RealBlackStuff wrote:All that those boardviews show are rectangles and dots, no matter how big you try to make them.
I don't see any connections, any part-numbers, any text, any indication what a particular rectangle might be...
Double-clicking on a dot marks it with a random(?) number, no idea where to go from there.
Have you not thought about exploring what the various menu options are? If you can see the board view, then you at least know how to open a file. From there, about the only thing that can go wrong is that you overwrite, if the program allows it, the data file. To prevent that, simply work on a copy of the original file. In any event, hovering over the icons under the menu line will tell you what they do. If there's a hotkey associated with the action, it's also displayed. From left to right:
Open file(Alt-O)
Close program(Esc)
Rotate Left(L)
Rotate Right(R)
Mirror(M)
Flip(F)
Top(T)
Bottom(B)
Fit(Home)
Zoom In(+)
Zoom Out(-)
Move Up(Up)
Move Down(Down)
Move Left(Left arrow)
Move Right(Right arrow)
All of these actions should all be self-explanatory. The board view program is used with the associated schematic diagram as the part numbers and signal names are embedded into the .BDV file. This assumes that the .BDV file matches the schematic; sometimes there's different motherboards used in the same model. An example would be one system using Intel graphics, versus another that uses ATI.
Open the x230.boardview.11232-1.bdv file and use the Find/Find Component Part (or hotkey D) to enter U42. That should highlight device U42. Why "U42"? That's the part name used in the schematic. Use the Find/Find Net (By Net Name) command and enter smb_data in the first line (caps not sensitive). Note that the text is
RED. There's two other lines that you can also specify that will be in
GREEN or ORANGE. This allows you to enter up to three signal paths and they will be shown as the related colors. Click the FIND button and you should see several items now displayed in red. Those are the places where the smb_data signal is routed. You may notice a number (729) and a dot. That should be a via where the signal passes from one side of the board to the opposite.
You want to see part numbers on the board? Use the View, Show/Hide Part Name (or hit ALT-P) option and ALL of the parts on the board will have their names listed right next to the rectangles.
I should note that I've seen several different, incompatible, board view programs using .BRD or .BVD or .CST files. Each has their own commands and options but generally they operate in the same way. You can view both sides of the board, pan and zoom, identify parts, trace signal paths and even list the manufacturer part number.
