Home
Features
Downloads
Pricing
Updates
Online Help
Links
Contact
CIRCAD Italy
About Us

Update OmniGlyph


The authorization process will ask for your User ID and password. The User ID is your product serial number and the password will always be "OmniGlyph" in upper/lower case letters.

If you believe that you have entered this information correctly, and are unable to log in, please contact Holophase at (888) 363-0705 or by e-mail to: sales@holophase.com.

   Download OmniGlyph V-6 update.
Current Version: 6.1g
Released Date: June 1, 2014
Most Recent Build: June 9, 2014
Recent Changes:

A few of coding errors have been corrected from the previous release.


Version 6.1c~f

A new pop-up context menu has been added to the status bar when a Place Line or a Place Ortho-Line function is in effect. The pop-up menu will have one entry for each distinct line width within the current data file. This feature has been added by customer request to ease the task of changing track widths during the placing of a single polyline sequence.

The Delete Vertex function will now properly regenerate the affected screen section to clear the purged line segments.

The Krump Text function will now properly process text strings with non-unity aspect ratios.

The G-Code Output routines will now insert an "M03" command after every tool change operation.

The DXF import filter has been updated and will now process LWPOLY entities.

A automatic "ranging" subroutine has been added to the import filters to repair arcs that have been erroneously generated with angles outside the allowable range of zero to 360 degrees.

A "No Fill" selection has been added to the Flood Fill dialog box. When selected, entities will be outlined but no fill or crosshatch lines will be generated.

A user preference entry has been added to defeat the re-shaping feature of the Grab Fill function. This preference has been named "Grab Entire Fill" and may be set to "Yes" or "No".

Either the left mouse button or the right mouse button may now be used to invoke the status bar menus. Prior to this, only the right mouse button would invoke the pop-up context menu.

The selected pixel image format for printing will now be "remembered" for subsequent print operations.

A minor bug in an internal arc chording subroutine for Gerber Output has been fixed and will now properly generate arcs within metric based data files.

A new feature has been added to font generation tables to defeat the default inter-character spacing algorithm. To specify such "pre-spaced" characters, the defining component must begin with "$$$" instead of the normal "$$".

A new feature has been added to the Astro Imaging menu to remove the vignetting gradient from a raw pixel image.

An annoying and confusing PixColorMap array has been removed from the Alt-Z key. Currently, Alt-Z no longer has a function assigned to it.

A minor arithmetic bug in an internal text sizing subroutine has been fixed and will now properly process small characters with degenerate arc segments. This bug affected only the display size of the component in the preview window and had no effect upon any generated output.

A minor arithmetic bug in an internal pad sizing subroutine has been fixed and will now properly process oddly shaped pads within components. This bug affected only the "grab" size of the component and had no effect upon any generated output.

A minor bug in an internal bulged line to arc subroutine has been fixed and will now properly process degenerate bulged lines.

A new feature has been added to the printing process enabling you to set a transparency color for pixel images. To use this option, simply select the desired color after invoking the File: Printer Out dialog box.

The pixel image display options can now be changed "on the fly" while editing. To toggle between the various display modes you simply hit CTL-M on the keyboard.


Version 6.1b

A new feature has been added to the printing process enabling you to print highlighted lines in a special highlight color of your choice. To use this option, simply highlight the desired signal net before invoking the File: Printer Out dialog box and select your favorite highlight color.

A minor bug in the Place: Build Component function has been repaired. This problem would show up only with data files whose basic address units had been set to metric. The function now works properly in all file modes. A similar problem with the Place: Component function was repaired one year ago.

A minor improvement has been added to the flood fill routines allowing you to NOT produce any flood or cross-hatch lines. This feature is most likely of limited utility, but it was requested by an actual customer.

An option has been added to the pixel image display routines allowing you to display one single image (at a time) in a multi-image data file. This will be most useful in complex reverse engineering projects that require multiple scans for the several layers of the board.

A new feature has been added to the place line function which will provide you with a list of current line widths and allow you to select one of those widths to be used in upcoming line placement. This new pop-up menu can be invoked by simply clicking on the Place: Line or Place: Ortho-Line function name in the status bar at the bottom of the window. The pop-up menus for Grid and Layer selection remain intact and have not changed their functionality.

The cross-hair graphics cursor can now be changed in thickness "on the fly" while editing. To toggle between thick and thin cursor modes you simply hit CTL-H on the keyboard.


Version 6.1a

A minor bug in the Gerber Out function has been repaired. This problem would show up only when processing very old PCB files that did not have the drill table contained into a internally flagged and hidden component ($$DTD).

The Printer Out function has been augmented to handle printers with "long" name strings. Windows itself provides no internal mechanism to process these names and relies entirely on the target programs (such as Omniglyph) to do the additional work needed to handle this feature. Prior to this "fix", printers that had a device name longer than 31 characters could not be remembered by the system and would require a new setup each time the user requested a print operation.

In response to customer request, you now have the ability to disable the Smart Rotation feature that has always been automatic when rotating components with embedded text. This feature has the keyword "Text De-Rotation" and is accessible through the Setup: User Preferences dialog box.

An esoteric bug has been removed from the font processing subroutines. This bug would only affect special font data strings that contained illegal (non-ASCII) characters.

A new pixel image output filter has been added that will allow you to save any picture file in DICOM format. This file type is used by the medical imaging profession and is not necessarily relevant to most electronics engineers.

In response to customer request, you now have the ability to disable Zero Suppression on Exellon drill files. This feature is accessible on the Gerber Output dialog box.


Version 6.0d

A few small improvements have been made to the source library import processing to help existing customers who have manually created their own source libraries of components. Libraries that have been created and maintained with the automatic built-in library functions do not require these enhancements.

A new "single axis only" scaling mechanism has been added to the Block: Rotate/Scale/Mirror dialog box. This new functionality will work with both Block: Move and Block: Copy operations.

It is now possible to "deselect" all background images such that only normal drawing elements will be displayed. This feature will be most useful during reverse engineering tasks when it might be important to carefully observe a layout upon the sea of background grid dots rather than on top of one of the attached images.


Version 6.0c

Arcs with zero radius are now processed by the display routines. They are generated onto the screen as a spot with a diameter equal to the circumferential line width.

A small but significant problem with the Krump Text logic has been corrected. This bug would cause all stroked arcs within the character glyphs characters to be saved with a null radius, even though they would appear normal on the screen before the save operation. Text elements with non-unity aspect ratios did not suffer this problem.

A minor improvement to the JPEG import filters allow them to detect and process files that are missing the resolution tag in their JFIF header. The arbitrarily selected value of 100 dots per inch is supplied as a default.

We are in the process of implementing a new import filter for Altium PCB data files. Customer input is desired in order for us to complete this endeavor.


Version 6.0b

The original 1990s vintage DOS CIRCAD font is now available as an option for any text string. This feature was added to placate a few of the old-timers who wish to make legacy circuit boards.

In keeping with our pledge to NOT render older format data files obsolete, an option has been added to the DOS CIRCAD import filter to process the data files in integral mils (thousandths of an inch) rather than the more normal fractions of an inch. This feature may be accessed by setting the Import V3 Units property in the Setup: User Preferences dialog box. Valid entries are "mils" or "inches"

An under-score / over-score / strike-through style has been added to text strings. This new feature can be accessed through the Place: Text and the Edit: Text Parameters functions.

A highly esoteric bug has been removed from the basic units conversion subroutine. This bug would only affect elements whose "size" fields were expressed as a rational fraction and only if the user changed the basic address unit of an existing data file. This operation is almost never done by anyone.


Version 6.0a

Due to customer outcry, the Default Layer property of the elementary Place functions (added in V5.5) has been returned to its traditional behaviour of following the currently selected layer. The Layer Retention property is still available by setting its keyword through the Setup: User Preferences dialog box.

A minor anomaly in the text drawing subroutine has been corrected. This bug was the result of a previously undetected typographical error and would cause some rotated text to be clipped as it was drawn to the screen. The text itself was not affected by this problem, only its appearance on the display.

A minor problem with the Krump Filled Solid logic has been corrected. This bug would allow the user to build a filled solid region from a source polyline with fewer than three segments, which unfortunately resulted in the creation of a collapsed polygon. It appears this shortcoming has been in the code since the late 20th century.

The Text Aspect Ratio feature (added two weeks ago) has been given a new and easy to use graphical interface. The new re-sizing capability has been assigned to the Alternate Up/Down/Left/Right keys. These Alt-keystroke combinations were previously not used by CIRCAD. To stretch or squash a text string either vertically or horizontally, all that is necessary is to Grab the desired text element and press the Alt-Up, Alt-Down, Alt-Left, or Alt-Right keys. Once properly re-sized, the text may moved to its final location and placed back onto the drawing sheet.

Through hole pads may now be constructed without a drill hole. This apparent contradiction may find utility in the creation of esoteric pads where the hole must be placed out of the center of the actual copper pad. In this case, a normal but thin rimmed pad with pin number and drill hole would be placed where needed to fit the legs of the component, and a larger (possibly oval) through-hole type pad with no pin number and no drill hole would be placed on top of (but not centered on) the holed pad.

A new feature has been added to allow users to replace individual characters within the default font or to built their own entirely new font. This will satisfy those customers wishing to add a slash to the numeral zero or a dash through a Z or a 7. Although simple in concept, the task of creating an entirely new font is a very exacting process that requires a high degree of both skill and artistic talent, and a poorly constructed font will actually diminish the visual quality of the finished PCB. Those few customers who feel the urge to change or augment the supplied font should contact Holophase headquarters for examples of and documentation for this new functionality.

An new Aspect Ratio parameter has been added to the text elements that are used for silk-screening on PCB data files. This feature will allow you to [horizontally] stretch or squash a piece of text so that it will more neatly fit into a particular spacing restriction. This will likely have its greatest utility in reverse engineering applications.

The Place Component function will now properly display components from metric data files. This was a somewhat complex problem that had a surprisingly simple solution.

A small but very visible problem with the Gerber Output display of metric format has been corrected. This bug caused the Excellon drill data to be displayed at an incorrect size on the composite drawing sheets that are made to verify the output data. The data were correct, but the display was not, causing considerable confusion for the user.

A problem in the Mirror top-to-bottom subroutine has been repaired. This error prevented the program from flipping all the layers if a Filled Solid element was present in the grabbed items. This bug has apparently been undetected (or at least unreported) for a considerable length of time.

The PDF and EPS output routines will now print an annular ring around mounting holes (pads with holes larger than the pad size). This problem has apparently been in CIRCAD for several years at least through the duration of Version 5x.

The virtual screen addressing logic has been enhanced to allow negative XY values. This will occur if the primary screen (Display 1) is not the upper left display of a multi-head system. Computers with only one display were not affected by this problem. This anomaly was encountered by the very first person to download the new update to V6.

The inch-to-metric conversion has been updated to reflect the new world standard of 1 inch = 25.4 mm. Prior to this, CIRCAD had been using the 20-th century standard of 1 inch = 25.39999983236 mm. The difference may be subtle, but it should satisfy some of the more discerning customers.

A new advanced setup function has been added that will allow the user to examine and manipulate all of the internal variables that CIRCAD uses for its operational functionality. This new feature will not be necessary for the casual user.

An entirely new drawing engine has been installed, completely replacing the previous model that used "Direct Draw" to access the screen. The new graphics engine uses only standard Windows GDI calls. Although this is a little slower and somewhat less efficient, the change was necessary in order to move forward in the ever-changing software environment within the computing industry.




Those customers wishing to remain with the previous version of Omniglyph may still acquire the last released code module here.
   Download OmniGlyph V-5 update.
Current Version: 5.5f
Released Date: October 15, 2011
Most Recent Build: October 11, 2011
Recent Changes:

A bug has been removed from the Bill of Materials CSV output routine so that it once again will stack matching components across an entry line. This bug was the result of a typographical error introduced with the release of Version 5.4e, but not reported till now.


Version 5.5e

A subtle but crippling bug has been removed from the code that draws rotated rectangular pads. This bug was introduced a little over a week ago with the release of Version 5.5d.


Version 5.5d

The displaying of filled-solid elements has been improvement such that they now always display the full width of the perimeter line.

The Block: Track Isolation  function has received a few additional improvements.


Version 5.5c

The File: Interactive Reports: Signal IPC-D List export filter has been enhanced to process source PCB files in both inch and metric formats. In addition to data format conversion, the IPC-D data file now contains a Units entry of CUST 0 for inch files and CUST 1 for metric files.

The DXF import filter has been enhanced to include SPLINE entities, however they are imported only as simple straight line segments without cubic interpolation.

The Block: Track Isolation  function has received a few additional improvements.

The Block: Isolation Output function has received a few more esoteric enhancements. This will be of interest only to those very few people that have CNC machines to route the circuit paths from a blank copper clad board.


Version 5.5b

The processing of filled-solid elements has been improvement such that they now grab, flood, and isolate properly with a thick perimeter line.

An improvement to the processing of ellipse sections within components accidentally caused the program to hang-up on ellipses with no specified sweep angle. That problem has been resolved.

Somehow, when the Block: Rotation/Scale/Mirror function was added, many of the other block functions quit working. The problem has been repaired. Everyone with V5.5a should update their copy of the program to avoid this relatively serious bug.

The Block: Isolation Output function has received additional enhancements.

The Edit: Arc dialog box has been re-built to provide additional functionality to group editing. These changes match those added to the Edit: Line dialog box last month.

The elementary Place functions (line, arc, and text) now will retain the most recent placement layer and will use that layer as a default. The Place: Pad function has always retained its most recent layer, and the Place: Via function still gets its default layer and size from the Setup: Parameters/Defaults dialog box.


Version 5.5a

Several of the internal structures have been expanded to accommodate a new set of features that will be added in the upcoming months. This has taken the programming staff several weeks to complete, even though there are no visible changes in functionality.

A new image sequencing function has been added to AstroPix (one of OmniGlyph's five skins) that simplifies the task of creating a time lapsed movie from set of raw images. An example of this applied to last years Winter Solstice Lunar Eclipse may be viewed at this link. It may be necessary to download the WMV file to play it on your computer.

A new control command has been added to the Encapsulated Postscript Output (EPS) to allow it to print in ledger format (11x17) on a wider variety of printers.

The Block menu now has a general purpose function to control rotation, scaling, and mirroring.

The Block: Isolation Output function has been improved by adding additional controls to handle a wider range of CNC machines.

The Un-Do/Re-Do functions now work properly with cropping and rotating of pixel images.

The Edit: Line dialog box has been re-built to provide additional functionality to group editing.

A subtle bug in the arc discrimination subroutine has been repaired. This bug made it difficult to grab tiny arcs in tight places.

The internal function to redraw a rectangle now properly draws single vertical and horizontal lines of zero thicknesses.

The Edit menu now has a general purpose function to edit a single component.

The Place: Arc function now allows zero rim thickness.

The File Auto-Save Auto-Load warning message now includes the time stamps of both the Auto-Save file and the original target data file. This is a small but significant improvement.

The Nets: Netlist Out dialog box has been expanded to provide additional control over the embedded DRC functions.


Version 5.4f

Components with explicit (embedded) pixel images are now processed by all functions. Prior to this enhancement, only implicit pixel arrays were permitted within components.


Version 5.4e

A subtle but serious bug in the Block: Copy to Clipboard has been repaired. This bug would manifest itself when processing text strings imported from the ancient Version 3 (DOS) data files.

A new selection has been added to the Zoom menu to invoke the single layer display mode.The function has always existed through the <F10> key, but it is now available through the menu system as well.

An extremely subtle bug in the Block: Isolation Output function has been repaired. This bug was a result of a rounding error in the standard floating point arithmetic routines.

Five of the ten component parameters (3, 4, 5, 6, and 7) can now be given user specific names. These names may be modified from a new Component entry in the Setup menu. This is a systems-level variable that will be used across all data files.

A new USB hardware security key has been added to replace the previous [obsolete] parallel port Rainbow Technologies key.


Version 5.4d

A subtle but serious bug in the Grab/Rotate of a pixel array has been repaired. This bug was a result of a typographical error introduced in while repairing the print alignment two weeks ago.

A minor bug in the Block: Flood Fill routine has been fixed. This was a very esoteric problem that only affected the first (bottom-most) flood line in some trapezoidal shaped regions. This problem has apparently been in the code for several years.

A minor bug in the Place: Component routine has been repaired. This was a somewhat esoteric bug that caused an incorrect choice of data parameters when attempting to replicate a component with an EC/PC sequence. The code at this point has to deal with a very complex set of conditions, and the current solution may not be the final one.

A minor improvement to the JPEG import and export filters allow them to recognize and process a few of the more significant EXIF tags. The primary driving force behind this change was to expand the processing to include images produced by the some of the newer cameras which no longer create files in JFIF format.

A minor bug in the Place Part subroutine has been fixed. This bug inadvertently crept in on Version 5.4b, and caused the the program to revert to "layer zero" whenever a signal name tag was placed.

The Rectangularization function has been enhanced by adding a checkbox to disable the previously mandatory target size and resolution entries. This new option will resample the pixel array using its current size and resolution parameters.

A new Trapezoid function has been added to the pixel imaging group. This can be used to correct for an off-center photograph of an otherwise rectangular object (such as a doorway or a window).

The Pin/Barrel function has been expanded to include 24-bit color source images.

An easy to use Flatten function has been added to lessen the burden of merging graphical objects into a background pixel image. This will be greatest value to those users who wish to add text, symbols, labels, or foreground images to a large picture file.

A minor bug in the File: Printer Out function has been found and exterminated. This bug was the result of a rounding error and caused some pixel images to be misaligned and/or incorrectly sized by one pixel when printed. This problem has apparently been in the code for several years.

TrueType Fonts. OmniGlyph can now process and display any TrueType or OpenType font that has been loaded onto your computer. This will enable users to create drawing notes that look distinctive and different from the simple vector font used for PCB silk screening. TrueType fonts are computational (by design) and do not resolve into a set of vectors, so they cannot be used on the actual PCB itself. It might be possible to generate Gerber files by filling each of the bit-mapped character glyphs with hundreds of tiny thin line segments. We will await feedback from our customers to determine a reasonable course of action on this feature.

A minor bug in the File: Total Recall dialog has been repaired. This bug inadvertently crept in on Version 5.4a, and did not affect the usage of the Total Recall function.

A minor bug in the Astro: Stack Images dialog has been repaired. This bug inadvertently crept in on Version 5.4a, and did not affect the actual stacking of images.


Version 5.4c

The Next Gridsnap function (Alt-G on the keyboard) will now clear prompting messages for four seconds. This will remove the confusion and uncertainty that currently exists when changing grid snap settings during the definition of a block or a zoom window.

The Thick Crosshair mode is now observed by the "dashed line" logic used in the Block: Define, Block: Rectangle, and Zoom: Window algorithms.

Two additions have been made to the Setup: Administrator box. The first one is a simple refinement of the component library controls. The other is a new feature that will automatically lock files as they are opened, thereby preventing multiple users from simultaneously editing the same set of data files. Individual files or projects can be manually locked or unlocked from the context menu associated with the file tabs. The locked/unlocked status of any file can be ascertained from the pop-up "help tip" associated with the file tabs.

The functionality of the Numeric + and Numeric - keys has been expanded to control scaling and rotating of grabbed items. The ALT key combination will scale by ±3.125% and the CTL key combination will rotate by ±1.40625°. The normal function of these keys is to step up or down through the active source layers. Incremental scaling and rotation are still available using the scroll wheel on the mouse in conjunction with the ALT or CTL keys on the keyboard

A change has been made to the GCdraw subroutine such that a grabbed pixel array is now filled with a cross-hatched matrix of lines. Prior to this change, only the rectangular outline of the pixel array would be drawn when grabbed, which could easily go completely off-screen when zoomed in. The new cross-hatched grid will always remain visible.

A change has been made to the GCjump subroutine such that the screen is now panned only the minimum amount necessary to bring the cursor back into the active area. Prior to this change, the screen would be redrawn with the cursor in the center if it ever jumped "out of bounds".

An option has been added to inhibit the graying of menu items that are not immediately available for use. This change was made to placate a few of the old-timers who still long for the simplicity of DOS, but this feature adds no functionality to the program.

An improved drawing algorithm has been installed for spirals in outline and sparse fill modes. This will be most significant on nearly degenerate spirals as the radius approaches the line width.


Version 5.4b

The Nets: Name Net function can now be used to modify the upper/lower case of an existing signal name. Prior to this change, the specific case designation of the characters in any signal name was set by the first instance of that signal name.

The Mirror View function now properly mirrors both the cursor position and the relative zero point.

A subtle bug in the Grab: Filled Solid subroutine has been repaired. This bug inadvertently crept in on Version 5.4b.

Three new internet access selections have been added to the Help menu.

The Block: Copy to Clipboard function now includes a layer setup table to ease the moving of data between files.

There is now an option on the Gerber Output box to inhibit the generation of the name/date/time stamp.

An assortment of new image processing functions have been added to the Edit: Pixel Image menu.

An easy to use Rectangularization function has been added to lessen the burden of image alignment for reverse engineering operations.

A background colorization feature has been added to the Place: Component function. The source libraries have been updated accordingly.

A new Spiral element has been added to the system. There is also additional functionality available when editing the [three] classes of curved objects.


Version 5.4a

There is a new netlisting function that will display a pixel image associated with the highlighted signal net. This may be an oscillograph image or any other desired data file.

A password protected Setup: Administrator box has been added to control access for multi-seat networked sites.

All setup parameters have been moved from the Windows Registry to a new .INI file. This change should have little or no impact on the normal user.



Home