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      <title>Keep-in area attributes</title>
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      <div class="title_topic3" id="xps10_pagetitle">Keep-in area attributes</div>
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      <p class="para_topic">You can use keep-in area attributes to designate a part of a board as a keep-in area, and to set its attributes. A keep-in area defines a region on the PCB designated for a specific purpose. An example would be defining the limits of the area within which routing vias would be placed. The data is stored on a sketch in NX. The IDF attributes are keep-in area type, group name, layers, height and owner.</p>
      <p class="para_topic">The attributes are applied to a sketch on either the top or bottom surface of the board. This sketch defines the size and shape of the keep-in area. You can define the sketch using Sketch Tools, and later modify the keep-in area's shape by modifying the sketch's shape. To delete the keep-in area, simply delete the sketch.</p>
      <p class="para_topic">See also <a class="links" href="javascript:void(0)" onclick="top.openFile('pcb/02topic_3.html');return(false);">Defining a PCB Assembly </a> for more information.
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      <div class="title_division">Working with keep-in area attributes</div>
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            <p class="para_item">Click the  <b class="uiTerm">Keep-in Area Attributes</b> button in the PCB.xchange toolbar. 
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            <p class="para_item">Select one or more previously-defined sketches on either the top or bottom surface of the board (not both). The sketches must be closed curves. </p>
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            <p class="para_item">Select a keep-in area type.</p>
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            <p class="para_item">If you select <b class="uiTerm">Placement Group</b> or  <b class="uiTerm">Other</b>, enter a meaningful name.
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            <p class="para_item">Select an <b class="uiTerm">Owner</b> option.
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            <p class="para_item">Select a color for the keep-in area display. </p>
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      <div class="title_division">Options</div>
      <p class="para_division"><b class="uiTerm">Type:</b> There are four types of keep-in areas:
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            <p class="para_item">The  <b class="uiTerm">Routing</b> keep-in area delimits the routable area of the board. In most ECAD systems, only one routing keep-in area is allowed per design (in some cases, there can be two: one for the top and one for the bottom). The routing keep-in area is always inside the board outline.
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            <p class="para_item">The <b class="uiTerm">Placement</b> keep-in area defines the maximum area on the board for placing components. In most ECAD systems only one  placement keep-in area is allowed per PCB design (in some cases, there can be a different one for the top and for the bottom). The Placement keep-in area often extends outside the board outline to accommodate overhanging components such as switches, connectors, LEDs, etc. You can set a height limitation to exclude components from the outline that, when mounted, exceed this height. Specify units (millimeters or inches) for the height limitation. If this field is zero, there is no height restriction on the components placed in the keep-in area.
            </p>
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            <p class="para_item">The  <b class="uiTerm">Placement Group</b> keep-in area defines an area within which certain groups of components should be placed, for example, an analog portion of a circuit. You can specify a name for the Placement Group. In ECAD, the Placement Group name usually exists as a property of the components that are to be placed within the region. 
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            <p class="para_item">The  <b class="uiTerm">Other</b> keep-in area is a user-defined outline for special use. You can specify a name for the keep-in area. The Other keep-in area type is used to define any area of the board (with or without cutouts) in a way that may be useful to the design. For example, it can be used to define a specially-made heat sink milled out of aluminum. You can define a height of the area&mdash;for example, the height of the milled aluminum heat sink. Specify units (millimeters or inches) for the height.
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      <p class="para_division"><b class="uiTerm">Owner</b> options:
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            <p class="para_item"><b class="uiTerm">Unowned</b> means that the keep-in area is not owned by either ECAD or MCAD.
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            <p class="para_item"><b class="uiTerm">MCAD</b> means that the keep-in area should only be modified in the Mechanical CAD system.
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            <p class="para_item"><b class="uiTerm">ECAD</b> means that the keep-in area should only be modified in the Electrical CAD system.
            </p>
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      <p class="para_division">The <b class="uiTerm">Layers</b> option defines which layer of the board the keep-in area applies to. There are four selections:
      </p>
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         <li>
            <p class="para_item"><b class="uiTerm">Current</b> layer means that the keep-in area applies to the surface of the board (top or bottom layer) the area is sketched on. This option is available for all keep-in area types.
            </p>
         </li>
         <li>
            <p class="para_item"><b class="uiTerm">Both</b> layers means the keep-in area applies to both the top and bottom layers of the board. This option is available for the Routing, Placement and Placement Group keep-in area types.
            </p>
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            <p class="para_item"><b class="uiTerm">Inner</b> layers means the keep-in area applies only to layers within the board. This option is available for the Routing keep-in area type only.
            </p>
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         <li>
            <p class="para_item"><b class="uiTerm">All</b> layers means the keep-in area applies to all board layers. This option is available for the Routing keep-in area type only.
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