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Selectively Waiving DRC Violations

Created: January 20, 2023 | Updated: January 20, 2023 | Applies to versions: 23, 24 and 25
Now reading version 24. For the latest, read: Selectively Waiving DRC Violations for version 25

The software supports the ability to selectively waive any DRC violation. This allows you to effectively 'suppress' a violation that is considered not to be an issue without having to craft a special (and maybe complex) design rule to facilitate the design situation.

Waiving a DRC Violation

DRC violations can be waived by:

  • Selecting the required violation(s) in the Messages panel, right-clicking, and choosing the Waive Violation command from the context menu.

  • Selecting the required violation(s) in the Violations region of the PCB Rules and Violations panel, right-clicking, and choosing the Waive Selected Violations command from the context menu.

  • Enabling the Waive this violation option in the Violations Details dialog. This dialog appears when you either double-click on a violation in the PCB Rules and Violations panel or interrogate a violation directly in the design space, as discussed previously.

Against each waived violation, the software records three pieces of information. When waiving from the Messages panel or PCB Rules And Violations panel, this information is entered in the Waived Violation Info dialog. In the Violation Details dialog, fields for this information are available once the Waive this violation option is enabled.

Information that is stored for a waived violation is entered either through the Waived Violation Info dialog or the Violation Details dialog.Information that is stored for a waived violation is entered either through the Waived Violation Info dialog or the Violation Details dialog.

Information stored for a waived violation:

  • Created At - date and time that the violation was waived.
  • Author - if you are signed into a managed content server, this field is automatically populated with the first and last names of the user currently signed in, and the value cannot be edited. If you are not currently signed into a managed content server, this field is populated with the first and last names of the Sign In Account currently being used for this seat of the software. In this situation, the field can be edited.
  • Reason - use this field to enter an optional reason as to why the violation is being waived.

Note that these edits apply to all of the selected violations that are being waived.

Design Rule Checking is performed on the primitive objects - that means a single design choice, such as positioning a connector over the edge of the board, can result in multiple objects in violation. For example, if a connector's component overlay projects outside the edge of the board, there will probably be a number of overlay tracks in error. The violations on all of these tracks must be waived to resolve this design situation. The most efficient way to do this is to select them all in the  PCB Rules and Violations panel, and waive all in a single action.

Working with Waived Violations

Waived violations are listed in the lower section of the PCB Rules and Violations panel as shown in the image below. Note that this section only appears when there are waived violations present in the design.

Violations that have been waived are listed in the PCB Rules And Violations panel.Violations that have been waived are listed in the PCB Rules And Violations panel.

All violations are always detected during a Design Rule Check; the software keeps track of which violations you have chosen to waive, re-applying the status after a design rule check is performed. Also, while waived violations are removed as error messages from the Messages panel, they are still flagged visually in the design space.

Click on a waived violation entry to jump to that violation in the design space (provided the Zoom option is enabled at the top of the panel). Double-click to both jump to the violation (provided Zoom option enabled) and access the Violation Details dialog with the violation presented.

The waived status for a violation can be revoked at any time by:

  • Right-clicking on the entry for the violation in the Waived Violations region of the PCB Rules And Violations panel and choosing the Unwaive Selected Violations command from the context menu.
  • Accessing the Violation Details dialog for the waived violation and disabling the Waive this violation option.

In the PCB Rules And Violations panel, a waived violation that is unwaived will be removed from the Waived Violations region of the panel and appear listed in the Violations region.

Documenting Waived Violations

Waived violations are also reported as part of a generated Design Rule Verification Report provided the option to Create Report File is enabled in the Design Rule Checker dialog.

All the detail for each waived violation is recorded in the Design Rule Verification Report.All the detail for each waived violation is recorded in the Design Rule Verification Report.

All the detail for each waived violation is recorded in the Design Rule Verification Report. All the detail for each waived violation is recorded in the Design Rule Verification Report.

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Note

The features available depend on your Altium product access level. Compare features included in the various levels of Altium Designer Software Subscription and functionality delivered through applications provided by the Altium 365 platform.

If you don’t see a discussed feature in your software, contact Altium Sales to find out more.

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