KB: DRC violation for the Footprint via and copper objects in the PCB

Solution Details

Solution Details: 

   Based on the component footprint requirements, we may have to add the Thermal Vias  or Custom Pad Shape for some footprints.  

• Thermal Vias are like vias added directly to the Thermal pin in the library with the required size given in the Datasheet. 
• Similarly, if your component has unique or different-shaped pins, you can use the Altium Custom pad shape feature to create a customized shape with extra copper objects like regions, fills, and tracks. 

These objects are considered electrical connections in the PCB. We must assign the Netname for them. However these copper objects are added in the library where we don't have any Net name assignment options. When placing the footprint in the PCB, these extra objects do not have a Netname, but the Footprint pins that overlap with these objects have the Netname, which leads to a clearance DRC violation. 

Solution 1

So, to assign the Net name for those footprint's extra copper objects in the PCB, We can use the Update Free Primitives From Component Pads feature, which will update the Footprint objects with the Netname of their respective pins. 

To do that, Go to the menu Design -> Netlist -> Update Free Primitives From Component Pads and run the DRC violation.  

Solution 2

Use the latest version of Altium Designer, which automatically updates the footprint custom shapes and vias with their respective net names in PCB. In addition, instead of using copper objects like solid regions or fill, we can create a custom pad by converting the regions to a pad and assigning the selected region to a custom pad. Please take a look at the link below for more details about creating a custom pad and also assigning regions to the pad in the library.  

https://www.altium.com/documentation/altium-designer/custom-pad-stack