Assembly main page

You explore the contents of a PCB design file in detail on the different tabs of the Assembly main page.

Information tab

The Information tab displays an overview of the PCB design file content in the interactive table and the bar chart.

Option Description
Information interactive table Displays the number of the following PCB entities in the design: components, holes, areas, nets, signal layers, and bends.
Load External Data for Copper Lets you upload an additional PCB design file (IDX format only) containing copper layers when this information is not available in the IDX baseline file. This file cannot be stored in the database, and it is not used for collaboration.
Information bar chart Displays the number of PCB entities as a bar chart to let you visually see the entity quantities with respect to each other.

PCB tab

The PCB tab displays the PC board entity attributes such as dimensions, layers, and nets in interactive tables and a simple board thickness viewer.

Option Description
Board Dimensions Displays the thickness, size, and area of the design PC board in millimeters.
Layers interactive table Displays the name, type, and thickness of the board layers that represent complex heat conduction paths due to dielectrics, traces, vias, and other entities.

When you select a layer in the table, the software highlights it on the PCB model displayed in the board thickness viewer.
Nets interactive table Displays the PCB entities with net attributes defined, such as traces and wire bonds, which you can filter.
Board thickness viewer Displays a 2D layout of the layers in the board thickness.

Components tab

The Components tab displays the component attributes arranged in an interactive table with the information listed in the following table.

Component attribute Description
Reference Designator Identifies the component’s reference designator, which is the part unique instance name in NX.
Package Name Identifies the component’s ECAD package name.
Part Number Identifies the component’s ECAD part number.
Placement/Owner Identifies the owner attribute that provides a reference for anyone who wants to modify the component part in the future. The possible options are Placed, Unplaced, MCAD, and ECAD.
Offset Identifies the offset value between the component and the board.
Package Offset Identifies the offset value within the component instance.
Rotation Identifies the component's placement rotation on the board with respect to the board's coordinate system.
Board Side Identifies the side on which the component is placed.

Drilled Holes tab

The Drilled Holes tab displays the hole attributes arranged in an interactive table with the information listed in the following table. A donut chart visually shows the number of drilled holes per size, type, and plating style.

Drilled hole attribute Description
Type Identifies the type of drilled hole as pin, via, mounting hole, tool, or other.
Plating Identifies the plating style as plated or non-plated hole.
Owner Identifies the ownership of the hole as either MCAD or ECAD, which prevents users from modifying the hole attributes. If the ownership is not defined, it displays as Unowned.
Associated Part Identifies the entity that is associated to the drilled hole. BOARD indicates that the hole is defined in the board. NOREFDES indicates that the hole is non-electrical, such as a mounting hole. When the hole is associated to a component, the component’s reference designator is displayed.
Size Identifies the drilled hole diameter in millimeters.
Top Layer

Bottom Layer

 Identifies, respectively, the top-most and bottom-most layers where the hole connects to the signal layers.
X

Y

 Identify the X and Y positions in millimeters of the hole center in the bard’s plane using the board’s coordinate system.

Restriction Areas tab

The Restriction Areas tab displays the restriction area attributes arranged in an interactive table with the information listed in the following table.

Restriction area attribute Description
Type Identifies the restriction area type, for example, keep-in, keep-out, copper, or other.
Kind Identifies the restriction area subtype, which depends on the area type. Some possible area subtypes are:
  • Routing defines the selected area as the routable area. This area must lie completely within the edges of the board. It is only available for keep-in, room, keep-out, and obstruct areas.
  • Placement defines the selected area as the maximum area on the board for placing components. This area can extend outside the board outline to accommodate overhanging components, such as switches, connectors, and LEDs. It is only available for keep-in, room, keep-out, and obstruct areas.
  • Placement Group defines the selected area as the area within which certain groups of components should be placed, for example, an analog portion of a circuit. It is only available for keep-in and room areas.
  • Via defines the selected area as the area where vias are not permitted but routing is still allowed. It is only available for keep-out and obstruct areas.
  • Copper defines the copper area. It is only available for copper areas.
  • Other defines the restriction area as another subtype for any other restriction of special use to ECAD. It is available for area types other than keep-in, room, keep-out, obstruct, and copper areas.
Owner Identifies the ownership of the restriction area as either MCAD or ECAD, which prevents users from modifying the area attributes. If ownership is not defined select Unowned.
Layer Identifies the layer number of the area is positioned on, if available, when the layer position is Current. If not specified, or if the layer position is Both, Inner or All, the value is zero
Layer Position Identifies the routing layers on which the restriction area is valid for multi-layer PC boards.
  • Current indicates that the restriction area is positioned on the surface of the board (top or bottom layer).
  • Both indicates that the restriction area is positioned on both the top and the bottom layers of the board.
  • Inner indicates that the restriction area is positioned on routing layers within the board.
  • All indicates that the restriction area is positioned on all the routing layers of the board.
Offset Identifies the offset value between the restriction area and the board.
Parallel Displays whether or not the area is parallel to the board face. The possible values are True or False.
System Identifies the CAD system where the area originates from, if specified in the file.
Thickness Displays the height of the restriction area in millimeters.
Inverted Specifies whether the restriction area type is inverted, such that the volume of the region goes from the specified height to infinity. Only keep-out or obstruct area types can be inverted.
Color Identifies the color of the restriction area used by NX. NX sets the color for the restriction area during import as a number between 1 and 216.
Output Layer Identifies the secondary ECAD layer corresponding to the NX area type.

Viewer tab

The Viewer tab lets you graphically explore the PCB design content with cross-selection capability between the interactive tables on other tabs and the 2D viewer.