Both designers and fabricators expect 𝐧𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬 between the data they have, especially for testing. No one wants to find out defects after manufacturing a batch of boards, at in-circuit test or even after final assembly. Therefore, having a reliable netlist is very important.

Netlists may have different purposes and may have unique data formats. We will introduce the three most common types today.

1. 𝐀 𝐏𝐂𝐁 𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐞 specifies different ports on components and the net to which they are connected. Netlists are pretty straightforward to read. This is just a simple text file (ASCII file) that can be opened by any text editor. A PCB netlist file is used graphically in customer’s schematic editor as well as PCB layout editor.

2. If customers send ODB++ format to fabricators, the package may have a net list file. However, if they send Gerber Data, fabricators need to extract a netlist file from the received data, called 𝐆𝐞𝐫𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐅𝐢𝐥𝐞.

3. Sometimes, the Gerber files output from customers’ CAD program has 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝 because there was no way to verify that the files matched the design intent. Fabricators also need to adjust many details during your CAM process. Therefore, fabricators need a tool like 𝐞𝐳𝐅𝐢𝐱𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐈𝐈 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞 to generate a reliable netlist (IPC-D-356 file) for testing and comparing the schematic netlist file to the Gerber data.

This test will be performed BEFORE the bare board manufacturing is started. Not only reliable netlists, ezFixture II can also generate reliable test points for a 100%-valid continuity test, saving money for both fabricators and your customers.