WF AUTOMACAO wrote:
>
> > I am searching for integrated development enviroment system for
> > schematic capture, simulation and PCB editting.
> >
> > By now I have seen old verions of MicroSim Design Center and
> > Protel Schematic & PCB.
> > Do someone knows about some else ?
>
> Orcad is very good! Has a PLD implementation better than protel!

Hmmm, I would not go so far as to call OrCAD good.  I'm using OrCAD
(Capture and Layout 7.10 Engineering Edition) and am rather displeased
with the number of crashes that I see with it.  It also has lots of
quirks that make like just more difficult.
For my FPGA stuff I use Altera MaxPlus.  Wonderful software, works very
well (although not completely bug free (haven't lost any data yet (knock
on wood))).  In comparison, the OrCAD schematic entry is very awkward.
For example, where MaxPlus allows me to double-click to enter a new
part, in OrCAD I have to go to the menu to select the kind of part that
I want.  It allows you to press P for placing a part, but there's no
shortcut for VCC and GND.  Also, in MaxPlus I just need to point the
cursor at a wire and start dragging if I want it extended, and if I want
to trim several wires at once I just drag a select box over the bits
that I want to cut off and press [Del].  In OrCAD I have to carefully
select each line segment by the end point (not in the middle!) and drag
it longer or shorter.  Adding extra connections requires pressing W or
selecting Wire from the menu.  It's a pain.  And updating parts in a
library (and getting the new outlines in the schematic) is just a single
menu entry in MaxPlus (which automagically finds all parts in any
libraries), where in OrCAD I have to select the part both in the library
and in the schematic library cache, and then select one of two menu
entries (Update Cache or Replace Cache).  And you never can delete items
from the schematic library cache -- just see those files growing and
growing.

To me, OrCAD looks just like as if they have taken a mediocre drawing
package and just added some menu entries to support electronic design.
Also, I have had to add *every* vaguely interesting component to the
libraries myself; to get full libraries OrCAD tells you to go buy them
from some design company (901 or something).

Sorry about rambling on for so long, but it has been a long day (again).

Frank (cc to OrCAD and our supplier)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Frank A. Vorstenbosch     <UCE_ACCEPT="NONE">     Phone: 0181 - 636 3000
Electronics and Software Engineer                 Mobile: 0976 - 430 569
Eidos Technologies Ltd., Wimbledon, London        Email: fav@eidos.co.uk