Thanks Bill, I'd call that a bucks worth! I too use a start board, then run one of the setup scripts I've created for number of layers (2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 & 14) and format size (B, rarely used, C, D & E). The scripts also sets up films, drawing formats, stackup diagrams, notes etc. I'm not sure what "4s2P", "6s4p" etc. stands for though. Regards, Gary MacIndoe Senior PCB Design Engineer EbD R&D Hardware Surgical Solutions Group Covidien 5920 Longbow Drive M/S A20 Boulder, CO 80301 303.476.7458 www.covidien.com<http://www.covidien.com/> From: icu-pcb-forum-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:icu-pcb-forum-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Bill Zembek Sent: Friday, November 21, 2014 12:24 PM To: icu-pcb-forum@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [PCB_FORUM] Re: tcf verses dcf CM files Constraint Manager dcf files do not contain Drawing Parameters information that a Technology file will contain. Technology files were introduced before the Export>Parameters was added. Technology files were also introduced to allow the Comparison of a Golden file against a board to make sure it meet a standard before being released. As far as who uses what and why I cannot answer that. I prefer to have start boards setup for particular technologies. 4s2p.brd, 6s4p.brd etc. I use these to import logic then do a file save as. These databases are clean not carrying any extra's in it. Padstacks are purged dbdoctor run etc. My 2cents Regards, Bill Zembek Technical Support - Allegro Specialist EMA Design Automation, Inc. 225 Tech Park Drive Rochester, New York 14623 Phone 585-334-6001 Opt 5 Fax 585-334-6693 www.ema-eda.com<http://www.ema-eda.com/> http://support.ema-eda.com<http://support.ema-eda.com/> From: icu-pcb-forum-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:icu-pcb-forum-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> [mailto:icu-pcb-forum-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Macindoe, Gary Sent: Friday, November 21, 2014 1:15 PM To: icu-pcb-forum@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:icu-pcb-forum@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Subject: [PCB_FORUM] tcf verses dcf CM files Hey guys, Do you use either technology files (.tcf) or constraint files (.dcf) from Constraint Manager (CM)? If so, which one and why? I've played around with them in the past, but typically don't use them. If I'll start a design similar to a previous one, I just use the older similar one as the starting point and delete all of the components/traces/vias. I have someone new to Allegro (just had formal training) in another group asking about .tcf files. Thanks for any clarification you can give me regarding these CM files. Regards, Gary MacIndoe Senior PCB Design Engineer EbD R&D Hardware Surgical Solutions Group Covidien Boulder, CO