FEDEVEL
Platform forum

stackdown , 08-07-2023, 02:25 PM

Hi guys,

I'm redesigning an old altium project and trying to reduce DRC errors.

There are many polygons and cutouts, one cutout holds the companys logo.
There are DRC errors with unrouted nets in this cutout, can i name the cutout and set a rule for not caring about that region ?
Couldm't find how to give a name to a cutout.

Thanks for any hints,
Mike

WhoKnewKnows , 08-07-2023, 02:59 PM

I imagine the cutout or cutouts are forcing Islands to appear from the original polygon being cut out. And, the unrouted net error is from those islands not being connected to anything but still belonging to the original net of the larger polygon being cut out.

Is this correct?

WhoKnewKnows , 08-08-2023, 01:43 PM

I don't know of a standard way of handling such a problem but here are a few things you could try.

In the messages panel you could select all of the corresponding error messages right click and use the menu to override these messages. I can't remember the name of the menu item. This is probably the most brute Force way of handling this not recommended.

You could create a room in The afflicted area and then write rules specific to that room to prevent the errors from happening in that room and specific to that polygon or net.

If it doesn't upset the appearance of the logo you could adjust the settings of the polygon to eliminate all of The afflicted islands that aren't connected to anything.

Depending on the size of the islands, and the aesthetics you're going for, you could add a via to each island and then use those vias to connect the islands to their proper net, satisfying the unrouted net error. This has the best chance of not screwing up the appearance if your design is already using filled and plated over via's. That tends to hide the via.

Hope this helps. Good luck! 🤞

WhoKnewKnows , 08-08-2023, 01:45 PM

Oh, one last thought you could find an artful way of connecting the islands together causing the logo to appear as if it were created using a stencil.

qdrives , 08-08-2023, 02:21 PM

As @WhoKnewKnows already mentioned, I would go for the room option, but I do not know if this also works for not connected copper.