WISE Software Solutions, Inc. releases GerbTool version 11.0 -- GerbTool refines the way you Design and Manufacture printed circuit boards through efficient Preparation, Optimization, Verification, and Tooling

Newberg, OR, March 1st, 2002: WISE Software Solutions, Inc., a leading provider of PC-based CAM software and services, today announced the release of GerbTool version 11 (http://www.gerbtool.com). GerbTool provides Designers and Manufacturers of printed circuit boards with the features necessary to prepare, optimize, verify, and tool design data from any CAD system for fabrication. GerbTool can work via traditional methods (Gerber 274D, 274X) or may now work via more efficient data transfer methods through the introduction of both ODB++ and DirectCAM interfaces.

Todays PCB industry has changed a great deal in the past year. The general slowdown in the world economy has left no shop unaffected -- however Designers and Fabricators are still faced with the same demands (improved time-to-market, quality, and cost reduction) but the budgets for addressing these demands are now much smaller. Helping to alleviate some of the pressures designers and fabricators face, WISE provides easy-to-use features the give both the designer and fabricator comparable functionality, but at levels applicable to each one. Using GerbTool allows designers to validate, optimize, and prepare their data more efficiently for fabrication, making sure that the soldermask data was generated using proper clearances and providing usable NC drill information with properly formatted headers. At the same time fabricators can take advantage of the higher-level tooling features, like panelization and bare-board test fixturing, to actually get the job done.

Version 11.0 represents a major achievement for the GerbTool product line," says Jeff Miller, Vice President of Sales & Marketing. With its new core database, improved GUI, and significant additions to functionality, GerbTool is well positioned for further advancement within the Design and Fabrication markets." Miller further states, There is no need to spend tens of thousands of dollars just to validate and/or tool a design for fabrication – GerbTool is an effective, affordable, and easy-to-use means for getting your work done right the first time. We look forward to introducing more users to the benefits that GerbTool has to offer."

Features and Benefits
Enhanced Database Structure
Highlights:
•   Allows for more intelligence to be supported, stored, and maintained.
•   Opens the door for new format support, such as ODB++, DirectCAM, GenCAM, or even CAD databases directly.
•   Adds support for polygon and text entities as well as true net names.

The new database enhancements to GerbTool are a step forward towards a much more robust and sophisticated product. As the core database is enhanced, so too are the formats that GerbTool can support and the features that can be executed upon that data. A perfect example of this is the addition of polygon support and voids within polygons. This has opened new doors to both how GerbTool can work with data and how GerbTool can be compatible with other systems that support these entities. As the product continues forward, WISE will leverage its database enhancements further, and support additional intelligent formats as user demand dictates.

Navigator
Highlights
•   Improved access to design elements, including layer lists, aperture tables, net lists, layer sets, and more…
•   Virtually eliminates the need to access cumbersome pull-down menus and/or toolbars. Important design information is now centrally located.
•   Drag & drop techniques can be used with apertures, layer sets, layer lists, and command structures.

The Navigator helps push GerbTool beyond the competition with respects to ease-of-use. Through the Navigator, users can access vital information about any design: layer information, aperture data, net connectivity, composites, and layer sets. Users can set up layer structures by tagging and moving their layers in the appropriate order. Blind & buried layer sets can be quickly and easily defined. Apertures can be selected, added, changed, and even dropped into a specific location through drag & drop techniques. Advantages to the user are that all of these things can be achieved from one centralized location, with no menu selections or tool bars needed.

Additionally, users have full access to the GerbTool command structure via the Navigator by simply changing the flip-tab at the bottom. Here users can execute individual commands and build a My Commands" list of functions that they use on a regular basis. Even macros can be accessed and executed here. Again, all of this is performed from a centralized location, eliminating the need for menus and tool bars.

ODB++ Interface
Highlights
•   Allows for co-existence and compatibility with any software tool that uses the ODB++ format, such as Frontlines Genesis2000 or Valors Enterprise3000.
•   Enables smaller shops to take on some of the overflow or small volume production runs from clients that may have standardized on ODB++.
•   Because ODB++ files are fully intelligent, the interface speeds up design importation process. Layer structure, net connectivity, and other necessary fabrication information is already present.

ODB++ is now being used more and more by a variety of customers, and has now become another one of the many file formats that can be used to fabricate printed circuit boards. Users of GerbTool can now interface with customers and/or vendors that have chosen to standardize on the ODB++ format through its new ODB++ interface. This interface offers two levels of support: fully intelligent, which will maintain all of the EDA-like information store within the ODB++ file; and a non-intelligent graphics-only import, which is much like simply starting with Gerber files but with everything tagged, identified, and stored under a single directory tree.

The major advantage that the ODB++ interface provides is the ability for GerbTool to co-exist within a shop that might already be using Valor or Frontline products. While GerbTool may not be able to replace these tools at this time, there is always a need for additional systems within any fabrication shop, and GerbTool is a cost-effective solution.

DirectCAM Interface
Highlights
•   Allows for co-existence and compatibility with any software tool that uses the DirectCAM format, such as DownStreams CAM350 and Innovedas PowerPCB products.
•   Shops using the discontinued FabFactory product now have an alternative for the future.

DirectCAM is the native format for the CAM350 and FabFactory product lines, whose development was recently taken over by DownStream Technologies LLC. Additionally, both the CAM350 and PowerPCB product lines use it as an intelligent transfer format. By offering support for DirectCAM within GerbTool, FabFactory, CAM350, and PowerPCB users now have additional options as to how they wish to deal with the verification, analysis, and documentation of their PCB designs. Currently, GerbTool only supports up to version 6.0 of the CAM350 product line, there are no plans for support version 7.0 at this time, due to version 7.0s ability to produce a version 6.0 file natively.

Improved Test Fixturing
Highlights
•   Output to Flying Probe via IPC-D-356A.
•   Support of multiple pin sizes improves usability during bed-of-nails fixturing.
•   Support for double-sided fixturing.

Test Fixturing was revised for version 11 to help improve usability and quality of the output. Some of the more notable improvements are support for multiple probes sizes, which allow are increased flexibility during bed-of-nails fixture generation. Additionally, version 11 will now supports double-sided fixture generation for improved compatibility with a wider range of fixturing equipment. Flying Probe users will appreciate the addition of IPC-D-356A, since it will streamline their output processes even further and increase compatibility with more machines. GerbTools 356A support is fully featured and includes adjacency information as well.

Multiple Panel Support
Highlights
•   Users can now panelize more than one design into the same panel.
•   Optimizes for prototype runs or limited piece count production runs.
•   Panelizes as many designs as you can load and have space for in your panel.

Designers have wanted the ability to quickly step & repeat more than one design for quite some time. Now GerbTool allows users to load multiple jobs within a single .GTD database, and panelize them quickly and efficiently. Multi-job panelization benefits users by allowing them to optimize their output for prototype, limited piece count production, and assembly panels.

On-the-Fly Polarity Changes
Highlights
•   Eliminates the need for building cumbersome composite layer structures.
•   Is an excellent means for creating quick scratch" data conditions to clip a trace or pad.
•   Allows the user to work more efficiently with negative data, and brings GerbTool on par with some of the higher end UNIX based systems.

With this release of GerbTool, users can now quickly create scratch" data conditions without the need for setting up composites. Additionally, when GerbTool reads in simple positive and negative data files, it will set the polarity switches accordingly without the need for composites. (The user can control this feature) This allows the user to see and make changes to the layer information real-time, without the need to deal with composites.
Drag-and-Drop Gerber File Loading
Highlights
•   Speeds up the process of loading Gerber files.
•   Works directly from ZIP files.
•   Supports GerbTool, DirectCAM, and 274X directly.

Being able to drag files directly into GerbTool or onto the GerbTool icon greatly speeds up the import process. Users no longer have to execute import or open commands. Additionally, Gerber files can be grabbed straight from a ZIP file and pulled directly into GerbTool without the need to perform a separate extraction process.

Context Sensitive Toolboxes
Highlights
•   Speeds up the process of editing and optimizing design data.
•   Eliminates the need to use pull-down menus and toolbars.

First there was the Right Button Toolbox," which was introduced in GerbTool version 9.0. Now WISE has taken that concept a step further through the introduction of Context Sensitive Right Button Toolboxes." Users can now speed up simple edits like moves, copies, transcodes, and more by simply moving the cursor over the source object and clicking the right mouse button. A context sensitive toolbox will now appear, giving the user the ability to adjust the properties of that specific object, make copies of it, move it, or even transcode it to another D-code.

The advantages behind context sensitive toolboxes are that they provide a more streamlined approach to simple changes and optimizations. This means fewer mouse clicks and moves because users dont have to move away from the item they are working with to select a menu or toolbar.

Auto Drill Detection
Highlights
•   Drill data format is now detected during the Import Wizard.
•   Helps eliminate the trial and error" process of loading Drill data.
•   New interactive display during detection lets user see" before they commit."

The Gerber Import Wizard has recognized Drill files in the past, however it did not attempt to detect the drill file format. This was a problem for a number of users, as the Drill files are almost never the same format as the Gerbers. To help eliminate the trial and error" process of loading Drill data, WISE has enhanced the Import Wizard so that it will now try to detect the format of Drill data as well. Users are even presented with a new interactive display mode that lets them see what the drill data will look like before committing to the load. This brings GerbTool more on par with the AutoImport of CAM350 and the Import Wizard of U-CAM.

User Configurable Toolbars
Highlights
•   Configurable toolbars allow users to customize GerbTool to suit their specific needs.
•   Provides more streamlined usage of toolbars by displaying only what the user wants to see.

This release of GerbTool allows users to take their toolbar usage to the next level by allowing customization of all the current toolbars found within the product. Users benefit from this by being able to tailor GerbTool to their specific needs, and having toolbars show only what they wish to see. This helps prevent hunting" or scanning" across a particular toolbar for the feature that users need.

Optimized Feature Bundling
Highlights
•   Two new bundles help to fill in the low-end gaps.
•   Improved spread of functionality across the bundles.
•   Optimized pricing across all bundles, from low to high.

This release of GerbTool includes two new bundles to help fill in the functional/price gaps that existed at the lower-end of the product range. These bundles include GT-Viewer, which is now WISEs low-cost, entry-level product that competes with the likes of ViewMate and GC-Prevue. GT-Viewer is a chargeable product, unlike the aforementioned tools, but WISE feel that the cost is warranted as the customer is receiving a tool that has the same level of quality and stability as any other tool WISE produces. The next new bundle is GT-Inspector, which fills in the gap between the old View/Plot and Designer products. Many distributors felt that the gap here was too large, and that something in the way of basic viewing, editing, and analysis was needed.

In all, WISE has a much more streamlined product offering for version 11, with the intent being to establish GerbTool as a well rounded, entry level CAM tool for both Designers and Fabricators.

About WISE: WISE Software Solutions, Inc. (http://www.wssi.com), a privately held corporation, is a leading provider of Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) software and services that enable Designers and Fabrications to streamline the process of manufacturing Printed Circuit Boards. Founded in 1989 and headquartered in Newberg, Oregon, WISE has OEM relationships with key vendors such as Cadence, Mentor Graphics, Electro Scientific Industries, Electronics Workbench, Mivatec GmbH, and Cimnet Systems. It has major installations within companies such as Intel, Motorola, Nokia, Texas Instruments, Robert Bosch GmbH, Plexus, Fuji Xerox (Japan), Zuton PCB (Taiwan), and Sanmina.
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Note to the Editors: All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.