Best Practice Maintaining Different PCB Versions

[dfitterman]

I have created an electronics design containing the usual elements: schematic, PCB document, and a 3D PCB. For this example, I’ll call the design Board1. The shape of the PCB and drill holes are given in the sketch named Board1_outline. The 3D PCB was created from Board1_outline using Create>Derive PCB from sketch. The 3D PCB is linked to the 2D PCB to incorporate the board shape.

I want to change one of the components in the original design. In particular I will replace a 90 degree header with a straight header. The board outline will also be changed as a straight header will take up less real estate on the board.

I understand how to make all of these changes starting with replacing a part in the schematic and modifying the board outline sketch. Let’s call the new versions Board2 and Board2_outline. Notice that the schematic topology has not changed.

I want to keep both board versions and associated outlines, as both may be needed. What is the best way to save the two versions for easy access?

Some ideas that I have considered are:

1) Make copies of Board1 and Board1_outline and simply rename them.

2) Create a milestone.

I have some questions.

For option 1 is there a way to insure that the same schematic is used for each design? My concern is changes in wiring should be the same in both Board1 and Board2.

For option 2:

1) Is a milestone created for only the electronics design, or must it be done for all files associated with the design?

2) How do I jump between the two versions in the future?

In general, is there another way of doing this? What are the relative merits of these approaches?

Thanks for your assistance.