Protel 99Se in a nutshell

Protel 99se
Schematic
&
PCB

In A Nutshell
Vincent Himpe

Protel 99Se in a nutshell : The environment

The Working environment

The Main Work Surface
This is your working area. It
shows schematics, Layout,
Simulation waveforms etc.
The area can be split to show
multiple parts of a design.

The Side Panel

This panel shows different
information depending on the
task at hand.

The Status Bars

This shows you coordinates,
object properties, and hints.
Keep an eye on this when
learning to know the tool. It
gives you hints on the things
you can do
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Vincent Himpe

Protel 99Se in a nutshell : Starting a project

Starting a project
Creating a new design is straightforward.
Just click on File - New design .
You can now set the location, name and design type.
Design types:
MS Access Database.
This stores everything in one file.
Pro: one file = one project. Easily transferable.
Con: Giant file. File corruption = design lost.
Windows File system
Stores all related documents in one directory.
Pro: No problems with ODBC driver.
Con: Lots of files.

ODBC problems and How to Fix Them

ODBC is the database engine used by MS Access. Protel uses
this engine to store and retrieve documents in the DDB file.

Note: Protel DXP no longer supports the MS Access

database. When opening a design it will be
converted to the windows file system.

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Some programs install New versions of the ODBC drivers.

Protel sometimes doesnt like that. Especially if the new drivers
have replaced some functions with new ones using a different
format.
Solution : Reinstall Protel. A local copy of the drivers will be
placed Protels install directory.

Vincent Himpe

Protel 99Se in a nutshell: Adding files

Adding files to your design

To add a document: simply right click on the white
are of the project and select New. A wizard will
pop up and show you the possible files you can
create.
Importing documents or folders: Right click and
select either import, import folder or import
project.
Note : Keep in mind that Protel can only show the
documents it recognizes. While you can import
things like PDF files, Protel might not be able to
open them.

Document types: Schematic and PCB are pretty obvious. Idem for the library documents. CAM files are the
definitions to create manufacturing output for your project. These are created form inside the PCB layout
tool. Spread sheets are excel 95 format files and can be edited using the built in spreadsheet program.
PCB printers are definitions to create layer views. These are created from with in the PCB module. And
finally waveform files are created by the simulator.
TIP: The project manager and most popup boxes have a windows like view option. Right click on them and you
can change between icons, lists , details etc.

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Vincent Himpe

Protel 99Se in a nutshell : Basic commands

Commands and Menus

Protel uses the standard windows approach of menus. Simply
click and select. Underlined letters on menus can be
activate by holding down the ALT key and pressing that
letter. However, There are additional hotkeys that follow
the Protel way and do not conform to the standard
windows way. Most of these are easy to pick up and you
will find them very valuable.
The rule here is: think what you want to do and type the 2
letters of that action.
Place Part = P P
Place Wire = P W
Place Net = P N
Zoom Window
And so on.
Re-entrant commands. Almost all commands are re-entrant. This means you can invoke a command while
already in the process of executing a different one. You can stack up to 3 commands like this. Upon
completion you return to the previous command and continue where you left off there.
Example Place Part, move cursor and do Zoom Window : draw the zoom area. The zoom function will execute
and you will find yourself in that area with the part of choice still attached. You can now complete the
placement.
The status bar gives you information about the commands and their shortcuts at your disposal during almost
every step you are taking. Keep an eye on it.

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Vincent Himpe

Protel 99Se in a nutshell : schematic capture

Schematic Capture
Drawing a schematic. In its purest form this is a matter of placing schematic
symbols and wiring them up. Protel has all the tools to do just that and more.
The side panel shows you the currently loaded parts libraries and their contents.
You can simply browse these and place parts as you go using the buttons
on this panel.
To pull in the schematic information make sure that Browse SCH is selected.
You can also switch between the library browser and schematic browse.
Browsing the library and placing parts:
Select the library of choice in the library list
Select part from the list
Hit the Place button
The part will be taken to the currently active schematic. You can modify part
parameters by pressing the TAB button
A preview of the part symbol is shown. If the part consists of multiple sub parts
you can browse these using the part buttons.

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Vincent Himpe

Protel 99Se in a nutshell

Schematic Capture
Over time you will know the parts by heart. To place parts directly simply
invoke Place Parts : (P-P) and key in the part reference.
Part attributes:
Designator: This is the label by which the part is known. Ending the
designator in a question mark allows the annotator to assign a unique
number automatically.
Part Type: This is the parts Value. Like 1K or 74Hc00
Footprint: This is the assigned footprint for the PCB layout
To place a part simply point the cursor crosshairs to the desired location and
click left mouse button to place. A part stays attached to the cursor to
make life easy.
Part Placement Hotkeys: During placement you can invoke these commands
Spacebar allows you to rotate a part before placing.
X : flips part along X axis
Y : flips part along Y axis
TAB : allows you to edit part parameters
Ins: Pick up parameters from already placed part. This allows you to clone and existing part. Very handy to
speed up the placement process.
ESC : end task.

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Vincent Himpe

Protel 99Se in a nutshell

Schematic Capture
Once parts have been placed its time to wire them together.
Place Wire (PW) allows you to interconnect individual pins.
Only Wires have an electrical property. You can assign a net
name to a wire ply placing a net identifier (P N) or a power
object (P O)
Any wire not having a net name will be assigned one by the
netlister. These are invisible but guaranteed to be unique.
Any electrical pin that touches the wire will be connected.
Any electrical connection that has the same net name will be
connected. Net names are NOT case sensitive.

TIP: There is an option to automatically insert the junction symbols ( the little black dot that show where an
electrical junction is made ). LEAVE THIS ON ( it is by default ). This way you will catch drawing errors you
might not spot otherwise.
The little cross on the left is made from two horizontal pieces of wire and a
big vertical piece of wire. The auto junction adds the dot on the left. The
right cross was made with the auto junction off. No dot appears but there is
still an electrical connection and the netlister will pick it up.
To avoid this problem wires should only butt together on corners. Never in
the middle of a wire. Such hidden butting points are traps for short circuits.

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Vincent Himpe

Protel 99Se in a nutshell

Schematic Capture
Moving and dragging Stuff around
Protel has a number of commands that allow you to move stuff around
including the rubberbanding of connections. As always commands
are re-entrant.
Objects are selected if they are shown in Yellow.
An object is in focus is a dashed rectangle is encompassing it, or in case
of a wire it has the hotspots shown in it
Deleting Stuff: DEL : deletes the component in focus.. Single click on a part to put it in focus. CTRL-DEL:
deletes a group of selected objects. To add to a selection use Select Inside Select Outside or simply
hold down the SHIFT key and click on an object.
Copying Stuff: Hit Edit Copy and click on a location to copy to the clipboard. Hit Edit Paste and move the
selection around. Only objects that are selected ( in yellow ) will be copied.
Moving Stuff: Single objects can be moved by simply holding down the left mouse button over them and
dragging them around. Electrical connections are NOT maintained. Selected objects ( the yellow
colored ones ) can be moved as a group by executing Move Selection.
Dragging stuff: Select Move Drag to move a part while maintaining electrical connections. The connections
will rubber-band as you go. Equally groups of objects can be dragged by executing Move dRag
Selection
Flipping Stuff: while moving or dragging stuff around you can re-orient it by hitting spacebar to rotate in
steps of 90 degrees counterclockwise , or X and Y to flip around X and Y axis.

1/11/2006

Vincent Himpe

Protel 99Se in a nutshell

Schematic Capture
Global edits: You can set parameters for individual objects by hitting the tab key during placement or by
double clicking on the object after placement. It is equally possible to apply parameters to multiple
objects. The Global button at the bottom of the popup window opens the advanced editing dialog.

This sets the filter for the components that will

be affected by the changes.

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This sets values that have to be applied when

the change is performed

Vincent Himpe

Protel 99Se in a nutshell

Schematic Capture
Off sheet connections.:
To interconnect multiple sheets ( see next page for more information ) you will have to provide a means of
connection that can be wired up on a higher level.
If you pull the netlist using the Ports and Net Names global setting there is no need to do this ( more on
the netlister settings later on.
However for completeness I will give a detail on the usage of port objects although I advise against the
usage unless in case of multichannel designs.
Place poRt (PR) allows you to place a port object. A port is characterized by its name. As usual double click
on an al ready placed port, or simply hit tab during placement, to edit the properties. If you want to do
a strong electrical rule check you can also set up the electrical properties of a port.
On a higher level the port will be visible in the sheet symbol.
The port is an electrical connection point just as a pin on a
component. So you can wire it up just like a normal pin.

1/11/2006

Vincent Himpe

Protel 99Se in a nutshell

Schematic Capture
Hierarchical designs:
A design can be split over multiple
sheets. A Top level schematic
glues the individual parts together.
Protel indicates this in the project
browser by indenting the sub
sheets under the top sheet.
Multiple levels are possible.
To instantiate a sheet as building block
simply execute the Design
Create Symbol from Sheet
command( D Y ).
There are multiple ways to hook up sub
sheets. Normally ports ( P R ) are
used. On the next higher level
these ports are visible The ports
are electrical objects and need to
be wired together. Other
possibilities are to tie in to the net
names and ports , or only use the
port names without the
requirement for wire-up. More
about this in the netlist creation.

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Vincent Himpe

Protel 99Se in a nutshell

Schematic Capture
Libraries
During the capture phase you can fall back on predefined
libraries of components. To use these you have to add
them in the library browser. Protel searches the libraries in
that list when looking for a particular component.
Local Cache
Protel also keeps a local cache in the design of any part you are
using. So even though you might not have a particular part
in your local database you can instantiate it if it has been
used in the design before.
Creating your own library
A library is a project like any other. Instead of adding schematics
you add schematics libraries.
Stealing parts
One neat feature is that you can steal parts form an existing
design to add to your local library. Simply select all the
parts you want from the schematic sheet. ( the yellow
selection ) and do Edit Copy
Now in the library editor click on the parts browser, right click
and select paste.

1/11/2006

Vincent Himpe

Protel 99Se in a nutshell

Schematic Capture
Creating new parts
The manipulations on screen are the same as for drawing a
schematic. Of course the set of objects is more limited and
now you have access to place pins.
It is easiest if the part is drawn in quadrant four. That way it will
dangle from the mouse cursor during placement. Have one
pin touch the 0:0 reference.
Attention : If, when editing an existing part, you move the part
relative to this 0:0 ; the part fill jump on the schematic
when you update. It is important not to change the origin.
TIP : When drawing parts with polarized pins ( transistors,
diodes, electrolytic caps etc.) dont use numbers for the
pins. Give them their true names. E.g.: + and for caps,
BCE or GDS for transistors and A/K for diodes. When
matching up with the PCB footprints you will thus avoid
wrong polarities..
You can have duplicate pin numbers to show for instance power
and ground on all parts of a multipart component. Check
and recheck before you use the final symbol that you do
not have short circuits. Normally duplicate pin numbers
should also carry the same name.

1/11/2006

Vincent Himpe

Protel 99Se in a nutshell

Schematic Capture
Creating Multipart components
Components can have multiple parts. Example a 7400:
Quad Nand gate. There are four identical gates in the
package but the pin numbers change. In order to
allow easy manipulation on the schematic you can
break the part in 4 pieces.
You can or remove, and brose trough the parts using the
Tools menu.
Other usage for this could be to split an mixed mode chip
in its digital, analog and power section.

Component Description
You can set default parameters that will be taken to the
schematic. Default designator, PCB footprint and a
description of the part can be added.
The Library Fields tab allows you to enter read-only
information in up to 8 text fields. This is commonly
used for linking with the simulator. It cannot be edited
from the schematic.
The Part Field Names tab allows you to define the names
of up to 16 user-editable text entry fields that appear
in the component's properties dialog. These fields
could be used to enter manufacture information.

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Vincent Himpe

Protel 99Se in a nutshell

Schematic Capture
Annotating process
Now that we have created a schematic it is time to start
preparing for the link to the Layout part.
The First step is to make sure that all parts in the design are
known by a unique number. The easiest way is to
annotate all parts automatically.
You can set the tool so it annotates all parts , only the new
parts ( parts which have the ? still dangling at the end of
their annotation ) or simple clear all annotations to the
library presets.
In the advanced options you can force suffixes to be added
depending on page or numerical boundaries. This is
useful for multi-sheet or multi-channel designs.
TIP: When a design has not been turned into a board yet it is
good to re-annotate everything. This will avoid problems.
Especially if the design includes sheets that were used
before and already had annotations on them.
Attention: In a multi-sheet design you do not want to turn
Current sheet only on unless you know exactly what you
are doing. ( you need to use this in combination with the
advanced options to avoid duplicate designators. )

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Vincent Himpe

Protel 99Se in a nutshell

Schematic Capture
Electrical Rule Check ( ERC )
A check that is all too much overlooked, but very
important. It will find shorts, duplicate parts,
duplicate nets, single pin ( floating nets). You
absolutely want to run it and make sure you
understand what it tells you.
Of course the ERC only works correctly if your
schematic symbols have been drawn correctly
and set up properly in the schematic library.

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The 10 Commandments of ERC:

1 : Thou shalt not touch the default rule matrix
unlest thou knoweth what thou are doing.
2 : Thinking thou knoweth is not enough. Thou
hast to be absolutely sure thou knoweth.
3 : Re-read rules 1 and 2.
4 :Check for multiple net names. This is not a real
problem since the netlister can resolve it bit it
is not clean
5: Check unconnected labels. This will find typos
in net names
6: Check unconnected power pins
7: Check for duplicate sheet numbers. Important
for a multi-channel design that was flattened
from complex to simple hierarchy.
8: Check for duplicate component designators.
Those are deadly for the layout.
9: Run on the active project and set the scope to
Net labels and Ports global. This way all
sub-files are processed, and all nets are
probed.
10: The ERC checker will preserve you only from
shorts, floaters and duplicates. There are
many other mistakes it can not detect. Check
and re-check your schematic.

Vincent Himpe

Protel 99Se in a nutshell

Schematic Capture
Netlist generation
Now its time to pull a netlist and prepare for transfer to the PCB tool. Most commonly you want to
specify the Protel format since that is what the PCB engine can read.
The Scope is commonly set to NET labels and Ports global. This will connect any ports that have
been connected on an outer level ( read top level ) using wires and or net names. It will also tie
anything carrying the same net-label , or connected via wire (which is a form of net labeling:
Protel assigns a label automatically) together.
Of course you wan to run on the active project and descend into sheet parts so all files are parsed.
Including unnamed single pin nets can help you trap footprint mismatches.
In the reporter ( Trace options) you might want to switch on the merging information.
That way you can see what got
renamed to what, in case you
deliberately use multiple net
names.
Unnamed single pin nets:
When the netlist is loaded in the
PCB editor all pins on the
schematic will carry a net
name. If, on the layout, you see
a pad that has NO net assigned
this means the PCB footprint
has a pin that does not exist in
the schematic. Check it.

1/11/2006

Vincent Himpe

Protel 99Se in a nutshell

Schematic Capture
The Update Design feature.
In the PCB course we will see how to load and process the netlist step by step.
But Protel has an interesting command that lets you synchronize a board layout with the latest
schematic. It will analyze all changes and push them toward the PCB. While this is a very easy
one-click operation it can also be very deceptive and can cause trouble.
You have similar settings as in the netlist creator. Use preferably net labels and ports global. You
might want to forward footprint updates and delete no longer used components.
If you have used layout directives ( see next
slide ) now is the time to push them to the
layout and into the DRC rule set.
The Classes can help you route buses (
equidistant, parallel etc )
You ALWAYS want to preview the change and
make sure you UNDERSTAND what will
happen to the PCB after the push has
happened. Especially if you are working
under stress and against time. Remember
this can cause unexpected trouble.
Pro: Easy one click. Rules are pushed. Single
shot approach.
Con: Dangerous if you dont understand the
changes it will do. No fine or step by step
control.

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Vincent Himpe

Protel 99Se in a nutshell: Advanced capture

Advanced Schematic Capture

Layout directives
During capture of the schematic directives can be
set that can be forwarded automatically to the
PCB as Design rules.
To place such a directive launch the PIP
command ( Place directive Pcb )
The directive is a small red circle with a hook
attached. Set it on a wire.
To edit the properties simply hit TAB during
placement or double click on at as with any
other object after placement.
You can set properties like line width, via size , the desired routing topology,
routing priority, preferred layer and more.
For interactive routing the topology and priority are useless. The interactive (
manual ) router does not control this, nor does the DRC trap this. Only
the Auto router can process this information. Also the Protel 99 router
does not handle this. You need an external router like SPECCTRA,
MassTek or SituS in order to process this.
Protel DXP has the SituS router and can handle this.

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Vincent Himpe

Protel 99Se in a nutshell

Advanced Schematic Capture

Abusing Protel as drawing tool / Importing to Word documents
The schematic editor in Protel allows you to easily draw schematics but you can equally draw mechanical
drawings, block diagrams or flowcharts with it.
You can copy and paste directly to Word and other programs that can handle WMF data. ( Windows Meta
File ).
Select all items you want to copy. In case you want everything do a Select All (SA). Hit Edit Copy (EC) and
click on a location. It doesnt matter where since the snap location is not sent outside of Protel.
Now in your MS Word (or other tool) document simply do a Paste operation ( CTRL-V). Everything selected
will appear as embedded picture. Done.

Protel copies the template (sheet border )

by default
You can turn this off in the Options
Document menu (OD). Go to the
Graphical editing tab and simply
deselect the Add template to
clipboard option.

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Vincent Himpe

Protel 99Se in a nutshell

Advanced Schematic Capture

Explorations using the sidebar
Normally in the sidebar you have the library browser. By
changing the browse selector from Libraries to Primitives
you can surf your schematic.
You now get easy access to groups of objects in the panel
below.
The last panel shows you the elements belonging to the
selected group.
You can now pick an element and jump to it, edit it and more.
If you select the All in hierarchy the explorer will show you also
the parts belonging to other schematics in the tree, and not
only the currently selected sheet, if they are open.
To open all documents in the tree just click the open All button.
This is interesting if you are looking for problems with net
names, part types or part values.

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Vincent Himpe

Protel 99Se in a nutshell: PCB Layout

PCB Layout
A New PCB design
In the project database add a new document of the type PCB and give it an appropriate name for the
project.
Double click to open the drawing canvas. Again on the left side note the side panel has taken on a new
form specifically tuned for the PCB layout editor.
The browser has a lot of
possible entries now.
The second pane still shows
you information based on
the selection in the
browser.
A view port is used to show you
various elements of the
layout such as parts form
the library. It can also be
used as a handy magnifier
tool
And lastly we get the Layer
browser

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Vincent Himpe

Protel 99Se in a nutshell

PCB Layout
Setting up your work frame
In the Preferences (OP) you can control the look
and feel of Protel. Important things to look at it
that the On-Line DRC is switched on ( More
on DRC later ).
The rotation step specifies the parts rotation grid. It
allows you to rotate parts by using the
spacebar in the specified step.
The other tabs all control the visual appearance
and the editing behavior. You might want to
experiment what works best for you.

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The Working Grids

Protel Distinguishes between 3 grid types.
There is a snap grid that is used to position tracks.
The component grid is used to position the
components. They will snap to this grid.
The electrical grid allows you to deviate form the
snap grid. This is used if you have metric and
imperial pitch components. Protel will first place
an object on the snap grid. It then looks around
this point using the range specified in the
electrical grid. If it finds an electrical object with
the same NET it will snap to that point.

Vincent Himpe

Protel 99Se in a nutshell

PCB Layout
The Layer stack manager
Normally before you start designing a board you will have an idea of the number of layers required or
specified. So the first thing to do would be to set up the layer assignment (DK) and properties.
You can insert layers and planes and give them a, for you, meaningful name.
Layers : This is where you and
the auto router will
interconnect, according to the
netlist the individual pins of
the components.
Planes : These are Computer
generated layers that consist
of a massive slab of copper
with Vias plugged. A plane is
assigned at least one Net , or
multiple if you create a split
plane. Nets can only be
assigned once the netlist has
been loaded. So you will
have to return here.
To change the parameters simply
double click on a layer or
plane name.

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Vincent Himpe

Protel 99Se in a nutshell

PCB Layout
Loading Netlists
Now you can load the netlist, or push the design using the Update PCB function from the schematic
for the first time. I will focus on the step by step function.
The Design load Netlist (DN) command allows you to pull in or update the netlist for the board. If
multiple netlists exist you can pick the one relevant to your layout.
Flags allow you to delete no longer used components and also update footprints.
Dont be amazed, when loading the netlist for the first time, to see hundreds or even thousands of
errors pop up. Simple things like a wrong footprint name on a 208 pin TQFP package will
generate maybe over 400 errors. ( 208 missing pins, 208 broken nets plus the footprint error )
The easiest way to weed out the problems is to go
ahead end execute the load anyway. Protel
will give a warning, but go ahead and load
the netlist.
All recognized parts will be loaded and scattered
over the drawing area.
Now open the netlist loader again (DN). Protel will
re-analyze the netlist against what is already
on the board. The errors will be sorted and
you can look at the error description to find
out what is wrong. First step is to fix all the
missing footprints. You might have to go back
tot schematic to assign these, or you might
have to create new PCB library symbols

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Vincent Himpe

Protel 99Se in a nutshell

PCB Layout
Loading Netlists (continued)
When those problems have been fixed you can attempt to re-load the netlist. Best is to do this in an
iterative step-by-step process.
Once the netlist loads completely you will see at the bottom All macros verified -. Then you have a
100% match between board and schematic.
TIP: The ultimate test for a design layout is to erase the netlist and reload it. If all macros execute
correctly you can be sure to have a 100% match between what is on the board and what is on the
schematic..

Navigating the layers.

A board layout is essentially a 3d structure
where the 3rd dimension is your layer
stack.
You can control what layers you want to see
by opening the Layer control panel
Options Layers (OL).

TIP: Dont switch off the DRC error layer.

You definitely want to see the violations
you are creating.

1/11/2006

Vincent Himpe

Protel 99Se in a nutshell

PCB Layout
Creating the Board Outline
The board outline defines the room in which all parts and wiring will be placed. It is equally the boundary
where the board will be cut once it leaves the factory.
To draw the boundary go to the Keepout layer. Using either the layer browser on the sidebar or on the left or
the layer tabs below the drawing canvas.

Drawing the board outline is like drawing any other track. Run the Place Track (PT) command and draw the
outline of the board. Keep an eye on the status bar as it tells you the length of the trace you are putting
down. The board boundary needs to be a completely closed area.
If you need cut-outs inside the board you can simply add a keep-out inside the other area. The process works
in an Xor like manner. You can actually make boards-in boards.

1/11/2006

Vincent Himpe

Protel 99Se in a nutshell

PCB Layout
Parts placement
Parts placement can be a very complex process. An optimum balance needs to be found between
accessibility of components (connectors) electrical connectivity ( decoupling close to chip, noise
sources far away from sensitive signals) and manufacturability of a board( clearances and also
soldering technology wise )
A good flow is to place the connectors first , layout the power supply area and supply feed lines, then
layout the sensitive blocks, possibly on the opposite corner of the board, and then stuff all other
remaining parts in between as you go, keeping in mind the manufacturability rules and electrical rules
for decoupling. Try to keep noise sources as far away from analog inputs and sensitive nodes.

Autoplacer assist.
One tool you might want to use is the parts
arranger feature : Tools Interactive
placement Outside board (TIO).
Parts belonging to a selection will be
arranged in neat piles just outside of
your board outline. That way your work
area is condensed and you can zoom
out to maximum scale by doing a ZoomAll (ZA)

1/11/2006

Vincent Himpe

Protel 99Se in a nutshell

PCB Layout
Pre-placement cleanup
Now that all parts have been loaded we can clean up the silkscreen, or in other words the text overlay
of the board, to make our life a bit easier.
To edit a component just double click on it like you do with any other object.
Youd want to set the size for the Designators to an acceptable size
and width and autoposition it in the center of the component. That
way everything stays neatly together.
You can do the same for the Comments but here you should switch
the Hide flag on as well. After all you dont really want to see
those.
Hit the global button and click OK to apply these parameters to all
components.

1/11/2006

Vincent Himpe

Protel 99Se in a nutshell

PCB Layout
Initial Placement
The first step is to place the components of which the position is dictated by the mechanical properties
of the layout. Elements such as Fiducials, connectors, switches, mounting holes and certain
specific big components might require a specific location.
The next step is place the layout sensitive components such as analog sections or noise sensitive, or
producing, parts of the layout.
Making a full placement before routing is a bad idea. You want to start working on a part of the design
an pull in parts as you start routing.

Part manipulations during placement

When juggling parts you can use the X and Y key to flip them over but
keep in mind that the board is a 3D entity. They will end up on the
other side. Protel will warn you that this will happen. If changing
them from top to bottom that was your goal you can use the L
key.
The spacebar allows you to rotate a part on the angular grid.
The Jump Component (JC) command lets you pan to a specific part by
entering its designator.
The Move Component (MC) command lets you move a component by
designator. An interesting option there is to toggle the mode to
Move component to cursor. This will always pull in the part
without changing your viewpoint or zoom scale. The part snaps
to the cursor

1/11/2006

Vincent Himpe

Protel 99Se in a nutshell

PCB Layout
Untangling the rats nest
The rats nest is the collection of fly-lines
that show you the electrical
interconnections. When you grab a
component and move it only the
relevant fly lines will be visible. This
helps you during the placement.
TIP: You can change the color of the fly
lines by pulling up the Nets on the
sidebar browser and double clicking
on a net name.

The rats nest is a visual aid that you can use as

guidance during placement of components.
When routing a net the fly line for the net you
are routing will change to white. Relevant
component pads will become highlighted with a
white bounding box so you get an immediate
overview of what goes where, and what needs
to be interconnected.
The fly line will rubberband as you place your track
and disappear once the track is in place.

1/11/2006

Vincent Himpe

Protel 99Se in a nutshell

PCB Layout
Design rules (DR)
Probably the most important properties
of a board are the Design rules.
This rules set specifies the things you
can do an not do in the layout. You
can make this set as elaborate, or
small as you want.
Some of these rules will be set by the
board manufacturing company.
Especially the rules pertaining to
smallest clearance, track width and
drill size are important. This
information should be obtained from
the board house and set up
correctly.
Other important rules are the placement rules. No components should be allowed to overlap and a
minimum clearance should be guaranteed so the placement machines will be able to assemble the
board. Normally the clearance gap should be specified in the library.
Keeping in mind the rule : Smaller geometries = more expensive board the following is a basic rule set:
Routing width constraint Minimum = 6 Mils
Routing routing via style minimum via hole = 12 mils / Minimum via pad size = 25 mils.
Manufacturing Polygon connect style 45 degree angle

1/11/2006

Vincent Himpe

Protel 99Se in a nutshell

PCB Layout
Making New Parts
In order to create new footprints a library need to be created.
Just like with creating a schematic library you can do this in
the current project, or in a general library project. By
adding the library project to the library list in the PCB library
browser (on the sidebar in the same spot as with the
schematic browser ) those parts will be available too.
Drawing a PCB part is the same as drawing a PCB. You place a
combination of pads and draw tracks on the top overlay.
You need to draw exactly the information given in the datasheet of a
component. Sometimes this information is in millimeter, sometimes in
inch. By default Protel works in Mils. (1000Mil = 1 Inch.) To toggle to
millimeter just hit Q.
Just like in the schematic a component should have unique pins. No
duplicate pads are allowed. Having two pads, even if they are
connected in the schematic, with the same pin number is cause for
trouble during the Design rule check. If you want to create dual
footprint components you have to give them a unique pin number
and create a custom schematic symbol.
You can place pads by running the PP command. Pad number, size, shape
and drill holes, if any, can be set here.
Tip: you can enter data in both measurement systems. Mils or MM is assumed
depending on the base. (Remember Q? ) If you dont wan to toggle just
add MM or Mil to the number. Protel will convert for you.

1/11/2006

Vincent Himpe

Protel 99Se in a nutshell

PCB Layout
Making New Parts (continued)
Create your footprints with the true name of the package. That way they will become more universal. If
the footprint if for a really specific part that has no universal denominator you could give it the part
number as name.
For parts with polarized pins (transistors, diodes electrolytic capacitors) you can use GDS BCE or +- or
AK as pad names.
Advantage : no mismatch possible No rotation errors.
Disadvantage: If for a certain package there are possible pinouts you need to create flavors. E.G.: an
SOT23 package could be a diode, a bipolar or a MOS transistor.
In that case just make copies of a part and add a suffix to the
part. E.G.: sot23-gds, sot23-ak, sot23-bce.
Just as in the schematic you can steal parts from existing
layouts and add them to your library. You can also create
a library from a complete design.
To make a quick footprint flavor, click on the existing part in
the library, now right-click on the name and select copy.
Now right click again and select paste. A duplicate will be
created. The suffix _duplicate will be added. Just edit the
part and then rename it. Presto.

1/11/2006

Vincent Himpe

Protel 99Se in a nutshell

PCB Layout
Design Rules (continued)
Design rule definition is extremely flexible and
powerful. You can define rules for the
board, individual or groups of objects or
nets, combinations of objects and even
perform logical and mathematical
operations on rules sets.
You can for instance specify that a certain net
is:
only allowed to be routed on the top layer
in a certain specific line width
has to be kept away a specific distance
from other nets.
During interactive routing Protel will prevent you
from creating a violation, during auto
routing the rule set is followed, provided
you switched it on. Click on the Run DRC
button to control the settings

1/11/2006

Vincent Himpe

Protel 99Se in a nutshell

PCB Layout
Design Rules (continued)
You can have as many, or as little design rules as you
want. You have to be careful however not to create
conflicting rules. Protel can trap some of these
conflicting rules but not all.
You can import and export design rules to a file by
clicking on the menu button of the design rule
manager.
Net classes
A small blurb is in order about net classes. You
will see in the DRC setup that you can
specify net classes. You can make groups
of nets and apply rules to those groups. To
setup the classes you need to open the
netlist manager (DE)
For instance a class can be made that holds all
Low voltage power signals. In the DRC rules
I could set up a rule for the width of this
group of nets, and a rule that keeps them
away from sensitive signals, like the ones in
the group of U2 signal pins I defined as
well.

1/11/2006

Vincent Himpe

Protel 99Se in a nutshell

PCB Layout
Interactive Routing
Most mixed mode designs need to be manually routed.
Especially the power sections and analog circuitry.
The rats nest is the visual guide to perform this job.
Protel offers lots of possibilities when routing.
To commence the routing run the Place track (PT)
command.
Pick up a net by clicking on a piece of track or a pad.
When multiple elements are stacked on top of
each other ( remember a board is a 3D entity )
Protel will show a list of what is underneath your
cursor. Just pick the element of choice.
The interactive router uses a look-forward principle. You are always dragging
2 vertexes ( track pieces ) on 2 angles of the allowed routing angles.
The crosshairs are attached to the second piece. You are actually drawing the
first piece. This looks strange on paper but when you do it on the tool you
will pick this up very quickly.
A couple of interesting hotkeys you can run while placing a track:
Space : Swaps the routing angles of the vertexes
Shift-Space : changes the routing style and angles. You can draw fluid lines,
90 degree angular grid, 45/90 angular grid, or free angle tracks. Shiftspace cycles you trough the possibilities.

1/11/2006

Vincent Himpe

Protel 99Se in a nutshell

PCB Layout
Interactive Routing (continued)
During interactive routing Protel keeps the Design rules in mind, if they
are turned on. Errors are shown in green on the DRC layer. You
might need to switch that layer on in the Options-Layers menu
(OL).
To control the on-line DRC you need to open
the design rule manager (DR).
Click on the bottom left button Run DRC.
This screen shows you what DRC sets are
run during a full DRC and on-line.
You need to make sure that at least the
Short circuit and placement rules
switched on in the on-line DRC engine.
You can select the configuration of the online DRC engine by clicking on the OnLine TAB at the top of the window.
Shown on the left is the minimum
configuration for a good On-Line DRC
that will reduce the Full DRC flags to a
minimum.

1/11/2006

Vincent Himpe

Protel 99Se in a nutshell

PCB Layout
Interactive routing (continued)
During routing, besides the DRC, you have a number of other elements that can assist you.
The electrical grid will make sure you always snap to the center of an object. There are few instances
where you would want to turn this off.
You can change the grids during routing by hitting G.
Probably the two most powerful functions is
the automatic loop removal and the
Moses function.
The interactive router has a configuration on
the document options (OD)
The Moses Function allows you to part
existing traces, while automatically
keeping all rules in mind, to insert a trace
in between. Change the Mode to Push
Obstacle to engage this function.
Automatically remove loops, will remove loops
you might create while repositioning a
track. Instead of deleting and rewiring
you now just put the new path in place
and the old path will automatically be
removed

1/11/2006

Vincent Himpe

Protel 99Se in a nutshell

PCB Layout
The Big DRC
Now its time to launch the big DRC check.
(DR) click on Run DRC, a new
window open that has also a run DRC
button. Click Again
The only acceptable output is what you see
on the left.
All rules checked and no violations.

DRC error solving

If the Design Rule checker finds problems a report is generated. Dont get scared if
you get hundreds or thousands of problems. In fact you dont even want to
read the report if you see errors in it. Just close the report and go back to the
PCB layout.
On the sidebar you can brose the violations. Just pick them off one by one. Select a
violation and hit the Jump button. This will take the view port to the offending
elements. Clicking the Highlight button will make them blink to draw your
attention to them. If you double click on the violation you will get detailed
information.
Fix the violation. The on-line DRC engine keeps monitoring you. If the violation is
fixed it will disappear for the list. Keep picking them off until they are gone.
Now you can re-launch.
Keep in mind that, if the on-line and full DRC settings are different, you still need to
run the DRC once more until it gives you no more errors.

1/11/2006

Vincent Himpe

Protel 99Se in a nutshell

PCB Layout
Printing
Once layout is completed and Clean you might want to
create check plots, or output for your documentation.
Protel has a printing engine that lets you automate this
task. Keep in mind that a board can have multiple
layers, and you might want specific views.
Pull up the Print/Preview (FP). The Default view is a
multilayer composite print.
A number of preset jobs is available under the Tools menu. The
most important are Create Final, Create Assembly drawing
and Create Composite. Pretty obvious who does what.
Protel will create the plot jobs In the sidebar. You can modify each
or sheet by right clicking on it and selecting properties.
A sheet can be mirrored, layer order can be changed , color
preferences changed and more.
The same can be done for every layer on a sheet. You can specify
the plot style of each element on that layer.
Finally you can set the printer settings in the same way. Just right
click and select properties.
This preview can be saved under a filename in the design.
Whenever you need to re-create the same plot just pull up the
job and hit the Process PCB button. The jobs will be updated.
You can have as many different jobs as you want for any given
board.

1/11/2006

Vincent Himpe

Protel 99Se in a nutshell

PCB Layout
If Protel gets stuck it might be machine trouble.
Protel rarely gets stuck if you have a clean machine. The definition of a clean machine is : Only
Windows 98SE, 2000 or XP and an Antivirus tool (preferably Norton although Sophos doesnt
seem to cause trouble either . McAfee is known to cause trouble ) running. You can have plenty of
other tools installed but they shouldnt be open. Netscape is deadly for Protel as hogs resources.
An ideal layout machine should have a minimum of PIII-800 with 256 Megs of Ram. Preferably a PIV2GHz with 512meg of ram.

Tip: Under no circumstance open two or more sessions of Protel. While this works it causes a
tremendous impact on memory and resource usage of the computer. You can open multiple
databases in the same session without problems.
Controlling Protel services.
Protel is a client server architecture. The entire work frame is the
client. The real operations like drawing, file management,
routing , DRC and other things are server engines. These
run in completely different threads on the computer. Protel
starts these servers only when a document that needs
them is open. Should such a server misbehave you can
shut it down.
Suppose the PCB layout block is causing strange behavior:
Close all open PCB documents in all open databases.
Open the system menu (The arrow left of File) and click on
servers.

1/11/2006

Vincent Himpe

Protel 99Se in a nutshell

PCB Layout
If Protel gets stuck it might be machine trouble. (Continued)
The Server control panel shows you the active servers and allows you to stop and restart them.
Servers should normally be configured to be On
Call. This means they will only be started when
a document of the relevant type is opened.
Unfortunately Servers do not get stopped
automatically. If you experience that your
machine is running slow (especially on sub 1
GHz machines) and you have had Protel open
for several days and manipulated lots of
different documents, then it might be time to
release the servers.
The browser shows you all installed services on your
machine and allows you to shut them down.
Select the server of choice and click on the
Menu Button. Then simply Select Stop and the
server will be stopped.
Compacting Databases.
Databases using the Ms Access format can reach huge proportions. You need to compact them from
time to time. In the database you need to empty the trashcan just as you would do under
windows. Again under this arrow menu go to Design utilities and make sure that the box Perform
compact after closing design is checked. In this window you also have the possibility to repair a
corrupted database. Before you do that better make a copy of it though.

1/11/2006

Vincent Himpe