Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1114420
MAY 2019 I DESIGN007 MAGAZINE 77 2. Incremental Exchange • "Discussion" is initiated by either ECAD or MCAD and sent to the other domain as a "proposal" file that contains only items that have been added, deleted, or changed • The received file is then imported and visually previewed • Updates are accepted or rejected, and notes are added to each item as needed • A response is sent to initiator with included annotations • The databases are now in sync, and either side is free to make additional updates For final validation, you can create a baseline IDX from both the ECAD database and MCAD assembly and run a comparison between the two to ensure there are no discrepancies. Part Mapping As with any collaboration, ensuring data integrity is paramount, and nowhere is that more important than ensuring ECAD/MCAD part models are aligned correctly. Ideally, a new part introduction process will ensure that when a new request is submitted, the logical symbol, physical footprint, and MCAD part model are all associated with the correct ori- gins, orientations, and pin alignments during development. To ensure the parts are aligned correctly, they can either be associated through their part names or via a mapping file that tells the sys- tem which part name on the ECAD side aligns with its mechanical counterpart (e.g., ECAD = part_abc, MCAD = part_123). There are several ways that ECAD and MCAD part data can be associated and displayed. The three typical scenarios are: Figure 3: Collaboration integration. Figure 4: Aligning part models is critical to ECAD/MCAD collaboration.