Cadence killing off Orcad PCB Layout

[Anton Erasmus]

I asked for a quote for OrCad from our local agent. Together with the
quote, they sent a letter from Cadence in which they stated that
OrCAD PCB Layout will only be sold up to the middle of this year.
After this it will not be available anymore.

Regards
Anton Erasmus

 

[Brad Velander]

Anton,
This letter was released to OrCAD users in the spring of 2007. I am
surprised that you are even able to get a quote for OrCAD. As you can see
that letter stated that they would not be selling any OrCAD PCB packages
past July 31st of last year.

"This letter is intended to communicate some important developments
regarding the future of Cadence OrCAD Layout. Cadence has begun the
End-of-Life process for Cadence OrCAD Layout technology based products.

Please Note: Cadence OrCAD Capture, OrCAD Capture CIS, and PSpiceŽ
technology are all integral parts of Cadence's long-term product strategy
and are not affected by this notice.

Effective July 31, 2007, Cadence will no longer sell the following Cadence
OrCAD Layout based technology products:
1. OrCAD Layout (PO1410)
2. OrCAD Layout Plus (PO1420)
3. OrCAD Unison PCB (PO1510)
4. OrCAD Unison Ultra (PO1530)
5. Layout Studio (PS1430)

We acknowledge that transitioning software systems is never easy and is
often a juggling act between investing in learning new technologies and
meeting current business priorities. EMA is committed to ensuring we do
everything possible to help minimize the impact on you, wherever possible.
To help ease the transition, Cadence is providing OrCAD Layout customers
with multiple paths for migrating to new technology that leverages the power
of Allegro PCB Editor. Learn more about the various transition path options
by visiting http://www.ema-eda.com/orcadlayout.
The products entering End of Sale will be supported thru March 31, 2009.
After that date, these products will no longer be supported for hot-fixes or
support calls and will not be shipped on the OrCAD CD set. "

--
Sincerely,
Brad Velander.

"Anton Erasmus" <nobody@spam.prevent.net> wrote in message
news:gmb4q3lgcd90g55n0ib0divclpug647obg@4ax.com...

I asked for a quote for OrCad from our local agent. Together with the
quote, they sent a letter from Cadence in which they stated that
OrCAD PCB Layout will only be sold up to the middle of this year.
After this it will not be available anymore.

Regards
Anton Erasmus

 

[Anton Erasmus]

Sorry, misread the dates.

The local agent probalby have some old stock they are trying to
offload.

Regards
Anton Erasmus


On Fri, 01 Feb 2008 02:01:30 GMT, "Brad Velander"
<bveland@SpamThis.com> wrote:

Anton,
This letter was released to OrCAD users in the spring of 2007. I am
surprised that you are even able to get a quote for OrCAD. As you can see
that letter stated that they would not be selling any OrCAD PCB packages
past July 31st of last year.

"This letter is intended to communicate some important developments
regarding the future of Cadence OrCAD Layout. Cadence has begun the
End-of-Life process for Cadence OrCAD Layout technology based products.

Please Note: Cadence OrCAD Capture, OrCAD Capture CIS, and PSpiceŽ
technology are all integral parts of Cadence's long-term product strategy
and are not affected by this notice.

Effective July 31, 2007, Cadence will no longer sell the following Cadence
OrCAD Layout based technology products:
1. OrCAD Layout (PO1410)
2. OrCAD Layout Plus (PO1420)
3. OrCAD Unison PCB (PO1510)
4. OrCAD Unison Ultra (PO1530)
5. Layout Studio (PS1430)

We acknowledge that transitioning software systems is never easy and is
often a juggling act between investing in learning new technologies and
meeting current business priorities. EMA is committed to ensuring we do
everything possible to help minimize the impact on you, wherever possible.
To help ease the transition, Cadence is providing OrCAD Layout customers
with multiple paths for migrating to new technology that leverages the power
of Allegro PCB Editor. Learn more about the various transition path options
by visiting http://www.ema-eda.com/orcadlayout.
The products entering End of Sale will be supported thru March 31, 2009.
After that date, these products will no longer be supported for hot-fixes or
support calls and will not be shipped on the OrCAD CD set. "

 

[Marra]

There are too many PCBCAD software vendors chasing too few customers.

There is loads of free and cheap stuff without having to spend
hundreds or thousands on software.

 

[JeffM]

Marra wrote:

software vendors chasing too few customers.

There is loads of free and cheap stuff without having to spend
hundreds or thousands on software.

Ah, the old *make your brand look like a generic reference* thing.
You can't pass up an opportunity to SPAM for your crapware, can you?
http://groups.google.com/group/sci.electronics.design/msg/1f5491d886b45893?q=If.*.*.*.any.good+zz-zz+qq+*.htm+uu+*.better.presentation.would.help.*.*+*-hard-to-read-*-*-*-*-*-*-website-*+kk+*.*.*.ugliest.schematics.and.pcb.layouts.I've.seen.in.a.long.time

Business philosophy:
http://groups.google.com/group/sci.electronics.cad/browse_frm/thread/9e7b1c069b0019ad/83b2dd3589ee607b?q=zz-zz+support+no.business.ethics+profit+*-*-the-ethics+uu-uu+suckers

 

[Brad Velander]

How many customers are there Marra, show us your smarts!

Yeah there is loads of cheap or free crap out there. Like everything
else in life, you get what you pay for.
--
Sincerely,
Brad Velander.

"Marra" <cresswellavenue@talktalk.net> wrote in message
news:e3915fa8-8fbb-46b2-acbc-e4303f124a59@v4g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...

There are too many PCBCAD software vendors chasing too few customers.

There is loads of free and cheap stuff without having to spend
hundreds or thousands on software.

 

[Marra]

But why spend Ł1,000 when Ł20 will do a very good job?

I have designed dozens of boards with the software i have and never
had any problems or complaints.

 

[Anton Erasmus]

On Sun, 3 Feb 2008 10:50:14 -0800 (PST), Marra
<cresswellavenue@talktalk.net> wrote:

But why spend Ł1,000 when Ł20 will do a very good job?

I have designed dozens of boards with the software i have and never
had any problems or complaints.

What you paid yourself GBP 20 ? Most people do not complain to
themselves.

Anton Erasmus

 

[Joel Koltner]

"Marra" <cresswellavenue@talktalk.net> wrote in message
news:d4430933-0ed1-42d1-a9a3-fbba4de87c39@q39g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
"But why spend Ł1,000 when Ł20 will do a very good job?"

Because many Ł20 programs -- such as yours -- don't have nearly the features
that Ł1000 programs do.

I would be the first to admit that plenty of Ł1000 programs are crap, though,
and not worth nearly the asking price. But there are other Ł1000 programs
that are worth every penny...

 

[Marra]

On Feb 4, 5:20 pm, "Joel Koltner" <zapwireDASHgro...@yahoo.com> wrote:

"Marra" <cresswellave...@talktalk.net> wrote in message

news:d4430933-0ed1-42d1-a9a3-fbba4de87c39@q39g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
"But why spend Ł1,000 when Ł20 will do a very good job?"

Because many Ł20 programs -- such as yours -- don't have nearly the features
that Ł1000 programs do.

I would be the first to admit that plenty of Ł1000 programs are crap, though,
and not worth nearly the asking price.  But there are other Ł1000 programs
that are worth every penny...

But my Ł20 program does everything I want !!!!

I have found the more expensive packages come with bug lists !
Mine doesnt have a bug list coz I fixed the ones I have found !

 

[Joel Koltner]

"Marra" <cresswellavenue@talktalk.net> wrote in message
news:f8a576e8-5d36-4200-9f96-f9e2ec3ae0e5@f10g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
On Feb 4, 5:20 pm, "Joel Koltner" <zapwireDASHgro...@yahoo.com> wrote:
"But my Ł20 program does everything I want !!!!"

OK, but just for the sake of discussion here, one thing that we find quite
valuable where I work is the ability to tie in schematic capture to our MRP
system. This means that when you go to place a part, if you figure it'd a
part that we've used before, you can browse or search all the "database"
parts, find the part you want, and it'll automatically fill in all the various
part attributes that your database tells it to (e.g., component value,
manufacturer name & part no., tolerances, etc.). The ability to link to any
ODBC-complaint database is pretty nice in that it keeps as much information
about the parts your company is using in one place.

Your program doesn't do that, does it? (I certainly wouldn't expect it would
for the price...)

"I have found the more expensive packages come with bug lists !
Mine doesnt have a bug list coz I fixed the ones I have found !"

Hey, that's quite commendable. I'm sure your customers appreciate it.

---Joel

 

[Marra]

On Feb 4, 10:59 pm, "Joel Koltner" <zapwireDASHgro...@yahoo.com>
wrote:

"Marra" <cresswellave...@talktalk.net> wrote in message

news:f8a576e8-5d36-4200-9f96-f9e2ec3ae0e5@f10g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
On Feb 4, 5:20 pm, "Joel Koltner" <zapwireDASHgro...@yahoo.com> wrote:
"But my Ł20 program does everything I want !!!!"

OK, but just for the sake of discussion here, one thing that we find quite
valuable where I work is the ability to tie in schematic capture to our MRP
system.  This means that when you go to place a part, if you figure it'd a
part that we've used before, you can browse or search all the "database"
parts, find the part you want, and it'll automatically fill in all the various
part attributes that your database tells it to (e.g., component value,
manufacturer name & part no., tolerances, etc.).  The ability to link to any
ODBC-complaint database is pretty nice in that it keeps as much information
about the parts your company is using in one place.

Your program doesn't do that, does it?  (I certainly wouldn't expect it would
for the price...)

"I have found the more expensive packages come with bug lists !
Mine doesnt have a bug list coz I fixed the ones I have found !"

Hey, that's quite commendable.  I'm sure your customers appreciate it.

---Joel

With mine its even simpler you just merge in parts of older designs
which you know work !

Why use a sledgehammer to crack a nut ?

In a lot of my designs I often start from a previous schematic.

My software can update/replace any component you like with another
one.
Not bad for Ł20 !!!!

 

[Joel Koltner]

"Marra" <cresswellavenue@talktalk.net> wrote in message
news:8ab84a7a-71b8-4360-a041-5154559354f6@e25g2000prg.googlegroups.com...
"With mine its even simpler you just merge in parts of older designs
which you know work !"

If you're only using old parts, that's fine.

"Why use a sledgehammer to crack a nut ?"

Because some nuts are so tough to crack that you need a sledgehammer?

I have a suspicion here that you haven't had experience attempting to apply
your tools at a company that's doing dozens of different designs every year,
ordering hundreds of different parts every month, and yet still trying to make
their engineers' lives as simple (productive) as possible while not driving
logistics and purchasing insane in the process.

"My software can update/replace any component you like with another
one.
Not bad for Ł20 !!!!"

Agreed. Your competition is stuff like gEDA and the "free" (with a catch)
versions of software that Express PCB and Advanced Circuits put out, not
ORCAD/PADS/etc... Possibly Eagle, although even Eagle has a very complete
scripting language if you want to get fancy, whereas your software doesn't,
right? (But Eagle does cost noticeably more too...)

---Joel

 

[Joerg]

Joel Koltner wrote:

"Marra" <cresswellavenue@talktalk.net> wrote in message
news:f8a576e8-5d36-4200-9f96-f9e2ec3ae0e5@f10g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
On Feb 4, 5:20 pm, "Joel Koltner" <zapwireDASHgro...@yahoo.com> wrote:
"But my Ł20 program does everything I want !!!!"

OK, but just for the sake of discussion here, one thing that we find quite
valuable where I work is the ability to tie in schematic capture to our MRP
system. This means that when you go to place a part, if you figure it'd a
part that we've used before, you can browse or search all the "database"
parts, find the part you want, and it'll automatically fill in all the various
part attributes that your database tells it to (e.g., component value,
manufacturer name & part no., tolerances, etc.). The ability to link to any
ODBC-complaint database is pretty nice in that it keeps as much information
about the parts your company is using in one place.

Have you guys found a system that does that? We've tried in one company,
combining Agile, our older accounting system plus OrCad, AutoCad and
such. None of the CAD systems were allowing a useful MRP link. Sure, you
could find schematics and OrCad would automatically pop up. But picking
parts from MRP into an open schematic page, with pricing popping up and
stuff, nope, didn't do it.

This is exactly the question I asked the Agile guys and then they were
scratching their heads. Other than that it was a good system but it
didn't go that far. The only systems that were able to come close were
the ones my father dealt with at IBM, back in the days of central
processing and terminals where MRP and CAD came from the same vendor.
Usually at rather steep seat prices but it worked.

[...]

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

 

[Joel Koltner]

Hi Joerg,

"Joerg" <notthisjoergsch@removethispacbell.net> wrote in message
news:R97qj.54463$Pv2.29541@newssvr23.news.prodigy.net...

Have you guys found a system that does that?

Sort of.

For production items we use ORCAD and it was previously tied into a home-grown
database. The guy who wrote the database maintenance program was a
(particularly good) summer intern, so when he left it began to slowly fall
into disarray and it became clear that some of the program's architecture was
not as conducive to getting design work done as we'd have liked. Still, while
it was maintained it did prove valuable.

Flash forward to the present. We're currently installing one of those big,
fancy MRP systems and our ("not a database programmer") IT guy has been tasked
with getting it integrated with ORCAD. I know that he's encountered some
problems while doing so, but sooner or later all of this is supposed to come
together and make life a little bit easier again in that generated BOMs will
have correct manufacturers' part numbers in them.

This has been taking longer than the company originally anticipated, but I've
been involved with the adoption of "big fancy MRP systems" at a previous
company and I'm personally not surprised. Such systems often seem to consume
enormous amounts of a company's time and money before they begin producing
useful results!

But picking parts from MRP into an open schematic page, with pricing popping
up and stuff, nope, didn't do it.

This is what ORCAD CIS does (lets you browse a database that can have whatever
fields you want, e.g., component name, type, value, manufacturer's part no.,
price, etc.). It doesn't do it as well as it should -- every time you go to
place another database part it collapses the tree of all your parts categories
and has several other productivity-sapping annoyances -- but it does work.
Pulsonix has their database connectivity option that claims it'll do the same
things -- and in a somewhat less brain-dead manner -- but I've only read the
documentation for it and not actually tried it out on a real project. From
past discussions on here Protel and CADStar claim some degree of database
connectivity as well.

---Joel

 

[Joerg]

Joel Koltner wrote:

Hi Joerg,

"Joerg" <notthisjoergsch@removethispacbell.net> wrote in message
news:R97qj.54463$Pv2.29541@newssvr23.news.prodigy.net...
Have you guys found a system that does that?

Sort of.

That's what they all do

For production items we use ORCAD and it was previously tied into a home-grown
database. The guy who wrote the database maintenance program was a
(particularly good) summer intern, so when he left it began to slowly fall
into disarray and it became clear that some of the program's architecture was
not as conducive to getting design work done as we'd have liked. Still, while
it was maintained it did prove valuable.

Yep, this stuff needs to be fully documented or it falls apart really fast.

Flash forward to the present. We're currently installing one of those big,
fancy MRP systems and our ("not a database programmer") IT guy has been tasked
with getting it integrated with ORCAD. I know that he's encountered some
problems while doing so, but sooner or later all of this is supposed to come
together and make life a little bit easier again in that generated BOMs will
have correct manufacturers' part numbers in them.

I don't want to be your IT guy right now. OrCad has great stuff such as
lots of additional part fields, something that took Cadsoft many years
to add. But I never saw OrCad seemlessly integrate those with a standard
database. However, I didn't try anything past 9.3 or whatever it was
called because it crashed too often. Now that they seem to have axed
OrCad Layout I probably won't touch it anyways.

This has been taking longer than the company originally anticipated, but I've
been involved with the adoption of "big fancy MRP systems" at a previous
company and I'm personally not surprised. Such systems often seem to consume
enormous amounts of a company's time and money before they begin producing
useful results!

We had Agile up and running pretty fast but we also invested lots into
employee training at the earliest possible time. In the training room we
first had a mock system set up so we could test the heck out of it
without any risks. Then we'd call them in every now and then and told
them that we found this, that and the other thing that needed to be changed.

But picking parts from MRP into an open schematic page, with pricing popping
up and stuff, nope, didn't do it.

This is what ORCAD CIS does (lets you browse a database that can have whatever
fields you want, e.g., component name, type, value, manufacturer's part no.,
price, etc.). It doesn't do it as well as it should -- every time you go to
place another database part it collapses the tree of all your parts categories
and has several other productivity-sapping annoyances -- but it does work.
Pulsonix has their database connectivity option that claims it'll do the same
things -- and in a somewhat less brain-dead manner -- but I've only read the
documentation for it and not actually tried it out on a real project. From
past discussions on here Protel and CADStar claim some degree of database
connectivity as well.

Would be nice to hear some success stories from users. Maybe you'll have
one soon. I sure hope it works.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

 

[Marra]

On Feb 5, 4:31 pm, "Joel Koltner" <zapwireDASHgro...@yahoo.com> wrote:

"Marra" <cresswellave...@talktalk.net> wrote in message

news:8ab84a7a-71b8-4360-a041-5154559354f6@e25g2000prg.googlegroups.com...
"With mine its even simpler you just merge in parts of older designs
which you know work !"

If you're only using old parts, that's fine.

"Why use a sledgehammer to crack a nut ?"

Because some nuts are so tough to crack that you need a sledgehammer?

I have a suspicion here that you haven't had experience attempting to apply
your tools at a company that's doing dozens of different designs every year,
ordering hundreds of different parts every month, and yet still trying to make
their engineers' lives as simple (productive) as possible while not driving
logistics and purchasing insane in the process.

"My software can update/replace any component you like with another
one.
Not bad for Ł20 !!!!"

Agreed.  Your competition is stuff like gEDA and the "free" (with a catch)
versions of software that Express PCB and Advanced Circuits put out, not
ORCAD/PADS/etc...  Possibly Eagle, although even Eagle has a very complete
scripting language if you want to get fancy, whereas your software doesn't,
right?  (But Eagle does cost noticeably more too...)

---Joel

I dont provide a scripting language because I consider I provide
everything anyone might need.
Having said that there is no reason why someone cant put the parts
lists into a spread sheet etc.

The software was written while I was a electronics design consultant
and had modules added as needed.
So the software was used over dozens of different projects.

Even to this day I add more modules as I feel fit.
The current project is a 3D viewer of the PCB of which the first
version is out now.

 

[Joel Koltner]

Hi Marra,

"Marra" <cresswellavenue@talktalk.net> wrote in message
news:056bfde6-5acb-441d-8852-29e79b74b53b@c4g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
On Feb 5, 4:31 pm, "Joel Koltner" <zapwireDASHgro...@yahoo.com> wrote:
"I dont provide a scripting language because I consider I provide
everything anyone might need."

Ironically the reason programs provide scripting languages is because they
realize that it's generally impossible to provide "everything anyone might
need."

One of the frequency-asked-for features over on the Yahoo! Pulsonix group is
either a scripting language of a COM interface. I'd certainly appreciate
having one...

---Joel

 

[Joerg]

Joel Koltner wrote:

Hi Marra,

"Marra" <cresswellavenue@talktalk.net> wrote in message
news:056bfde6-5acb-441d-8852-29e79b74b53b@c4g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
On Feb 5, 4:31 pm, "Joel Koltner" <zapwireDASHgro...@yahoo.com> wrote:
"I dont provide a scripting language because I consider I provide
everything anyone might need."

Ironically the reason programs provide scripting languages is because they
realize that it's generally impossible to provide "everything anyone might
need."

One of the frequency-asked-for features over on the Yahoo! Pulsonix group is
either a scripting language of a COM interface. I'd certainly appreciate
having one...

Eagle has the scripting feature. Unfortunately it does not support a
hierarchical sheet structures so it's out for a lot of serious work.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/