Public Release Notes

Now reading version 20.2. For the latest, read: Public Release Notes for version 24
 

The following sections list the release notes for publicly released versions of Altium Designer 20.2.

For a summary of new features and enhancements in Altium Designer 20.2, see New in Altium Designer.

Version 20.2.8 (Update 4)

Build: 258 Date: 22 March 2021

Schematic
43947 Harnesses nested by using a dot connection resulted in an invalid error message. (BC:14436)

Version 20.2.7 (Update 3 Hot Fix)

Build: 254 Date: 18 December 2020

BOM
41728 The template file name was not displayed in the Bill of Materials report.
Data Management
41675 If models are soft-deleted, the Library Migrator will still recognize them and will reuse them.

Version 20.2.6 (Update 3)

Build: 244 Date: 28 October 2020

PCB
40299 xSignals remained broken in the PCB panel after they were fixed and saved. (BC:14110)
40895 Polygons placed on top or bottom layers were not transferred properly to decals in the MCAD CoDesigner panel. (BC:14330)
41040 Polygons were not connected to the correct net in exported ODB++ files.
41133 IPC-2581 export resulted in missing pads for certain components.
41134 IPC-2581: Component designators have a different output name if the original title ended with a letter.
Platform
37983 An access violation occurred when switching to a new Workspace after disconnecting from another.
41064 Crash occurred in Extension Manager when software was installed from Offline installer and extension did not have pictures.
41331 An issue caused the software to no longer be accessible if a modal dialog was open and another application, such as Excel, was used afterward.
Data Management
38702 An exception error was displayed instead of a proper warning during Version Control operation due to unsupported protocol.
41046 When uploading an Outputjob file to the Explorer panel, the Name and Description of the item was removed.
41118 The Project Releaser used the wrong variant in PDF outputs when No Variations was used.
Draftsman
40195 Variant components were not displayed in the Draftsman document. (BC:13900).

Version 20.2.5 (Update 2)

Build: 213 Date: 13 October 2020

Schematic
37492 All violations from Connection Matrix were incorrectly added to the "Specific Violations" in the Properties panel after reloading the Schematic document.
39694  The 'Send to back' command caused the software to crash when used outside of the sheet. (BC:12218)
40693  "No top level document to compare with" error message displayed during attempted import of changes.
PCB
40443  When IPC-2581 Fabrication files were output, the project board name was appended to the component designators.
40752  Footprints with the same name from different libraries are now reported with different names in IPC-2581.
40793  No custom layers were propagated in the new footprint when created from Vault Explorer. (BC:13639)
40794  "Tented" option did not take effect for placed Vias after setting in Preferences dialog. (BC:13392)
Draftsman
36441  Solder Mask Layers were not displayed when exporting Draftsman document to PDF. (BC:14384)
Platform
40767  High CPU usage resulted in animations continuing after control was closed.
40986  Enabled outputs for the folder structure container were connected with red lines.
Data Management
39248  PartsSync feature has been added to the software to support Supply Chain in custom providers.
40707  Inability to open a project in Altium Designer through the Altium 365 viewer.
40844  Altium Designer freezes for several minutes when saving a project to a server.
41011   Errors occurred when performing a component rule check if a component had more than one footprint. (BC:14460)
41115  Software was delayed before committing a new project to the server.
BOM
40524  Parameter values with comma decimal separator removed parameter continuity in BOM.
Import/Export
40545  The IPC-2581 output generates incorrect Part Angle (Rotation) information.

Version 20.2.4 (Update 1)

Build: 192 Date: 24 September 2020

Schematic
37426 Crash occurred when Fonts were not selected for Pin names or Designators in the Schematic Library.
38385 Placing a specific violation ERC on a net also suppressed all other violations on the net. (BC:13511)
PCB
40257 Output option of "Merge Net-Tie Nets" failed for specific Footprint rotations and gaps between Pads. (BC:14014)
40440 Crash occurred during Differential Pair Routing when the Routing Layer rule was not defined for the layer.
Draftsman
40267 The total board thickness of some placed Board Assembly Views did not match when compared in the Layer Stack Manager and Draftsman document.
40313 Error message appeared during PDF exportation when file was previously opened.
Platform
39450 Local files did not recognize that a project in Altium 365 had been updated.
39695 Symbols did not appear in the preview pane of the Explorer panel.
40389 Opening Output jobs resulted in unresponsive software. (BC:14219)
40399 LayerType settings were not saved after editing a managed footprint.
Data Management
39982 Removed 'Output Jobs' type from Edit Folder dialog for Altium 365 Standard users.
40160 Improved hard-deleted projects handling by removal of the link from Version Control and link to the server project.
40382 "Unable to cast object of type" error message when editing PCL for cloned component.
40617 Project templates still appeared in the Create Project dialog after they were soft-deleted.

Version 20.2.3

Build: 150 Date: 1 September 2020

Schematic
38891 Probes were not recognized in the software.
39554 Move Selection by X, Y in the Schematic Library Editor resulted in the Properties panel not displaying the updated properties of the moved objects. (BC:13981)
PCB
35894 Error message when releasing a project where the drill symbol limit was exceeded. (BC: 12985)
37104 Width rule was not applied to the substack. Use the 'Show values for layer stack' control in the Routing Width design rule to set the width for each substack.
37190 Running DRC on a design returned inconsistent error counts related to the Return Path rule. (BC:14040)
37466 Copper features incorrectly displayed in CAMtastic.
38101 Added control over Gloss Effort to be applied to pushed traces.
38472 Broken Impedance calculations after routing on a PCB with hidden net connections.
38757 The Solder Mask Expansion and Paste Mask Expansion settings were changed after moving pads or making other updates to a pad in a PCBLIB document. (BC:13681)
38798 Crash occurred during placement of Layer Stack Table in PCB.
38992 Invalid Width values for a layer that was not set in Layerstack resulted in an invalid error.
39005 Regions with less than three counts of vertices were still present on the board and PCB List panel when the InPolygon to IsRegion clearance rule was used.
39014 Pad was displayed under Keepout area in Generated Gerber Output when “Include mid-layer pads” checkbox was disabled.
39191 Length Tuning rules were not properly saved after closing and reopening PCB.
39192 The 'Prefer Generic 3D Bodies" mode has been added to the Advanced Settings dialog as a legacy option. (BC:8872)
39202 Via Propagation Delay is now calculated in proportion to the length of the Via used. 
39217 The Solder Mask Expansion and Paste Mask Expansion settings in the Pad and Via modes of the Properties panel did not reset to the previous state after using the Undo or Ctrl+Z commands. (BC:13779)
39705 PCB incorrectly activated and zoomed in on placed Comments when switching between documents.
40020 Snapping objects did not work for Embedded Board Array objects. (BC:14150)
Draftsman
36791 Dimensions, images, and fabrication views were missing during PDF output. (BC:12807)
37346 Generated Output PDF Views did not match the Draftsman document.
37955 A compatibility warning was incorrectly displayed in the same version in which the document was created.(BC:14123)
38634 Added "Draftsman.UI.SoftwareRender" option in the Advanced Settings dialog to use software rendering in Draftsman documents.
39587 PDF Outputjob files did not print solder mask polygons with cutouts correctly.
39849 Objects could scale and shift incorrectly after zooming and scrolling, which could not be fixed until the file was closed and opened again.
40021 Variant components defined by alternate parts were incorrectly presented as 'Not Fitted'. (BC:13900)
Platform
37838 Software crash upon startup.
38344 Access violation error occurred after changing any part of the path in the Script Report of an OutJob document.
38368 Removed obsolete file extensions from the Altium Designer installer. (BC:6183)
38377 Some parameters, such as ItemAndRevision, were not being interpreted for OutJob file names.
38968 Preferences located in the %APPDATA%\Altium\Altium Designer folder were not deleted unless admin rights were used.
38999 The Default Prints and Search Paths tabs on the Project Options dialog are now hidden by default.
39092 'File In Use' dialog appears stating that actions cannot be completed if Autocad Fusion and Altium Designer are running simultaneously. (BC:10103)
39397 Added editing support for 'Shared with Me' projects in the Comments panel.
39427 Performance degradation when using File > Recent Documents/Recent Projects/Recent Project Groups commands when files from these groups were located on slow servers.
39746 Software displayed a Warning message that Network Activity is disabled and blocked startup when "Altium Portal" checkbox was disabled in System Preferences. (BC:12850)
Data Management
30525 During project migration via the Item Manager, Component parameters were replaced by Symbol model parameters.
37863 Added the ability to save the component selection after using the Refresh command. (BC:13295)
38247 The "Rename" option has been added to the Projects panel to rename files. (BC:4530; BC:1708)
38310 Fixed regression that caused an inability to connect to AltiumLive after disabling the 'Data Management Server' option from the System - Network Activity page of the Preferences dialog then restarting Altium Designer.
38583 Added 'Include Standard (No BOM) Items' option to the Pick and Place Setup dialog.
38591 Component Synchronization did not support views and did not show all tables. (BC:13599)
38776 Inaccessible Excel-based DBlib components when Excel file of current library was opened. (BC:13387)
38820 Parameters were incorrectly overlapping when made visible after placement from server to document.
38892 Added the ability to Rename managed projects. (BC:10422)
39023 Memory leak in Draftsman.
39065 'Exception has been thrown by the target of invocation' error message as a result of the enabling of FIPS when using Components.
39073 The ActiveBOM document is now named using the naming rule provided by the project template. (BC:13744)
39162 A 'Connection' dialog has been added to connect to available workspaces.
39280 Content Vault was not accessible when not already connected to a workspace.
39382 Added the ability for managed Items to be used as New Document Defaults.
39451 Version Control's 'Commit Whole Project' command did not warn the user of unsaved files.
39552 Resistors were displayed without reloading the entire list in the Explorer panel.
39735 "Navigate to" command from Search in the Explorer panel did not work. (BC:14026)
39781 DBLib column values created from Query Expressions were displaying the incorrect Design Item ID.
39927 Error occurred during Project Releaser due to missing template or insufficient user rights.
BOM
35692 Exception error after signing out of Altium Live account and opening BOM document.
39242 Component revision state for managed components was not available in ActiveBOM for unmanaged designs.
Import/Export
36186 When importing files using the PADS importer, PADS Logic library files were not imported.
39196 PCBs imported from Eagle resulted in the creation of duplicated Mechanical Layer Pairs listed in the View Configuration panel.
Simulation
39446 Case models of digital elements were not found.

The following sections list the release notes for publicly released versions of Altium NEXUS 3.2.

For a summary of new features and enhancements in Altium NEXUS 3.2, see New in Altium NEXUS.

Version 3.2.8 (Update 4)

Build: 89 Date: 22 March 2021

Schematic
43947 Harnesses nested by using a dot connection resulted in an invalid error message. (BC:14436)

Version 3.2.7 (Update 3 Hot Fix)

Build: 87 Date: 18 December 2020

BOM
41728 The template file name was not displayed in the Bill of Materials report.
Data Management
41675 If models are soft-deleted, the Library Migrator will recognize them and not reuse them.

Version 3.2.6 (Update 3)


Build: 83 Date: 28 October 2020

PCB
40299 xSignals remained broken in the PCB panel after they were fixed and saved. (BC:14110)
40895 Polygons placed on top or bottom layers were not transferred properly to decals in the MCAD CoDesigner panel. (BC:14330)
41040 Polygons were not connected to the correct net in exported ODB++ files.
41133 IPC-2581 export resulted in missing pads for certain components.
41134 IPC-2581: Component designators have a different output name if the original title ended with a letter.
Platform
37983 An access violation occurred when switching to a new Workspace after disconnecting from another.
41064 Crash occurred in Extension Manager when software was installed from Offline installer and extension did not have pictures.
41331 An issue caused the software to no longer be accessible if a modal dialog was open and another application, such as Excel, was used afterward.
Data Management
38702 An exception error was displayed instead of a proper warning during Version Control operation due to unsupported protocol.
41046 When uploading an Outputjob file to the Explorer panel, the Name and Description of the item was removed.
41118 The Project Releaser used the wrong variant in PDF outputs when No Variations was used.
Draftsman
40195 Variant components were not displayed in the Draftsman document. (BC:13900).

Version 3.2.5 (Update 2)

Build: 68 Date: 13 October 2020

Schematic
37492 All violations from Connection Matrix were incorrectly added to the "Specific Violations" in the Properties panel after reloading the Schematic document.
39694  The 'Send to back' command caused the software to crash when used outside of the sheet. (BC:12218)
40693  "No top level document to compare with" error message displayed during attempted import of changes.
PCB
40443  When IPC-2581 Fabrication files were output, the project board name was appended to the component designators.
40752  Footprints with the same name from different libraries are now reported with different names in IPC-2581.
40793  No custom layers were propagated in the new footprint when created from Vault Explorer. (BC:13639)
40794  "Tented" option did not take effect for placed Vias after setting in Preferences dialog. (BC:13392)
Draftsman
36441  Solder Mask Layers were not displayed when exporting Draftsman document to PDF. (BC:14384)
Platform
40767  High CPU usage resulted in animations continuing after control was closed.
40986  Enabled outputs for the folder structure container were connected with red lines.
Data Management
39248  PartsSync feature has been added to the software to support Supply Chain in custom providers.
40707  Inability to open a project in Altium Designer through the Altium 365 viewer.
40844  Altium Designer freezes for several minutes when saving a project to a server.
41011   Errors occurred when performing a component rule check if a component had more than one footprint. (BC:14460)
41115  Software was delayed before committing a new project to the server.
BOM
40524  Parameter values with comma decimal separator removed parameter continuity in BOM.
Import/Export
40545  The IPC-2581 output generates incorrect Part Angle (Rotation) information.

Version 3.2.4 (Update 1)

Build: 63 Date: 24 September 2020

Schematic
37426 Crash occurred when Fonts were not selected for Pin names or Designators in the Schematic Library.
38385 Placing a specific violation ERC on a net also suppressed all other violations on the net. (BC:13511)
PCB
40257 Output option of "Merge Net-Tie Nets" failed for specific Footprint rotations and gaps between Pads. (BC:14014)
40440 Crash occurred during Differential Pair Routing when the Routing Layer rule was not defined for the layer.
Draftsman
40267 The total board thickness of some placed Board Assembly Views did not match when compared in the Layer Stack Manager and Draftsman document.
40313 Error message appeared during PDF exportation when file was previously opened.
Platform
39450 Local files did not recognize that a project in Altium 365 had been updated.
39695 Symbols did not appear in the preview pane of the Explorer panel.
40389 Opening Output jobs resulted in unresponsive software. (BC:14219)
40399 LayerType settings were not saved after editing a managed footprint.
Data Management
39248 PartsSync plugin has been added to load data from Excel or similar sources to the software.
39982 Removed 'Output Jobs' type from Edit Folder dialog for Altium 365 Standard users.
40160 Improved hard-deleted projects handling by removal of the link from Version Control and link to the server project.
40382 "Unable to cast object of type" error message when editing PCL for cloned component.
40617 Project templates still appeared in the Create Project dialog after they were soft-deleted.

Version 3.2.3

Build: 52 Date: 1 September 2020

Schematic
38891 Probes were not recognized in the software.
39554 Move Selection by X, Y in the Schematic Library Editor resulted in the Properties panel not displaying the updated properties of the moved objects. (BC:13981)
PCB
35894 Error message when releasing a project where the drill symbol limit was exceeded. (BC: 12985)
37104 Width rule was not applied to the substack. Use the 'Show values for layer stack' control in the Routing Width design rule to set the width for each substack.
37190 Running DRC on a design returned inconsistent error counts related to the Return Path rule. (BC:14040)
37466 Copper features incorrectly displayed in CAMtastic.
38101 Added control over Gloss Effort to be applied to pushed traces.
38472 Broken Impedance calculations after routing on a PCB with hidden net connections.
38757 The Solder Mask Expansion and Paste Mask Expansion settings were changed after moving pads or making other updates to a pad in a PCBLIB document. (BC:13681)
38798 Crash occurred during placement of Layer Stack Table in PCB.
38992 Invalid Width values for a layer that was not set in Layerstack resulted in an invalid error.
39005 Regions with less than three counts of vertices were still present on the board and PCB List panel when the InPolygon to IsRegion clearance rule was used.
39014 Pad was displayed under Keepout area in Generated Gerber Output when “Include mid-layer pads” checkbox was disabled.
39191 Length Tuning rules were not properly saved after closing and reopening PCB.
39192 The 'Prefer Generic 3D Bodies" mode has been added to the Advanced Settings dialog as a legacy option. (BC:8872)
39202 Via Propagation Delay is now calculated in proportion to the Length of the Via used. 
39217 The Solder Mask Expansion and Paste Mask Expansion settings in the Pad and Via modes of the Properties panel did not reset to the previous state after using the Undo or Ctrl+Z commands. (BC:13779)
39705 PCB incorrectly activated and zoomed in on placed Comments when switching between documents.
40020 Snapping objects did not work for Embedded Board Array objects. (BC:14150)
Draftsman
36791 Dimensions, images, and fabrication views were missing during PDF output. (BC:12807)
37346 Generated Output PDF Views did not match the Draftsman document.
37955 A compatibility warning was incorrectly displayed in the same version in which the document was created.(BC:14123)
38634 Added "Draftsman.UI.SoftwareRender" option in the Advanced Settings dialog to use software rendering in Draftsman documents.
39587 PDF Outputjob files did not print solder mask polygons with cutouts correctly.
39849 Objects could scale and shift incorrectly after zooming and scrolling, which could not be fixed until the file was closed and opened again.
40021 Variant components defined by alternate parts were incorrectly presented as 'Not Fitted'. (BC:13900)
Platform
37838 Software crash upon startup.
38344 Access violation error occurred after changing any part of the path in the Script Report of an OutJob document.
38368 Removed obsolete file extensions from the Altium NEXUS installer. (BC:6183)
38377 Some parameters, such as ItemAndRevision, were not being interpreted for OutJob file names.
38968 Preferences located in the %APPDATA%\Altium\Altium NEXUS folder were not deleted unless admin rights were used.
38999 The Default Prints and Search Paths tabs on the Project Options dialog are now hidden by default.
39092 'File In Use' dialog appears stating that actions cannot be completed if Autocad Fusion and Altium NEXUS are running simultaneously. (BC:10103)
39397 Added editing support for 'Shared with Me' projects in the Comments panel.
39427 Performance degradation when using File > Recent Documents/Recent Projects/Recent Project Groups commands when files from these groups were located on slow servers.
39746 Software displayed a Warning message that Network Activity is disabled and blocked startup when "Altium Portal" checkbox was disabled in System Preferences. (BC:12850)
Data Management
30525 During project migration via the Item Manager, Component parameters were replaced by Symbol model parameters.
37863 Added the ability to save the component selection after using the Refresh command. (BC:13295)
38247 The "Rename" option has been added to the Projects panel to rename files. (BC:4530; BC:1708)
38310 Fixed regression that caused an inability to connect to AltiumLive after disabling the 'Data Management Server' option from the System - Network Activity page of the Preferences dialog then restarting Altium NEXUS.
38583 Added 'Include Standard (No BOM) Items' option to the Pick and Place Setup dialog.
38591 Component Synchronization did not support views and did not show all tables. (BC:13599)
38776 Inaccessible Excel-based DBlib components when Excel file of current library was opened. (BC:13387)
38820 Parameters were incorrectly overlapping when made visible after placement from server to document.
38892 Added the ability to Rename managed projects. (BC:10422)
39023 Memory leak in Draftsman.
39065 'Exception has been thrown by the target of invocation' error message as a result of the enabling of FIPS when using Components.
39073 The ActiveBOM document is now named using the naming rule provided by the project template. (BC:13744)
39280 Content Vault was not accessible when not already connected to a server.
39382 Added the ability for managed Items to be used as New Document Defaults.
39451 Version Control's 'Commit Whole Project' command did not warn the user of unsaved files.
39552 Resistors were displayed without reloading the entire list in the Explorer panel.
39735 "Navigate to" command from Search in the Explorer panel did not work. (BC:14026)
39781 DBLib column values created from Query Expressions were displaying the incorrect Design Item ID.
39927 Error occurred during Project Releaser due to missing template or insufficient user rights.
BOM
35692 Exception error after signing out of Altium Live account and opening BOM document.
39242 Component revision state for managed components was not available in ActiveBOM for unmanaged designs.
Import/Export
36186 When importing files using the PADS importer, PADS Logic library files were not imported.
39196 PCBs imported from Eagle resulted in the creation of duplicated Mechanical Layer Pairs listed in the View Configuration panel. 
Simulation
39446 Case models of digital elements were not found.
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Note

The features available depend on your Altium product access level. If you don’t see a discussed feature in your software, contact Altium Sales to find out more.

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