Back annotation failed and deleted my .log file

[dhshaw22]

I finished the layout of my board and renumbered in Ultiboard. I went to the project in Multisim and did "Transfer->Back annotate from ultiboard". The only thing that changed was the reference designators. The back annotation started and then gave a pop-up saying it failed. The .log file was deleted. My schematic reference designators do not match my Ultiboard ones. I can't back annotate because the .log file was deleted. What do I do? Why is the .log file deleted after a back annotation? I am using version 10.0.343.

[lacy]

The log file does get deleted after you backannote once and I don't have a clue as to what the purpose would be to do that. I have also had issues of backannote failure also. I have not been able to come up with any reasons as to why it fails or what causes it to fail.

Unfortunately, other than confirming your scenario, I don't have any solutions for you or for myself. This has to be a glitch in the software.

The only thing I can think of to salvage what you have is to go into Multisim and see if you can manually make the changes that you need.

The NI Support team may know of a better alternative and a solution to this forward/backannote issue.If they do, I am sure we all would like to know.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help in this situation, but if it is a software error then that is out of my ballpark.

[dhshaw22]

I appreciate the response. I am also at a loss as to why the .log file would be deleted after an annotation. That seems like a very dangerous way to do it. For exactly the reason I have run into. Since the annotation failed, I not only have a schematic that doesn't match the layout, but my .log file is gone! There is no way I know of to recreate the .log file since it is created when changes happen. This seems like a completely unacceptable way to do annotation. Not only that, but the error was completely unhelpful. All it said was "Error". No information as to what failed or why.

[lacy]

I do have one option for you if you would want to risk trying it. It won't do no harm, but it might not help either.

Try making another change to the layout in Ultiboard and then save the file again. This should create another log file. The only problem is it might not get the original changes made to the board, but you could try it.. You might get lucky.

This option may not work either for the reason above and because of the fact that the first backannote failed. It could possibly get all your changes into the log file and still not work correctly.

These are just my ideas as, like you, This type of thing should not be occurring. Backannote should not be a one shot deal unless the user overwrites the file with other changes.

I am hoping this little idea works for you. Let me know if it works or not if you decide to try it.

[dhshaw22]

Thank you for the suggestion. I did already try that. The .log file only had the newest change, and not the ones I wanted. So it didn't work.

[lacy]

Thanks for letting me know. I had a feeling that was going to happen. It has been a while since I had to backannote and I thought that was the way it was for me too, but I couldn't remember.

This is going to have to be addressed by NI Tech Supoport for any further options/workarounds because I have reached the limit of my ideas. This also need to be looked at carefully by their engineering dept for a permanent fix.

I wish there was more I could do.

[lacy]

I just had an idea about this. Unfortunately it is a little bit too late in your case.

Once you make changes and save the Ultiboard file, right then make a copy of the log file and save it somewhere other than where it is now. Once you backannote and it doesn't work then you can make a  copy of  this stashed file and put it back into the folder it was in and try again.

This is the only workaround I can think of. I just wish it was thought of before you had your problem.

[dhshaw22]

Thanks Lacy. I had the same thought about a copy before annotation. However, should the user of this software really have to do something of this nature? It just doesn't seem acceptable that a professional software package such as this could have such a strange feature of deleting the file after looking at it. I am having trouble seeing how this was viewed as acceptable.

[lacy]

I do agree with you about this. It will be something that NI needs to take a look at and fix.

 1) backannote should not fail and if it does it should explain why in plain english.

2) it should backannote everything and not pick and choose what gets backannoted. (Multis-section IC's have a tendency not to get all the nets hooked to the individual sections on the print in this situation)

3) when it does a backannote the wires should connect properly instead of just a line and dot with a net number.

4) backannote should not drop any users changes as I have seen it do.

5) do not delete the log file after a backannote. It should let you make that decision.

These are some of the issues that I know of that need to be worked on if they aren't already in the process of doing so.

[aaron800]

Oh yes, the famous backwards annotation problem.  I had this problem happen and lost 3x10hours of work on it, and it would have been over a week if i hadn't saved the board and schematics everyday in a place where multisim/uselessboard couldn't get to it. 

My recommendation:  delete the log file once before you do a renumber, then do the renumber, then backwards annotate.  I have looked at the .log file and in a text editor and it seems alot of time this file gets corrupted somehow.