Grid Size display can be deceiving

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Tomg
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Posts: 2028
Joined: 20 Jun 2015, 07:39

Grid Size display can be deceiving

#1 Post by Tomg » 27 May 2017, 06:34

I have noticed that DipTrace limits the minimum grid spacing to 0.003mm for metric, 0.001 for inches and 0.131 for mils. When manually entering a value in the Grid Size entry box at the top of the screen, any value less than the minimum allowed grid spacing is automatically rounded-up to the minimum allowed value without any indication that the rounding-up has taken place. Please change the program so that a value less than the allowed minimum cannot be displayed in the Grid Size entry box. It would also be helpful if the metric minimum was changed to 0.001mm to allow for more precise moving/bumping of objects when using the arrow keys.

Here's how to observe the Grid Size display bug...
1) Open the Pattern Editor and make sure the Design Area is clear of all objects.
2) Set Units to "mm".
3) Place a simple round pad at coordinate (0,0).
4) Right-click on the pad, select Properties... in the pop-up menu, click on the [Number/Position] tab in the Pad dialog window and observe the value for Y; it should be exactly 0mm. If not, change it so it is.
5) Select OK.
6) Enter "0.001" in the Grid Size box at the top of the screen. Observe that the Grid Size box now displays "0.001".
7) Drag a selection box around the pad to highlight it and press the up-arrow key once to move the pad up 0.001mm.
8) Right-click on the moved pad and select Properties... in the pop-up menu.
9) In the Pad dialog window click on the [Number/Position] tab and observe that the value for Y is now 0.003, not 0.001 as displayed in the Grid Size box at the top of the screen.
Tom

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KevinA
Posts: 639
Joined: 18 Dec 2015, 08:35

Re: Grid Size display can be deceiving

#2 Post by KevinA » 28 May 2017, 05:44

With metric a 0.5mm pad and a grid of 0.005:
Image
Which allows me to move the pad 0.005mm

I did notice that the Placement setup always goes to 0.033 when set to below .03 - setting at 0.05 works and is 10 times smaller than needed.

Image

Tomg
Expert
Posts: 2028
Joined: 20 Jun 2015, 07:39

Re: Grid Size display can be deceiving

#3 Post by Tomg » 28 May 2017, 06:15

Hi Kevin,
There is a work-around for moving/nudging an object 0.001mm. Believe it or not, I have actually had to do this a few times, particularly when I need to move a large group of objects together...
1) Set the Grid Size to 1.001mm and nudge the component(s)/group in the desired direction once using an arrow key.
2) Reset the Grid Size to exactly 1mm and nudge the same component(s)/group back in the opposite direction once using an arrow key.

Still, the Grid Size display box subroutine needs to be fixed to prevent the displaying of values that the program isn't actually processing.
Tom

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