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WhoKnewKnows , 08-27-2022, 11:17 AM

Hi All,

I've got a single simple board outline clearance rule, it's enabled in rules. In the rules to check list, checking it is enabled for both online and batch, but son of a batch, it's not working.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Usually, I get an "out of board" violation marker on components, and I usually can't shove traces off the edge of the board. But this isn't working as you can see from the image below:


This is the rule I have enabled:


Here is where I have checking it enabled:


Any thoughts? Thanks!

WhoKnewKnows , 08-27-2022, 11:34 AM

Update: When I run the rules check, the out of board violations appear in the messages panel. So, Altium is finding the rule violations, it just doesn't mark them or in the case of routing, it doesn't enforce them. That is, Altium shouldn't let me shove routes off the board and Altium should fully fill out polygon pours that go off the board. Polygon pour filling should stop at the PCB edge.

WhoKnewKnows , 08-27-2022, 01:07 PM

Update: After posting this here, I also posted to Altium support. Then I wanted to draw a polygon pour that straddles the PCB edge to better illustrate what the issue is, and enforcement started working again. I moved the trace that was hanging off the edge of the PCB and it whipped right into shape against the edge of the PCB. I drew a polygon pour and it filled out to the edge of the PCB and no farther.

Still, out of board violations aren't marked as out of board per usual. Very strange.

robertferanec , 08-29-2022, 03:54 AM

When I have problems with rules, sometimes "Run Design Rule Check" will help.

Did you try to go through Panel -> PCB Rules and Violations? https://youtu.be/f7GP6NZs0Ok?t=1890

qdrives , 08-29-2022, 02:25 PM

What is the setting you have for conflict resolution?

If I have it at Ignore obstacles it will route outside the board.
With the other settings it does not.

And just to make sure: the rule itself is also enabled?

WhoKnewKnows , 08-29-2022, 07:39 PM

Thanks, @robertferanec and @qdrives I will check

jacobfaseler , 10-03-2023, 10:21 AM

I was having a very similar problem and found a solution in my case:

I checked the the PCB Rules and Violations Panel and even though it showed the board outline clearance rules as "On", violations of the rule still weren't firing during layout.

Under Tools/Design Rule Check, Further organized on the left panel of that dialog under Rules to Check/Manufacturing, the Rule "Board Outline Clearance" was not "Online". I toggled this setting to get the rule online (plus a couple likely unnecessary steps) and now it throws the violation while dragging the part around just like electrical clearance.

Extra steps that were likely unnecessary, for posterity:
1) The first time you set board outline clearance online, also turn enough other rules offline so that the Design Rule Check doesn't hit its default 500 violation max
2) Run the design rule check with a component intentionally placed such that a board outline clearance rule violation will be thrown.

Kind of silly IMO that violations don't get flagged in real time during routing solely by virtue of violating an existing rule that is "ON", but further need to be set as "Online" in the Design Rule Checker - which most designers don't reach for until they're almost done with a layout.

Hope this helps!

qdrives , 10-03-2023, 03:00 PM

@jacobfaseler the rules have their annoyances for sure. For beginners it can even be a nightmare.

However, I do want to keep the "rules" separate from the "application of those rules". Depending on the design stage, you want to enable/disable certain rules online/batch. You do not want to change the rules themselves (not even the enabled state).
But that is my opinion.

jacobfaseler , 10-03-2023, 04:35 PM

@qdrives following my realization on the toggle-ability of “the application of the rules”, I eagerly flipped every rule check online - and then came to a similar conclusion when I decided to sort something out before finishing a trace route: which was immediately flagged as an antenna. *taps head* Maybe it’s good to have controls over which violations flare up when.

qdrives , 10-04-2023, 01:23 PM

@jacobfaseler The only problem is that you may forget to turn on the batch check when you think you are ready and do the final check before releasing to production.

WhoKnewKnows , 10-04-2023, 04:14 PM

Yeah, it's as if the messages panel should always pop up when you run a manual DRC. If nothing's caught, at the very least it should list all of the rules that are currently disabled (design rules manager, or rules to check dialog) in case you might want to turn them on. I've been busted by this enough to remember to check if anything has been disabled, but often it's only after exporting all the files I need.

qdrives , 10-05-2023, 01:47 PM

@WhoKnewKnows That is why today I use the project releaser. You often find something after exporting and manually exporting again takes time.
Good .jobfiles and corresponding project parameters allow for a lot of automation during the export/release.

WhoKnewKnows , 10-05-2023, 01:57 PM

Is project releaser something other than using an outjob file? I use the outjob and set that up and also parameterize everything in similar fashion, I imagine. Is that the project releaser you're talking about or is project releaser something else?

What I want is something to automate all of the various items I use outjob to create in one fell swoop. I suspect that's available and commonly used, perhaps through scripting?

WhoKnewKnows , 10-05-2023, 02:00 PM

Each outjob item such as exporting gerbers, or exporting to ODB++, or creating the bill of materials Excel spreadsheet, are all blocking functions. So when I launch one I have to wait for it to complete to launch the next. Kind of a pain in the neck if I just want one run of each item in the job file.

qdrives , 10-06-2023, 02:11 PM

@WhoKnewKnows have a look at the attached project.
You need at least 2 JobFiles:
- One for fabrication
- One for assembly
- I also have one for documentation (internal data)

The JobFiles are more flexible and powerful. They create all the files with proper file name and in folders with proper names.
The project releaser just exports all the JobFile exports one after the other.

Just let me know if some files are missing in this project.