Revision as of 22:29, 30 May 2015

Altium makes a quasi affordable feature rich electronic design tool. Unfortunately, IMHO, their obsession with being everything has resulted in a mishmash of bugs, features, and broken workflows.

I'm 'forced' to write this here, as apparently one needs to have 'points' to post bugs / features requests to Altium, and I assume that getting points means that you've provided the best answer to others seeking help. Unfortunately, this approach, while limiting SPAM and newb nonsense, also means that only the people that have lived through the horrendous problems of the program can offer suggestions.

The other approach would be to join the twitter community Why Altium Sucks, but Twitter requires a phone number before allowing account creation.

Video of DX Designer user trying to get the PCB PDF to be in color.

Proper Design Paradigm

Software is art. It should exist in many layers providing new meaning at each layer. Experienced circuit designer,otherwise new to DX Designer, within very short time should be to start using the tool productively. With use, they'll be exposed to a greater set of complexity and capabilities and therefore increase their productivity.

Instead, this tool is complex and inconsistent. It doesn't even ship with a basic library!

Consider a word processor - start the application and then start typing your text!

List of bugs and stupid UI behavior

SYSTEM

ActiveBOM

In general, a very nice feature.

I could be that I don't know how to use the feature yet, but having to re-request the supplier data each time one opens the document is just stupid. It takes about 1 minute and I'm just trying to figure out how to format the BOM output. I've select the option use cached pricing data in parameters if offline, but I guess I have to pull my network cable to speed it up! WTF

Updates

• When not logged on - you're told that no updates are available. (When they are)
• Update could be downloaded in the background - so you could continue working!

Add Exporter / Importer

• Go to export a design - select add exporter - directed to a place where there are no importers/exporters. Next to Impossible to locate them.
  • Directed to 'purchased' tab on extensions and updates. Then need to select 'installed' - but wait - they're still not there! Need to select configure! Might as well direct me to the google search home page.

SLOW!

The tool is so slow. Click on something and it takes perceptible time; move a room - it takes a second or so to perform some after move book keeping. Import the full set of components (~150) from SCH to PCB, that ECO can take close to 60 seconds. For a while I assumed it was necessary - but now running a 3rd party auto router - working with the same PCB - things appear to be instantaneous, like these should be when executing ~3 billion instructions per second and memory copies in excess of GB per second.

Intentionally SLOW!

I notice that when applying a long ECO that the load on my CPU is actually quite slow. I suspect there is a sleep associated with ECO operation - so as to imply its doing something that takes effort! Its an ECO! If the ECO is IO bound, then that just suggests there is a serious problem with the format of the files.

hierarchical schematic with duplicate net name error

 https://forum.live.altium.com/#posts/210179/590936

consistency!

The way one does something should not depend on what the item is. It should also be consistent with the dominate paradigm for the OS its running under (Windows).

--Example : the way one enters sheet symbols is great. but one should be able to do the same with components and device sheets. if the item isn't open, then it should be automatically opened.

--Example: The HelpURL. Pressing F1 open's Altium Tech help in my systems default browser. Pressing F1 in a way that accesses a component HelpURL opens within Altium using IE.

--Example : File open dialog for many items includes favorites - however when EMBED STEP Model from PCB Library - a different dialog is used.

help is nearly always useless

Have to love help that doesn't help. A well designed GUI doesn't require help to tell you to click X to make X happen. However, help that explains what X is - is valuable.

Not the worst, but an example - I'm not sure what the difference between a component and a component body is. Here is the help one gets:

[1]

I might just have to give into twitter (and give a phone #) to get access to https://twitter.com/whyaltiumsucks

SCHEMATIC

• Rotating group of components results in Netlabel upside down. Feature?

UPDATE FROM LIBRARY

Not sure what is going in here. I update from library, everything is successful. Then if I do it again - it is as if nothing was done the first time. I suspect I've edited some of the properties in these components (like adding a partnumber, or a value in a resistor) and its detecting these differences. If the case, the of course this control is next to useless if wants to know what is actual going to be done / or was done.

PINS ON TOP OF ONE ANOTHER SELL CONNECT

As the use of "1,2,3" as a designator string for a pin only makes the first connection in the PCB; the alternative approach is to place multiple pins at the same location. However, when doing this, and the component has no nets connected to it - the pins self connect.

Clipboard Paste

Performing screen captures - paste into GIMP, make a selection to paste into the schematic. Once again - no idea what is going on. Two days ago it work fine and now it doesn't work at all. My selection is definitely in the clipboard as I can paste my selection into mspaint. The DX Designer clipboard viewer shows nothing. Reading the documentation suggests one can only paste bit maps (or windows metafiles only - its unclear) in the PCB editor. All I know is it was working.

Interestingly - after restarting DX Designer it worked fine. Can you say PofS?

Parameter Manager

A powerful tool that could be useful with a bit more effort. To might knowledge, this is the only way in which one can efficiency enter user parameters into the schematic.

• The fundamental problem is that its not possible to select or reorder the user parameter fields (columns).
• There is no particular order to the user parameters, its as if as the tool iterators over the components, each new parameter is added to the list in that order.
• The UNDO option isn't available
• Making changes (pastes) require are you sure you want to overwrite? Add the undo and it doesn't matter.
• Interestingly, when the table is spread across 2 monitors, the row highlight seems to occurs on only one monitor. In my case, the extended monitor is to the left of the primary and there is no row highlighting. As I move the manager from extended to the primary, the row/column highlighting appears.
• Finally, a column option is brought up with a context menu - great! Except that the location of the right click isn't the context used! Its the previous location left clicked within the spreadsheet data. As a result, without care, one can perform an operation on the wrong column.

What needs to be changed:

• Make the UI consistent - such that context operation are based on the location of the right click
• Allow columns to be reordered (left click on column header and drag to the new location)
• Allow columns to be hidden / viewed
• Allow the specific view of columns to be saved and restored. Use the previous one by default.
• Don't request that before you can see the parameter manager content that one select which columns to view. Because of the stupid modal interface, one has to frequently exit and renter. Cross probe helps here - but still things should not be modal.
• Should be possible to group objects based on 1 or more parameters. In this case, a plus symbol would appear by the object type and when collapsed, an edit to one parameter would change all in the grouping.
• Finally, allow column headers to be sorted alphabetically or popularity. The latter means that columns with more non-empty fields appear before columns with empty fields.

SCH LIBRARY

Autoscrolling in schematic library

• Scroll rate appears to be constant sheet velocity (MM/sec) where as it needs to be constant screen velocity (pixels per second). When zoomed in, scrolling is far to fast.
• In the preferences I located a setting, might not work in the library

Multiple PCB pads per schematic pin

"That would be too easy" http://www.eevblog.com/forum/altium/assign-one-pin-to-multiple-pads/msg90253/#msg90253

PCB LIBRARY

-select pads in 2d view, switch to 3d view (press 3) and back to 2d view (press 2) , pads are deselected

PCB

Attempt to import TANGO PCB

• I first attempted to load an ASC Tango PCB, the tool reported the file was bad. Good!

Then I tried to import it, it hangs the tool. Then I try to force a crash, with CTRL-ALT-INSERT, and nothing happens.

• Of course not many people need to import TANGO PCB files, instead this is an another example of poor programming. Its not 1980. When a application attempts to read content from a file, it should be smart about errors. There should be no file that I attempt to load that would ever cause harm to the application!
• Then of course, I lost all of my work for the previous 20 mins.

Polygon Pour

• When placing a polygon pour, one most painstaking select the net to associate with the pour. This list can be very long (100s, 1000s). A simple solution exist - select a pad or trace already associated with a net and then select place polygon!
• The Repour Now dialog is painful - esp since I constantly need to be re-pouring! Possibly the original polygon placement could have an automatic repour option (not sure when it should run to not be slow), or better yet, a CONTEXT menu option - repour.
• The polygon report also seems to repour around traces of the same net. WTF.

Deletion of 'extra' vias

Place a bunch of vias to make power connection between layers - then route a wide trace and many of the vias are automatically deleted. Sure I should use via switch but I don't like how it arrays them in some cases.

Draft features changed to full

Rooms were in draft mode. Switch to 3rd view, rotate a bit, come back and the rooms display is in final.

Online DRC needs to be 'background'

After moving or resizing a room (with a couple of components), 1 to 2 seconds are taken to perform DRC, during which time you can do nothing else. Great - its nice to have live DRC. But this is the kind of thing that SHOULD be in a separate thread. So what if the user makes more changes before the DRC completes. Just keep looping using idle cycles until completed. This 2nd thread BTW could run in a 2nd processor! So now I just disable it - another feature that is useless.

Region selection when rooms are present

Try to select a group of components within a room - the button down event selects the room. Goto to DXP preferences and attempt to add the shift modifier so that rooms require shift - no luck, room is not an option.

Incoherent selection behavior

Sometimes, when I write these posts, I imagine I'm sending them to twitter's Why Altium Sucks. They read the same way.

Since I'm primarily moving components I configured the tool to require SHIFT CLICK to select anything other than a component (or component body which I still don't understand). Under DXP Preferences -> PCB Editor -> General -> Shift Click To Select [Primitives] I have everything selected except component. I'm also turned off Display Popup selection dialog - as I only want components and there should not be multiple choice since I don't have components stacked. Getting to the point - the REFDES (a string) - is entirely within the component. I shift click on it and what happens? The component is selected. Without the display popup I can't select the REFDES text.

EXPORT DESIGN RULES

• Export design rules (Consistency) - (12 mins into my work this morning - I'm swearing)

When reviewing PCB design rules, its great that the context menu is contextual and has an export option. However, it seems broken. Right clicking only brings up the export option when within the pane with the tree display of the rules (not the other pane). There a right click is absolutely associated with a specific rule. However, when one selects export, there is a new dialog with ALL of the tree structure from the original pane. Whats worse, is that the names in this pane are in some cases different than in the original tree (where you could view and make sure you had the correct thing.) In otherwords, I selected a specific rule set to export, but instead I get to reselect the rule but in a way where I can't be sure what I'm doing. I really wish that Twitter feed 'Altium sucks' was active.

• • It just goes on.... You can only export 1 rule class at a time (there are 50 to 100)
  • In the save file dialog - the 'Save' button is highlight, but after typing the filename and pressing return, it

appears that cancel is selected.

• • Working in metric units - the export file is in 'English' units
  • Export file is ASCII-but is basically only machine readable

DIALOG BOXES THAT REVERT

• Dialog boxes that revert to some default view every time re-opened. Of course,like my DOS CAD tool, these windows are blocking - but in this case unnecessarily. Specifically, Object Class Explorer (a tree view of lots of items), opens in a way that is unrelated to what is selected on the screen, or what was done upon the last time it was used. For example, collapse the trees so that I can see the big picture, but upon reopen, the trees are all expanded and the view is in the center of the very long list.

AUTO ROUTE MESSAGE PANEL

• Autoroute - operational / completion status is unclear. The message panel should include a better description **Start routing (0 of 340 connections) -> Start routing NET CLASS POWER_HIGH (0 of 70 connections) The NET class POWER_HIGH has 70 connections, not 340.
  • Finished routing with 1 contention Failed to complete 290 connection --> (It didn't fail to complete, it didn't try to complete - you can't fail without trying!) Finished routing NET CLASS POWER_HIGH with 1 contention. Boa(WHICH ONE? HOW DO I KNOW WHAT ISN'T COMPELTED).
  • While attempting to route a NET CLASS that contains a single NET GND (which has a plane) connection - nothing seems to happen. Its unclear from the message dialog if it is finished, still busy or stuck. (The status message has a time that is not being update) Even with a plane connection - there is still plenty of autorouting to perform! I want it done which is why I select it!
  • Turns out there is a bug here - after GND net class starts the NET CLASS dialog box returns before the message box displays the status that it is complete. Clicking cancel on the message box causes complete to appear in the message box.

REFDES SIZE

The REFDES text is too large. I've changed the default string size in the global preferences file, but it has no effect. When creating the library component, there is no refdes string to place or edit. This one may just be I don't know how to fix it - but OTOH - it should be straight forward. (Eventually located in the default for component)

AUTOROUTER

Don't bother unless its very basic. Then just do it by hand. Otherwise use a real auto router. Maybe just use a CAD that has a real auto router built in.

TOOLS UPDATE FROM LIBRARY STUPIDITY

• Its hard to know what is going on here. There are a bunch of mismatches but comparison window is either showing everything or nothing. I suspect that the component is on the bottom side (where as in the library its on the top side). In the side panel, it states NO PCB Primitives causing differences.

• I also moved a component from one library to another. Both libraries are usable by the PCB tool. However the difference tool simply states the footprint not found. Guess I get to delete the component and add it back. Welcome to 1992 - of course my old to it would take a less than 10 seconds.

ORIG

Workspace panel? Item Grouping

- need to be able to select which items are grouped on the task bar. - need to have libaries open (so I can edit them!) but this is rare compared to editing schematics. - right clicking could include ungroup group with similar - group with items for this list add to group

Contxt Menus:

• in windows, right click an item is to open its context menu. Right

clicking on item in DX Designer however, may include some context related items, but most its just another menubar.

• right click on a component and the 2nd and 3rd options have absolutely

no relationship to a component.

• right click on a the 'sheet' including its title block brings up the

same menu as RC on a component. But in this case, nothing seems relevant. At least changing the sheet size could be the first option, and maybe 'design document options' would be another choice.

• interestingly right clicking on a schematic page panel tab only brings

up context items - at least one thing done correctly!

non modal dialogs.

-In the past year, stop using Tango DOS as my primary design tool (it didn't suck). Not surprisingly, when I performed an action (compiled design, view error report, etc), it blocked everything else. Now 23 years later, I find Altium does the same thing!

WINDOW AUTO RAISE / HIDE

• extra windows (non-dialog) shouldn't pop to the top on selection of

another altium window. Think of how most other Windows application deal with multi-windows. I have the message panel open and when I need to see it, I can bring it to the top. I use the 2nd monitor for transcrabing datasheets into altium which the message box is always in the way. these extra windows also seem to disappear when altium looses focus. Let me control the behaivor of the windows. Wow it is so annyoing - I can't look at the message window and work in another application.

COMPILING MESSAGE PANEL

• after compiling project, messages are not sorted (by class) even though

there is an indicator stating that it is.

• the message in the message window is ordered such that it makes visual

grouping / sorting impossible For example message wanring where an IO pin has multiple types starts with the problem symbol, whereas many other message start with a higher level description of the problem 'nets wire', 'component'

PCB LIST PANEL

• PCBLIST - selecting all Solder Mask Override and then clicking check

box deselcts. Inconsistent behavior. Instead space has to be used.

FOOTPRINT WIZZARD

• footprint wizzard - silkscreen width is reset to default where as other

parameters keep their last used value.

IMPORT DESIGN CHANGES FROM

• PCB - import design changes from .... - report changes - the complete

package name is not displayed (or printed). Should be wrapped or something. Actually one shouldn't have to print it - but the windows are modal!

OTHER

• SCH - compile design - complains of many duplicate designators

-go to reset duplicate designators, nothing found

• PCB - design with device sheets and duplicate designators -

design import the rooms overlap and have components outside them seems like the only way to correct the duplicates is to bring them into PCB and then re-annotate

• SCH LIB

- how to adjust default location of refdes, comment, etc - position of parameters changes between symbol editor and placement on sheet

• PCB - copy paste line doesn't make sense.

the paste should have the same positional relationship with cursor as the selection. Instead, it seems to paste at the same location as the selection with a cursor offset

• PCB - selection should be smart. If selecting a small object within a

large object - use the small object. Or select the item where at least 1 axis is mostly precisely at the center. Use modifier to allow list of choices

• Project window - autoscrolling not reliable when moving items from free

documents to specific project

• When editing sheet symbols much more automatic correction between

symbol could be done. For example, when ports are linked - if properties are changed in 1 place, it should change in the other.

Altium Library

Was searching for Samtec libraries for a FTSH series device. I had to laugh at this press release from Sep 2014: https://blog.dev1.altium.com/Blogs/samtec-connector-release-09-07-14

Samtec is a great company and makes a great assortment of board2board headers - but its been more than 15 years since I've ordered any 100 or 50 mill pitched headers from them, and does any one still use PC/104? Thanks for being on the ball Altium and getting a cutting each library to us!

CRASH REPORTS

Monkey can crash the program

attempting to rotate component quickly w/Incorrect key stroke (Ctrl R?) component was pasted several times? attempted to stop with ESC a few times? then the info box comes up.

In other words, a monkey or an infant can crash this $12K program in a few millisconds.

I'm a Altium Novice. What do I know?

Not really an Novice anymore. I've been using it on an off for 2 years and mostly non-stop for the past 6 months.

I've also been a circuit designer for 30+ years - using CAD for 23 years.

In 1985 as a kid, I started to write my own PCB layout tool. Was able to get something somewhat useful, but making circuit boards from printer was nearly impossible. One needs to create a transparency (film) with high contrast, add photo resist to a copper board, expose it. It was a very involved process that I could never get right. Then later in the early 90s I flirted with Tango and PADs which was mostly a success since the University could make the films and boards for me.

As some sort of grad student @ The Institute, I started using Viewlogic in the Fall of 1994 on a Sun Workstation. That was a wasted semester and my introduction to expensive software that sucked. A colleague was making quick progress with Tango (DOS) so over the Winter Break I purchased a parallel port emulator to run the program and in few days sent out the first prototype of a DSP based color vision system that at least changed my world.

I made great designs with Tango DOS for the next 20 years. The tool is FAST, simple, rarely crashes, has a reasonable autorouter. I was able to extend it in many ways to 'multitask' and add modern features. Unfortunately, I'm was the butt of many jokes WRT my CAD tool and may be the last person in the Affluent parts of the world using it. Most have switched to bloated programs that have pretty graphics that otherwise drain their souls and lives of valuable time. I know - I've evaluated many of them.

I am now one of these people spending time swearing at this grab bag of features and bugs. I'm writing this because the only outlet of the frequent crashs is within the "please provide any additional comments" section of the crash report. Altium might be receiving several million of these an hour, so they're probably ignored. (I will have to say, on the plus side, a 'crash' actually leaves the program running and in a seemingly stable state with data intact. I guess its a lot easier to wrap the whole program in a try except block than to figure out whats going on - I know I've done this too!)

If you hate it so much

If you hate it so much, why do you keep using it? Why write this?

1. I've paid alot of money and expect it to be usableable. The cost of the software is likely more than I've spend on ALL SOFTWARE in my entire life.
2. I've invested a very large amount of time learning the tool and creating projects. There's no way to recover that part of my life. (Of course this is the good money after bad argument.)
3. I have projects within the tool and no time to relearn a new tool (that may also suck) and the projects need to be completed.
4. Hopefully, others can learn from my mistakes.