Autotrax was a free software application that ran on
DOS
DOS is shorthand for the MS-DOS and IBM PC DOS family of operating systems.
DOS may also refer to:
Computing
* Data over signalling (DoS), multiplexing data onto a signalling channel
* Denial-of-service attack (DoS), an attack on a communicat ...
on an IBM or compatible PC. It was designed by
Protel Systems
Altium Limited is an Australian multinational software company that provides electronic design automation software to engineers who design printed circuit boards. Founded as Protel Systems Pty Ltd in Australia in 1985, the company has regional ...
(now
Altium
Altium Limited is an Australian multinational software company that provides electronic design automation software to engineers who design printed circuit boards. Founded as Protel Systems Pty Ltd in Australia in 1985, the company has regional ...
), and was one of the first professional
printed circuit board
A printed circuit board (PCB; also printed wiring board or PWB) is a medium used in Electrical engineering, electrical and electronic engineering to connect electronic components to one another in a controlled manner. It takes the form of a L ...
CAD applications available for personal computers. It is a freeware download and also available in a stripped down version marketed as Easytrax.
History
![Tango PCB wordmark](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/Tango_PCB_wordmark.svg)
In 1985, Protel Systems developed the
DOS
DOS is shorthand for the MS-DOS and IBM PC DOS family of operating systems.
DOS may also refer to:
Computing
* Data over signalling (DoS), multiplexing data onto a signalling channel
* Denial-of-service attack (DoS), an attack on a communicat ...
-based PCB design tool Protel PCB,
which was sold only in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
.
Protel PCB was marketed internationally by HST Technology since 1986.
In October 1986 the San Diego-based
ACCEL Technologies, Inc. acquired marketing and support responsibilities of the PCB program for the USA, Canada and Mexico under the name Tango PCB.
combining it with their own ''Tango Route''. In 1987, Protel launched the circuit diagram editor Protel Schematic for DOS.
In 1988 the company launched Autotrax for DOS in the USA as well.
A stripped-down version of Autotrax was marketed as Easytrax. Autotrax was sold throughout the world until the company ported the application to
Windows 3.1
Windows 3.1 is a major release of Microsoft Windows. It was released to manufacturing on April 6, 1992, as a successor to Windows 3.0.
Like its predecessors, the Windows 3.1 series ran as a shell on top of MS-DOS. Codenamed Janus, Windows 3 ...
to create the first Windows-based PCB CAD tool, ''
Protel Advanced Schematic/PCB
Altium Designer (AD) is a PCB and electronic design automation software package for printed circuit boards. It is developed by Australian software company Altium Limited.
History
Altium Designer was originally launched in 2005 by Altium, ...
1.0 for Windows'' in 1991, which was the forerunner to the software
Altium Designer
Altium Designer (AD) is a PCB and electronic design automation software package for printed circuit boards. It is developed by Australian software company Altium Limited.
History
Altium Designer was originally launched in 2005 by Altium, ...
.
Overview
Protel Autotrax runs under
DOS
DOS is shorthand for the MS-DOS and IBM PC DOS family of operating systems.
DOS may also refer to:
Computing
* Data over signalling (DoS), multiplexing data onto a signalling channel
* Denial-of-service attack (DoS), an attack on a communicat ...
. It will run under Windows 98 and XP but only as a console window.
The program is primarily keystroke driven but to aid memorization a menu appears in the upper left corner of the screen whenever a command is issued. Selection of elements within the circuit board is accomplished almost exclusively by using the mouse. These apparent limitations mean that users quickly became good at driving the program and disinclined to change to anything newer and, in practice, slower.
The native file format for Autotrax is PCB File 4. Protel also produced a less expensive, cut-down package called Easytrax. This was later made available free, while Autrotrax still required a license; now both are free. Easytrax is identified by "PCB File 5" in its file headers and differs primarily in not allocating hole sizes to pads. The native file format for Autotrax and Easytrax is based on 1 mil (0.001 inch) increments, although the package shows measurements in millimetres if metric is selected. The native file format allows for most of the information needed to manufacture basic PCBs except that it does not allow for non-plated-through holes. This is because a ''de facto'' industry standard has emerged which assumes that if a pad is smaller than its associated hole, the hole is not plated through, while Autotrax will only permit pads that are at least 2 mil larger than the hole diameter.
Two bugs in the Protel Autotrax format have to do with octagonal pads, which on inspection can be seen to be not quite regular octagons, and string sizes. In Autotrax, string sizes are only ever displayed in multiples of 12 mil, so specification of a string size as something other than a multiple of 12 mil may lead to incorrect import into another package.
Many PCB manufacturers in Australia and some PCB manufacturers in Asia will still accept boards in native Protel Autotrax format rather than requiring export to PCB industry standard Gerber format. Autotrax will run in a DOS window under
Windows 9x
Windows 9x is a generic term referring to a series of Microsoft Windows computer operating systems produced from 1995 to 2000, which were based on the Windows 95 kernel and its underlying foundation of MS-DOS, both of which were updated in subs ...
and
Windows NT
Windows NT is a proprietary graphical operating system
An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs.
Time-sharing operating systems sc ...
up to
XP. It does not run on Windows Vista and later, but can be run successfully using generic
VESA video driver
VESA (), formally known as Video Electronics Standards Association, is an American technical standards organization for computer display standards. The organization was incorporated in California in July 1989To retrieve the information, sear ...
s in a DOS virtual machine.
References
External links
Protel Autotrax utilities, from Jim PatchellMore Protel Autotrax utilities, from Richard Aston (archived)A laser plotting utility for Protel Autotrax*
ttp://www.lh1.org/AUTOTRAX/autotrax.html Protel Autotrax companion programs - Directly generate RS274X gerbers from Autotrax PCB files, rotate PCBs, etc, From Les Hildenbrandt
{{CAD software
Electronic design automation software
Electronic circuit simulators