🚀 go-pugleaf

A number of requests have come up lately requesting information about PADS
Software for drawing schematics and laying out printed circuit boards. Having
just researched this subject in the past couple of weeks, I offer the following
comments:

(1) What is PADS?
Pads Software is a Massachussets-based company that sells a variety of CAD-type 
pc-layout software packages. A complete schematic-capture and layout package
starts at about $1500 (for DOS machines) and ranges to $10K+. Universities get
a fifty percent discount. A Shareware version of the DOS software is available,
however, which has many of the features of the $1500 package.

(2) Where do I get the shareware version of PADS?
You can call the company's 800 number and request it. They're very nice about
mailing it out, but remember that the company isn't running a charity and hopes
to sell their full-fledged version. Alternately, you can download it from one
of the archive networks using ftp. I have obtained it successfully from
wsmr-simtel20.army.mil, where it can be found in the directory pd1:<msdos.cad>.
Don't forget to use a binary transfer, and when you unzip the file specify the
-d switch on PKUNZIP to preserve the zipped directory structure.

(3) What files do I need?
PADS comes in three files: PADSLOG (contains the schematic capture program),
PADSPCB (which contains the pc-layout program), and PADSLIB, which contains the
component libaries. Once the files are unzipped, you'll also find a program
PINSTALL.EXE which you can use to install the programs.  Also read the README
files.  You'll need three floppies.


(4) What about documentation?
There are documentation files on both PADSLOG and PADSPCB, which you should
print out. They give you a rough introduction to the capability of the software
but are no substitute for a full-fledged manual.  Unfortunately, Pads Software
is reluctant to sell the manual (actually, you can buy one for $500), because
they've had problems with pirate copying). The latest shareware documentation
from the company contains some helpful information that is not yet in the
archives, incidentally.  However, the archives do have the latest release of
the shareware itself. 

(5) How hard is PADS to learn?
I have found the learning curve to be rather steep -- about like learning
Autocad, though much of my frustration is associated with not having a
full-fledged manual and having therefore to experiment quite a bit. The
software is very powerful, however, and if you have a need for this sort of
thing probably worth the 20 or so hours it will take to learn to use it.

(6) What are the limitations of the shareware version of PADS?
The shareware version restricts you to projects of roughly 35 ICs -- which
should be large enough for most hobbiests.  Actually, the shareware limits
include many aspects of the design. It limits you, for instance, to 75 text
strings, 750 text characters, 1000 corners, 50 arcs, 25 part types, 50 gates,
100 tie dots, etc. One caution: Don't try to learn the software by designing an
important project, since every time you add and then delete a component (and,
believe me, you'll be doing this constantly as you learn, say, which of the
two dozen capacitor decals you want to use) the software counts the component
toward the limit but doesn't uncount it when the component is deleted.

(7) Is it worth the effort?
If you have need for some well-designed professional-grade software of this
type, then yes: PADS shareware is an incredible gift from the company. On the
other hand, I can guarantee you hours of struggle before you're comfortable
using it. If you'd like to read more about it, one of the upscale Pads products
was reviewed in the Oct. 15, 1992 issue of EDN. The shareware version has most
of the same features, although the menu layout is a bit different.