default value. I.e. the different parameter values are stored in the EDIF file. |
4426 | Altium Core Generator has been improved. Internal block memory supports hex file initialization for memories larger than 64K. |
4622 | Unisim library support updated, now compatible with Xilinx V13.3. |
4904 | An incorrect VHDL condition with OTHERS could cause a failed assertion and then an access violation |
5098 | Altera Stratix 4 device support has been added to Altium Designer. |
5606 | Altera Max 5 device support has been added to Altium Designer. |
5666 | SSTL15I IO standard is translated to Altera "SSTL-15 CLASS I" constraint. |
5667 | SSTL15II IO standard is translated to Altera "SSTL-15 CLASS II" constraint. |
5668 | DSSTL15I IO standard is translated to Altera "DIFFERENTIAL 1.5-V SSTL CLASS I" constraint. |
5669 | DSSTL15II IO standard is translated to Altera "DIFFERENTIAL 1.5-V SSTL CLASS II" constraint. |
5671 | Altera Stratix 3 IO standard export/import has been improved. All io standards supported by this device can be exported from Altium constraint file and imported from Altera pad file. |
5672 | Altera Stratix 2GX IO standard export/import has been improved. All io standards supported by this device can be exported from Altium constraint file and imported from Altera pad file. |
5675 | Altera Stratix 4 IO standard export/import has been improved. All io standards supported by this device can be exported from Altium constraint file and imported from Altera pad file. |
5676 | Altera Max 5 IO standard export/import has been improved. All io standards supported by this device can be exported from Altium constraint file and imported from Altera pad file. |
5710 | Add/Modify Port Constraint dialog has been updated. IO Standards use descriptive names for display in combo box. |
5711 | Altera pin file importer has been improved. 3.3V LVCMOS and LVTTL iostandards are imported correctly. |
System Components: Soft Design Synthesis Libraries
4622 | Unisim library support updated, now compatible with Xilinx V13.3. |
System Components: Soft Design System
2598 | A parameterized blackbox module is instantiated correctly also if the blackbox is instantiated multiple times where each instantiation assigns a different value, or the default value. I.e. the different parameter values are stored in the EDIF file. |
4622 | Unisim library support updated, now compatible with Xilinx V13.3. |
4904 | An incorrect VHDL condition with OTHERS could cause a failed assertion and then an access violation |
5098 | Altera Stratix 4 device support has been added to Altium Designer. |
5425 | Core Project outputs handling has been improved. Vhdl macrocell outputs from Altium Synthesizer are copied across to linked fpga project. View BugCrunch report #791. |
5436 | FPGA_CLOCK constraint handling has been improved when XST synthesizer is used. |
5437 | FPGA_CLOCK_PIN constraint handling has been improved when XST synthesizer is used. |
5438 | FPGA_CLOCK constraint handling has been improved when XST synthesizer is used. When set to FALSE it will prevent XST from using clock buffer on object it has been applied to. |
5439 | FPGA_CLOCK_PIN constraint handling has been improved. When used with XST synthesizer and set to False it will prevent XST from inserting ibufg primitive on port it has been applied to. |
5440 | FPGA_CLOCK constraint handling has been improved. When used with Quartus synthesizer and set to True it will enforce Quartus to use global buffer. |
5441 | FPGA_CLOCK constraint handling has been improved. When set to False and used with Quartus synthesizer it will prevent usage of global buffer. |
5447 | FPGA_CLOCK constraint handling has been improved. When used with Synplify will enforce global clock buffer insertion. |
5448 | FPGA_CLOCK_PIN constraint handling has been improved. When used with Synplify synthesizer will enforce clock buffer usage. |
5449 | FPGA_CLOCK constraint handling has been improved. When set to False and used with Synplify synthesizer it will prevent global buffer insertion. |
5450 | FPGA_CLOCK_PIN constraint handling has been improved. When set to False and used with Synplify it will prevent synthesizer from using global clock buffer. |
5471 | FPGA_CLOCK_FREQUENCY constraint handling has been improved. When used with Synplify synthesizer it will request timing based synthesis. Applies to standalone, Actel and Lattice version. |
5473 | Xilinx Bit Generation build step has been improved. Bitgen DRC is run against design autogenerated pcf constraint. |
5496 | Linking Core project to FPGA project no longer requires device specific configuration for the core project to build them without publishing. |
5505 | FPGA_CLOCK_FREQUENCY constraint is correctly handled when used with Synplify targeting Actel devices. |
5507 | FPGA_CLOCK_FREQUENCY constraint handling for Actel devices has been improved. Net objects are handled correctly. |
5606 | Altera Max 5 device support has been added to Altium Designer. |
5608 | When unsupported IO standard is applied in Altium constraint file to Altera target Altium Designer will issue warning. |
FPGA Components: FPGA Configurable - Generic Logic
5098 | Altera Stratix 4 device support has been added to Altium Designer. |
5606 | Altera Max 5 device support has been added to Altium Designer. |
FPGA Components: FPGA Configurable - Wishbone Memory Controller
5498 | Shared USB controller template has been improved. Wishbone acknowledge line is asserted for single clock cycle only. |
FPGA Design Tools: Ancillary VHDL Synthesis Libraries
5610 | DHSTL18I IO Standard is mapped to Altera "DIFFERENTIAL 1.8-V HSTL CLASS I" constraint. |
5611 | DHSTL18II IO standard is mapped to Altera "DIFFERENTIAL 1.8V HSTL CLASS II" constraint. |
5612 | DHSTLI IO Standard is translated to Altera "DIFFERENTIAL 1.5-V HSTL CLASS I" constraint. |
5613 | DHSTLII IO standard is translated to Altera "DIFFERENTIAL 1.5-V HSTL CLASS II" constraint. |
5614 | LVCMOS12 IO standard is translated to Altera "1.2 V" constraint. |
5615 | BLVDS25 IO standard is translated to Altera "BUS LVDS" constraint. |
5616 | LVDS_E_3R IO standard is translated to Altera "LVDS_E_3R" constraint. |
5617 | LVDS_E_1R IO standard is translated to Altera "LVDS_E_1R" constraint. |
5618 | MINILVDS25_E_1R IO standard is translated to Altera "MINI-LVDS_E_1R" constraint. |
5619 | MINILVDS25_E_3R IO standard translates to Altera "MINI-LVDS_E_3R" constraint. |
5620 | RSDS25_E_1R IO standard translates to Altera "RSDS_E_1R" constraint. |
5621 | RSDS25_E_3R IO standard translates to Altera "RSDS_E_3R" constraint. |
5622 | LVTTL12 IO standard translates to Altera "1.2 V" constraint. |
5623 | RSDS33 IO standard translates to Altera "RSDS" constraint. |
5624 | LVCMOS30 IO standard translates to Altera "3.0-V LVCMOS" constraint. |
5625 | LVTTL30 IO standard translates to Altera "3.0-V LVTTL" constraint. |
5626 | PCML12 IO standard translates to Altera "1.2-V PCML" constraint. |
5627 | PCML14 IO standard translates to Altera "1.4-V PCML" constraint. |
5628 | PCML25 IO standard translates to Altera "2.5-V PCML" constraint. |
5629 | HCSL IO Standard translates to Altera "HCSL" constraint. |
5630 | PCI33_30 IO standard is translated to Altera "3.0-V PCI" constraint. |
5631 | PCIX_30 IO standard is translated to Altera "3.0-V PCI-X" constraint. |
5632 | PPDS25 IO standard is translated to Altera "PPDS" constraint. |
5633 | PPDS25_E_3R IO standard is translated to Altera "PPDS_E_3R" constraint. |
5634 | BLVDS33 IO standard is translated to Altera "BUS LVDS" constraint. |
5635 | Altera ArriaGX IO standard export/import has been improved. All io standards supported by this device can be exported from Altium constraint file and imported from Altera pad file. |
5644 | Altera Cyclone IO standard export/import has been improved. All io standards supported by this device can be exported from Altium constraint file and imported from Altera pad file. |
5646 | Altera Cyclone2 IO standard export/import has been improved. All io standards supported by this device can be exported from Altium constraint file and imported from Altera pad file. |
5648 | DHSTL12I IO standard is translated to Altera "DIFFERENTIAL 1.2-V HSTL CLASS I" constraint. |
5649 | DHSTL12II IO standard is translated to Altera "DIFFERENTIAL 1.2-V HSTL CLASS II" constraint. |
5650 | HSTLI_12 IO standard is translated to Altera "1.2-V HSTL CLASS I" constraint. |
5651 | HSTLII_12 IO standard is translated to Altera "1.2-V HSTL CLASS II" constraint. |
5652 | Altera Cyclone3 IO standard export/import has been improved. All io standards supported by this device can be exported from Altium constraint file and imported from Altera pad file. |
5656 | Altera Cyclone4E IO standard export/import has been improved. All io standards supported by this device can be exported from Altium constraint file and imported from Altera pad file. |
5657 | Altera Cyclone 4GX IO standard export/import has been improved. All io standards supported by this device can be exported from Altium constraint file and imported from Altera pad file. |
5659 | Altera Stratix IO standard export/import has been improved. All io standards supported by this device can be exported from Altium constraint file and imported from Altera pad file. |
5661 | Altera Stratix 2 IO standard export/import has been improved. All io standards supported by this device can be exported from Altium constraint file and imported from Altera pad file. |
5665 | Altera Stratix GX IO standard export/import has been improved. All io standards supported by this device can be exported from Altium constraint file and imported from Altera pad file. |
5666 | SSTL15I IO standard is translated to Altera "SSTL-15 CLASS I" constraint. |
5667 | SSTL15II IO standard is translated to Altera "SSTL-15 CLASS II" constraint. |
5668 | DSSTL15I IO standard is translated to Altera "DIFFERENTIAL 1.5-V SSTL CLASS I" constraint. |
5669 | DSSTL15II IO standard is translated to Altera "DIFFERENTIAL 1.5-V SSTL CLASS II" constraint. |
5671 | Altera Stratix 3 IO standard export/import has been improved. All io standards supported by this device can be exported from Altium constraint file and imported from Altera pad file. |
5672 | Altera Stratix 2GX IO standard export/import has been improved. All io standards supported by this device can be exported from Altium constraint file and imported from Altera pad file. |
5675 | Altera Stratix 4 IO standard export/import has been improved. All io standards supported by this device can be exported from Altium constraint file and imported from Altera pad file. |
5676 | Altera Max 5 IO standard export/import has been improved. All io standards supported by this device can be exported from Altium constraint file and imported from Altera pad file. |
5711 | Altera pin file importer has been improved. 3.3V LVCMOS and LVTTL iostandards are imported correctly. |
Hardware Support Packages: Device Support - Altera Max V (New Module)
5606 | Altera Max V device support has been added to Altium Designer. Download Altera Max V Integrated Libraries |
Hardware Support Packages: Device Support - Altera Stratix IV (New Module)
5098 | Altera Stratix 4 device support has been added to Altium Designer. Download Altera Stratix IV Integrated Libraries |
Importers and Exporters: Importer - Tango-PCB ASCII file
5329 | TANGO ASCII file format importer will now work as expected. |
Output Generators: Output - ERC
5724 | ERC Report output job option default for Report Suppressed Errors changed to False to be consistent with default project option |
Output Generators: Output - Gerber
5539 | Non pad primitives have been given the applity to generate mask layer expansions when they are on the top or bottom layers. This will simplify the creation of complex pad shapes. More information. View BugCrunch report #67. |
5754 | Gerber Output for flipped embedded board arrays that have components with rotated offset pads has been corrected. |
5805 | "Drill symbol limit exceeded" modal dialog is now supressed and warning logged to messages panel instead. View BugCrunch report #652. |
Output Generators: Output - ODB
5539 | Non pad primitives have been given the applity to generate mask layer expansions when they are on the top or bottom layers. This will simplify the creation of complex pad shapes. More information. View BugCrunch report #67. |
Output Generators: Printer - PCB
4452 | Footprints can now be printed from a PCB library. View BugCrunch report #109. |
5539 | Non pad primitives have been given the applity to generate mask layer expansions when they are on the top or bottom layers. This will simplify the creation of complex pad shapes. More information. View BugCrunch report #67. |
5805 | "Drill symbol limit exceeded" modal dialog is now supressed and warning logged to messages panel instead. View BugCrunch report #652. |
Development updating various modules
The development made for the following tickets required changes to our Run Time Libraries, and as a result require majority of the modules to be updated.
4303 | Embedded Threads debugging panel is working again (was always empty in R10). |
5098 | Altera Stratix 4 device support has been added to Altium Designer. |
5309 | An Access Violation with message "List index out of bounds (-1)" will no longer occur when using any of the grid (tree list view) controls when the memory used by AD is close or over *2GB*. |
5586 | Access violation on close when a LibPkg is added as a pcb project source document has been fixed |
5606 | Altera Max 5 device support has been added to Altium Designer. |
5689 | Altera pin file importer has been improved. Pin file parser correctly imports pin information from Altera pin description tables. |
5781 | Changed warning displayed during connection to Vault dialog to be based on license subscription instead of AltiumLive plan |
5785 | The preferences dialog has been improved so that all controls are accessible on lower resolution wide screens, which typically have lower vertical resolutions. View BugCrunch report #482. |