Version 13.0
Date: 01 February 2013
Key highlights
Project document previews.
A new Workspace View (View>>Workspace) has been added showing a graphical preview of all the documents contained within an open Project . (shortcut: CTRL+`).
PCB object and Layer transparency settings.
New PCB object and Layer transparency settings have been added to the View Configurations dialog.
Outline vertices editor for PCB Polygon Pours.
New outline vertices editor for Polygon Pour, Polygon Cutout and Solid Region objects.
PCB "Silk To Solder Mask Clearance" design rule.
A new "Silk To Solder Mask Clearance" rule with new checking modes (to exposed copper and to solder mask openings) has been added. SilkscreenOverComponentPads rules in existing designs are auto-converted with parameters set to match legacy behavior.
Schematic Pin name/designator position, font and color customization.
The pin name and designator position, font and color can now be customized individually.
Port height and font control.
Port height, border width and text font can now be individually controlled.
BOM outputs contain vault-defined supply chain information.
Vault-defined supply chain information is now available for BOM outputs.
Smart PDF documents contain component parameters.
Clicking on a component in a PDF file produced by SmartPDF will display the parameters of that component.
Hyperlink text support in Schematic documents.
Hyperlinks are now supported in the schematic editor.
Microchip Touch Controls support.
Support for Microchip Touch Controls has been added.
System Components: Altium Designer Base
| 276 | VHDL/Verilog netlisters have been improved. Port to sheet entry connection via bus wire on schematic generates correct hdl for buses of size [0..0]. |
| 277 | A new Workspace View (View>>Workspace) has been added showing a graphical preview of all the documents contained within an open Project . (shortcut: CTRL+`). |
| 283 | Vault-defined supply chain information is now available for BOM outputs. |
| 304 | Color PCB PDF files are no longer wrongly created when Monchrome is selected. |
| 307 | When generating a component library from a schlibrary, duplicate footprint links are no longer created. |
| 315 | The performance of opening documents via https has been greatly improved. View BugCrunch report #1569. |
| 317 | Environment variables can now be used to define paths in Preferences. |
| 318 | Unicode characters are now properly supported in generated PDF files. View BugCrunch report #587. |
| 338 | The Component Library generator is now available directly from the Schematic and the DBLib library editors. |
| 339 | The error "Failed to add part to global catalog" when managing a part supply chain information does not occur anymore. View BugCrunch report #900. |
| 340 | Component Libraries can now be created from a database library. |
| 342 | An error no longer occurs when adding a Part choice list for an item the name of which previously existed in a vault. |
| 350 | The report spreadsheet generated from the ShowDifference command is now compatible with Office 2007. |
| 362 | Changes have been made to allow simulation models to be found within other integrated libraries when a specific location is not specified. |
| 422 | Clicking on a component in a PDF file produced by SmartPDF will display the parameters of that component. View BugCrunch report #945. |
System Components: Altium Designer Installation System
| 443 | Plug-ins and updates page; feedback is now provided when pressing the Update All button (this will take affect with subsequent updates). |
System Components: Altium Designer Localization
| 642 | Localization of Altium Designer updated: Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese. |
| 718 | Updated Korean localization of Altium Designer. |
System Components: PCB Support
| 495 | IPC Compliant Footprint Wizard now positions the component in the center of the screen. |
System Components: PCB System
| 54 | New outline vertices editor for Polygon Pour, Polygon Cutout and Solid Region objects. |
| 151 | A new "Silk To Solder Mask Clearance" rule with new checking modes (to exposed copper and to solder mask openings) has been added. SilkscreenOverComponentPads rules in existing designs are auto-converted with parameters set to match legacy behavior. |
| 154 | Exposed PCB object Draw quality (show/hide) in the API. Function IPCB_Board.DrawMode[ObjectId] was added, and fixed function PCBServer.SystemOptions.DrawMode[ObjectId] to return correct property. View BugCrunch report #1464. |
| 297 | New pre-defined 3D rotations (Top, Ortho, Front, Left, Right, Back) have been added to the PCB toolbar. Orthogonal rotation has been added to the PCB View menu when in 3D mode. View BugCrunch report #813. |
| 329 | New PCB object and Layer transparency settings have been added to the View Configurations dialog. |
| 352 | Expression error no longer occurs when using FSO or Inspector without a leading whole value. |
| 386 | When rotating a solid region in the PCB Editor, the region's hole are now properly rotated. |
| 419 | Undeclared Identifier error no longer occurs when using FSO with Embedded Board Array. View BugCrunch report #517. |
| 451 | PCB Heads up Display now updates the X Y values when moving cursor with keyboard arrows. |
| 480 | 3D Rotation mode drop down menu has been updated to with the following options; Top Side, Bottom Side, Front Edge, Back Edge, Left Edge, Right Edge and Isometric. |
| 492 | PCB Measure Primitives command now works with locked objects when protect locked objects preference is turned on. |
| 664 | Smart Grid Insert in PCB List Panel now inserts objects on the correct layers. |
System Components: Soft Design System
| 279 | HDL Project option "Use Verilog 95" is correctly passed to Synplify synthesizer. Deselecting option enables Verilog 2001 mode. |
| 286 | Creating sheet symbol from VHDL containing port declarations without mode (in, out, inout) specifier has been improved and created sheet entries are of input mode now. |
System Components: Data Management
| 283 | Vault-defined supply chain information is now available for BOM outputs. |
| 339 | The error "Failed to add part to global catalog" when managing a part supply chain information does not occur anymore. View BugCrunch report #900. |
| 341 | When updating a design with vault-based data using the Item Manager, the current footprint is now properly taken into account. |
| 342 | An error no longer occurs when adding a Part choice list for an item the name of which previously existed in a vault. |
| 358 | Characters used in components and models names are no longer restricted when releasing them to vaults. |
System Components: Schematic System
| 300 | Project parameters form has been improved. View BugCrunch report #1254. |
| 301 | An option is now available to use the part location as the reference for schematic annotation. View BugCrunch report #357. |
| 303 | Schematic Blanket objects can now be placed as polygon shapes. |
| 338 | The Component Library generator is now available directly from the Schematic and the DBLib library editors. |
| 350 | The report spreadsheet generated from the ShowDifference command is now compatible with Office 2007. |
| 381 | Port height, border width and text font can now be individually controlled. View BugCrunch report #1782. View BugCrunch report #1687. View BugCrunch report #1190. View BugCrunch report #544. |
| 403 | The pin name and designator position, font and color can now be customized individually. View BugCrunch report #981. |
| 404 | Hyperlinks are now supported in the schematic editor. |
| 599 | Schematic Inspector and List panels now display the font name, size and style instead of FontID. |
| 677 | The Change Font button in schematic object dialogs has been changed to an edit link that also shows the chosen font details. |
PCB Design Tools: Microchip mTouch
| 116 | Support for Microchip Touch Controls has been added. |
Importers and Exporters: Importer - Expedition
| 601 | Mentor Expedition PCB and library importers now support custom pad shapes. |
Embedded Design Tools: Software platform
| 261 | Software Platform now supports JPG encoding and JPG decoding in software. |
| 280 | Software Platform was upgraded to lwIP version 1.4.0. |
| 282 | Software Platform now supports HTTPS by means of MatrixSSL sources (GPL license).). |
| 298 | The mkfs for FAT filesystem now releases the allocated entry from the file descriptor table. |
Hardware Support Packages: Device Support - Xilinx Spartan-6
| 290 | Build errors during PAR when using LAX and targeting Spartan6 devices have been resolved. |
Embedded Design Tools: TASKING TSK3000
| 258 | The TSK3000 debugger now supports hardware code breakpoints in Flash memory. |
Embedded Design Tools: TASKING Core
| 281 | Embedded project linker option for global type checking is switched on by default. |
Development updating various modules
| 151 | A new "Silk To Solder Mask Clearance" rule with new checking modes (to exposed copper and to solder mask openings) has been added. SilkscreenOverComponentPads rules in existing designs are auto-converted with parameters set to match legacy behavior. |
| 154 | Exposed PCB object Draw quality (show/hide) in the API. Function IPCB_Board.DrawMode[ObjectId] was added, and fixed function PCBServer.SystemOptions.DrawMode[ObjectId] to return correct property. View BugCrunch report #1464. |
| 288 | TSK3000A CPU has been extended with support for hardware code breakpoints. |
| 289 | Wishbone SPI cores have been updated to enable Push Registers to IO blocks optimization during PAR. |
| 437 | Microchip MTouch configurable component support has been added. |