Macaos Enterprise User guide

Macaos Enterprise allows you to easily browse, panelize and place orders for printed circuit boards and solder paste stencils. This quick user guide will help you get started.
For more detailed info, use the Help menu in Macaos Enterprise to open the user manual.

Getting started

From the Get Macaos Enterprise page you can order download and login info. Once you receive the download link and your login info, simply download and run the setup program. The setup program will install a starter program which is used to check your connection and configure proxy settings (if necessary) befure updating itself to the latest version of Macaos Enterprise.

Program overview

The Order Browser (the main window) consists of three main elements: a product explorer (left), product details (upper right) and order history (lower right). The Icon Bar at the top of the window is used to access additional modules. These include:

Product explorer
The Product explorer allows you to find and organize your company's products. The upper portion lists your product folders and the lower portion lists the products in the selected folder. In addition to the standard folders, you can create your own folders and subfolders to organize products however you wish.

Product details
Product details are shown in two tabs.
The Product info tab displays product properties. These include the product name, article number and description; board specifications, minimum tolerances, and board statistics. The board stackup is displayed as a diagram.

The Product view tab displays the product graphically. The check boxes in the layer list control
which layers are visible. Right-click on a layer name to change the display color for that layer. The new color will be used throughout Macaos Enterprise. The current cursor position and board size are displayed below the layer list.

To pan: right-click at the new center point, or right-click and drag horizontally or vertically. To zoom in: right-click and drag up to the right to select the desired region. To zoom out: right-click and drag down to the left. To zoom-to-fit: right-click and drag up to the left. The Help tab displays a quick reference for pan and zoom commands.

When no operational mode is selected, clicking and dragging with the left mouse button displays
the distance from the clicked point to the mouse cursor. Press Ctrl+U to toggle between inch and
mm display.

In some cases, a file list appears below the layer list. These are product data and documentation
files which you may view or download. Double-click on a file to view it. Right-click on a file to
save it.

Order history
The Order history panel lists the order history for the selected product. For each order, the relevant numbers and dates are shown. Clicking on an order number opens a PDF viewer displaying the order confirmation. Clicking on an underlined shipment tracking number opens a web browser with shipment tracking info, if available.

Importing Gerber and drill files

To create a product, you need to do the following:

  1. Prepare for a new product. Open the Import Module, or choose File|New product if you have previously been working with a different product.
  2. Open the data files. Choose File|Open files to open files and add them to the files listed in the Files tab. If a single zip file is added, then this will be unpacked and its contents added to the Files tab. You may select multiple files from the same folder. You can also choose File|Open files again to add additional files to the Files tab.
  3. Link files to their corresponding board layers. If Autolinking is on, and the Import Module recognizes the filenames as matching one of the defined filters, then recognized files will be linked automatically to their corresponding layers. Files which are not autolinked must be linked manually. This is done by clicking on the blue text in the Layer column of the Files tab and selecting the desired layer from the layer menu. The file image is displayed, in order to help select the correct layer. Right-click on a file to view the file as text or change the file type.
  4. Review drill holes. In the Layer overview, set check marks by the drill layers and a copper layer, then go to the Drill tools tab. This tab lists the drill files and drill tools which have been linked. Ideally, the drill holes will be displayed centered on their corresponding copper pads. If not, see the user manual for information on how to make offset or scaling adjustments. Drill tool sizes are listed, rounded to the nearest actual tool size at the manufacturer. If tool sizes could not be extracted from the drill file, these must be entered manually by clicking in the Manuf. size column and typing in the correct size. Be sure to also check/correct plating for each tool, and drill depth for each file.
  5. Define the board contour. Go to the Contour tab. The Active layer (by default, the Board layer) is shown in blue and other layers are shown in gray. Ideally, selecting a segment of the outer contour, causes the entire contour to be highlighted. If necessary, use the + and – icon buttons to select/deselect the remainder of the contour (and no other segments). If the selected segments form a closed loop, then the Outer button in the Contour tab will be enabled. Click on the Outer button to define the outer contour. Select and define any additional cutouts, routed tracks, or scoring lines.
  6. Place the manufacturer's identifier. The manufacturer adds a product/batch number to the board as part of the production process. You may select the position of the identifier by clicking on the No. toolbar button and placing the rectangle at the desired position on the board. The identifier will appear on the Notation Top layer. If you do not place the identifier, then the manufacturer will choose an appropriate location prior to production.
  7. Add symbols (optional). Click on the Symbols toolbar button. Choose the desired symbol by clicking on the appropriate toolbar button. Select the desired layer and then draw a bounding rectangle for the symbol.
  8. Publish the product. Choose File|Publish to Product Browser to publish the new product:
    • In the specifications dialog box you must specify a product name and select a stackup. You must also specify minimum track width, clearance and annular ring for the product. In addition, you may choose non-standard surface finish, solder mask color and notation color. If the product is to have electrolytic (hard) gold applied to connector surfaces, then the gold area (in cm²) must also be specified. Click the OK button to continue.
    • Go through each item in the approval checklist to insure that you haven't forgotten anything. Click the OK button to continue.
    • Once the product has been published to the server, the new product number will be displayed. You'll find the product in the Never Ordered folder of the product browser.

Panelizing a product

To panelize a product, you need to do the following:

  1. Locate the product to panelize. Select the product in the Macaos Enterprise
    product browser and then click on the Panel button to open the panelization module.
  2. Specify the array. Click on the Panelize toolbar button to create an array. Adjust the board quantity, frame width and instance spacing as desired. You can also specify scoring and copper fill in the frame. Be sure you are satisfied with all specifications on this tab before moving on to any of the following steps.
  3. Specify break-off tabs. Break-off tabs are automatically generated when panelizing. If desired, click on the Tabs toolbar button to modify the default style and placement of Break-off tabs.
  4. Place fiducial marks (optional). Click on the Fiducial marks toolbar button. Specify diameters and location, and then click on the Place button.
  5. Place frame holes (optional). Click on the Frame holes toolbar button. Specify diameter and location of tooling holes and/or diameter, spacing and location of break-off holes, and then click on the Place holes button.
  6. Place text (optional). If desired, the Text toolbar button may be used to place text or bar code in the frame of the panel.
  7. Place bad marks (optional). Click on the Bad marks toolbar button. Specify the side and style of the bad marks. Specify the location of the panel mark and the board marks, and then click on the Place marks button.
  8. Publish the product. Choose File|Publish to Product Browser to complete panel creation. Specify the product name, article number and description in the dialog box.

Creating a solder paste stencil product

  • Locate the PCB product for which you wish to create a stencil and then click on the Stencil button. If you wish to create a stencil product directly from Gerber files, then click on a folder name (so that no product is selected) before clicking on the Stencil button.
  • Click on the Stencil and frame data toolbar button. Specify the layer(s) and frame to use for the stencil.
  • Click on the Placement and fiducials toolbar button. Specify the placement of data within the frame. If desired, top and bottom data may be placed side by side on the same stencil. Indicate which data are fiducials, since these will be etched rather than cut through the stencil.
  • Click on the Shape manipulation toolbar button. Specify opening size adjustment for all openings. If desired, select individual openings to further refine the opening adjustment. All adjustments are specified as a percentage of the reduction/enlargement of the copper pad (if available) or the original pad. Specify the corner rounding to match the nominal solder ball size of the solder past to be used.
  • Click on the Text toolbar button and, if desired, specify the product's name and description and then place the text.
  • Click on the Delete objects toolbar button and delete any unnecessary objects from the stencil data.
  • Click on the Publish stencil button to create the new paste mask stencil product(s). By
    default, a stencil product is created with the same product number as the PCB product, plus
    pt (for top) or pb (for bottom) or just p (for both). If the paste mask product already exists,
    then the new product will be given a new product number (plus pt, pb or p).

    • Placing an order

    To order a product, you need to do the following:

  • Choose a product. Locate and select the product in the Product explorer.
  • Obtain a price quotation. Click on the Buy button to open the Quotation module. Select one or more quantities and one or more delivery times (days) and then click on the Get Price button.
  • Add to the Shopping basket. Select a quantity/days/price combination and click on the Add to Basket button. After selecting a delivery address for the product, it is added to the Shopping basket. If you wish to order more of the same product, then select a new quantity/days/price combination and click Add to Basket again. Repeat steps 1 to 3 to order additional products.
  • Place the order. Click on the Check Out button in the Quotation dialog. After selecting an invoice address for the order, select a payment method and enter a purchase order number. Clicking on the Final Ordering button confirms all orders in the Shopping basket. Your order confirmation is displayed and the ordered products are added to the On order folder of the Product explorer.

    • Getting help

    The User Manuals give more detailed info about using Macaos Enterprise. You can access the user manual for each module from the Help menu in the main window, Import module or Panelization module.

    If, after looking through the manual, you still have questions, then check our forums or contact us at support@macaos.com

    Using Macaos Enterprise on Linux

    Macaos Enterprise is designed to run on Windows, but will run pretty well on Linux. Since Macaos Enterprise is built and compiled for the Windows operating system you need to fake a windows environment through a tool like Wine.

    If you experience any problems or have questions that are not answered on these pages, please contact us by mail or use the forums and we will try to answer as best we can.

    If you have something you would like to add to these pages, please use the add new comment function.

    Before you begin

    Preparations

    1. First you need to install Wine. The various distributions usually have Wine available in their package repository. You can also download Wine version suitable for your distribution.
    2. You now need to replace the three built-in gdiplus.dll, wininet.dll and comctl32.dll libraries with the native versions from Microsoft. You can do this by manually obtaining the dll's from an existing Windows XP installation, or by downloading them with the winetricks script.
      • If you go the manual route you need to copy the dll's into .wine/drive_c/windows/system32
      • NOTE: If you have wine version 0.9.44 or later you need to do an extra step to get the native comctl32.dll to work. Create the directory x86_microsoft.windows.common-controls_6595b64144ccf1df_6.0.0.0_none_deadbeef in ~/.wine/drive_c/windows/winsxs and copy the comctl32.dll into it.
      • Open a terminal window. Type in winecfg and add gdiplus, wininet and comctl32 to the libraries tab. Click edit on each one and select native (windows)
    3. The user manual depends on Adobe Acrobat being installed in wine. If you want it to work then you can install Acrobat Reader 6.0.x into wine.

      wget http://ardownload.adobe.com/pub/adobe/reader/win/6.x/6.0/enu/AdbeRdr60_e...
      wine AdbeRdr60_enu_full.exe

    4. There seems to be a problem with order confirmations not being displayed properly.
      If you have an Windows XP installation, simply copy the ttf files from Windows/fonts to ~./wine/drive_c/windows/fonts.

    Installing Macaos Enterprise with wine

    I have only tested this through wine-0.9.46 on Ubuntu 7.10, so I cannot guarantee that this will work on other distributions.

    1. Download Macaos Enterprise from the URL received in the mail.
    2. Create a directory for Macaos Enterprise, I.e in ~/.wine/drive_c/Program Files/MacaosEnterprise and copy the downloaded file into it
    3. Open a terminal window, cd to the that directory and run:

      > wine macaosenterprise.exe

    4. Go through the install program as on Windows.

    If you get access violations in comctl32.dll or errors when opening the product viewer make sure you did all the steps in the before you begin section. If you get other errors be sure to check out the troubleshooting section, to see if the problem has been solved there.

    If you have a problem that is not mentioned here please post in the forums or send us an e-mail and we will try to help you out.

    Troubleshooting Macaos Enterprise with wine

    Problem:
    Clicking on a product gives "access violation in comctl32.dll".
    Solution:
    Please look in the before you begin section on how to solve problems with comctl32.dll

    Problem:
    When clicking on product view you get an error message.
    Solution:
    Please look in the before you begin section on how to solve problems with gdiplus

    Problem:
    Loading user manuals gives error.
    Solution:
    Please look in the before you begin section on how to solve problems with adobe acrobat

    Problem:
    Loading order confirmations take a very long time.
    Solution:
    Please look in the before you begin section on how to solve problems with order confirmation

    If you find problems not documented here, please leave a comment, here or in the forums. Or mail us about it so we can update these pages.