BUG: Renaming Signals in Board

[C.Nicks]

There seems to be no way to rename isolated signal segments when only a board is loaded. In a Schematic there are options to rename individual net, all nets on sheet, and all nets on all sheets.

While building up a panel, I had a signal get accidentally combined and now there is no way to rename just one segment that is connected in copper. I think the name tool should have the option to rename a signal globally, or just what is connected in copper. Is there any way to correct this problem besides deleting all copies and starting over or manually in a text editor?

See my screencast below for more detail.

[jorge_garcia]

Hi @C.Nicks,

That's a thorny issue. Here's what has helped me.

1. Delete 1 segment(ideally near the ends)

2. By deleting that segment the majority of the net should be renamed to some unique value.

3. Rename large piece to what the net should be called.

4. Reroute the part you deleted.

It's not ideal, but right now its the best we have. I'll put in an enhancement request for the NAME command to be able to behave in a manner similar to how polygon renaming works.

Let me know if there's anything else I can do for you.

Best Regards,

[C.Nicks]

I still can't get it to do anything but rename the entire net. I went through and did it in the xml manually. That allowed me to make sure the classes were kept in sync as well.

If design blocks could be updated after making changes, panelization would become a much easier process. It really sucks when you drop down 10 copies of a block, only to find a small thing that has to change. This is what I want to use design blocks (or modules) for, but currently they are paste only processes and cannot be used to keep a block updated.

[rachaelATWH4]

I agree this is an issue and it's something I have struggled with in the past. It looks like a bug to me. As a test I drew two arbitrary nets on a board such that they had different n$ names. Then I used NAME to rename one to match the other. From that point, even though they are two isolated segments there was absolutely nothing I could do to separate them again.

Best Regards,

Rachael

[jorge_garcia]

Enhancement report has been made.

Thanks Cameron, Thanks Rachael.

[stephanZJLTS]

Hi,

I have the same problem in one of my designs and don't want to reroute the connected signals.

Are there any fixes or workarounds for this bug?

Best regards

Stephan

[C.Nicks]

There has been no mention of a fix or workaround to this issue.
If it's only a few segments you may be able to open the XML and manually edit. That can be prone to error if you do not know what you're doing.