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JohnsonMiller , 01-23-2022, 10:42 AM

In AD21.1.2, I have enabled the cross select to assist component selection between PCB and schematics, BUT I am observing a strange behavior, when I select and delete a trace in PCB, it removes that connection in the schematic as well! If un-route the PCB, it destroys the schematic completely! Any help?

qdrives , 01-24-2022, 02:04 PM

Ouch. I can't say I have had that in Altium...
I have noticed (schematic) lines disappearing when I move part of the schematic.
What are your settings for Preferences / System / Navigation?

WhoKnewKnows , 01-24-2022, 06:40 PM

I had this happen to me once. It's been a while and I don't recall what it was that I did to get it to stop. As I recall I turned off cross select mode and kept working for a while, that day, maybe the next. Then, at some point I tried using it again and it didn't have the same problem.

robertferanec , 01-25-2022, 11:10 PM

Maybe disable the Cross select mode in PCB? or in Schematic? One of them.

JohnsonMiller , 01-26-2022, 03:00 AM

@robertferanec , thank you.
I need schematic-to-PCB select, schematic->PCB only.
Do you mean cross select is a two-way, schematic <=> PCB, and we can control direction?

Unfortunately, I notice this problem quite late, and it destroyed my schematic and PCB. Design is a big board, almost 3 full days I spend to recover it, very annoying.
It was also very strange that it remove PCB traces and schematic nets without any alert, warning or so!
At first, I thought it is some sort of bug or malicious activity, then found that it is AD itself.

We usually do not expect this sort of thing from a professional EDA tool.

robertferanec , 01-28-2022, 07:41 AM

Ah, Altium only has one option - common for schematic and pcb. My mistake.

But, normally I do not delete my nets when I select tracks in PCB. It must be something in the settings (?)

PS: I tested it in my Altium, when cross mode is enabled, selecting a track in pcb will select the net in schematic, but deleting the track in pcb will not delete the connection in schematic

JohnsonMiller , 01-30-2022, 05:06 AM

@robertferanec , I was using this feature for a long time after learning it from your videos, and it was very helpful in PCB placements,

The strange thing that is happening is new, for your reference AD 22.1.2.

Point is that, after setting cross-select, when you select an item in PCB it highlights it in the schematic, and vice versa, which is ok. But if you hit Delete, it first deletes the highlighted element in the schematic then you have to hit Delete again to delete the item from the main PCB documents.
For example, if you select a trace in the routed PCB, and hit delete to un-route it. You have to hit Delete twice, it deletes the net from the schematic!!! and rhen un-route PCB. In other words, the schematic is destroyed!
The reverse also happens, if you want to delete a net in the schematic, again have to hit Delete twice and it un-route and delete the net from PCB fully, as well! PCB is destroyed.

My board was a big one, with lots of polygons and nets, I was editing the schematic but I noticed PCB is disappearing gradually with each Delete hit, unfortunately was quite late lost 3 days of work.

WhoKnewKnows , 01-30-2022, 07:50 AM

When cross select causes the deletion of a schematic object when its relevant PCB object is deleted, how are the schematic and PCB displayed on the computer? Single monitor computer with single Altium window with vertical split between schematic and PCB? Dual monitors, with and separate Altium windows in each window, one window displaying schematic and the other displaying PCB? It might be a relevant clue.

I'm thinking cross select is typically a misnomer. Cross-highlight may be a more accurate name/definition of how it's supposed to work.

I'm thinking about all the times I'm working with schematic open in one screen and PCB in another screen. I turn my attention to one, initiate a command using a keyboard shortcut and begin to try to work on one screen and it doesn't seem to be working as expected. Then, I look over to the other screen and see something going terribly wrong. This is because the OS focus is on the other window and the shortcut I just used works in that editor as well as the editor that I intended to work with.

Knowing this, it's fair to say Altium relies heavily on focus whether it's switching focus from one Altium window to the other, or switching focus from one editor to the other from within a single Altium window.

It seems like the failure somehow, is that during use of cross select mode, both editors are in focus at once, and the delete command and perhaps other commands are effective in both editors simultaneously.

Once you discover it happening again, it may be worth evaluating whether it appears both windows (both editors) are simultaneously in focus according to appearance (window frame highlight, etc.) and see what other commands are erroneously being applied to both editors simultaneously.

JohnsonMiller , 02-01-2022, 01:06 PM

@WhoKnewKnows , my arrangement is a Core I7 10750H system with 32GRAM, and two external display, indeed 3 displays including the laptop itself. I am splitting schematic and PCB, and LIB or DOC over three displays.
I understand your comment, but point is that I was using this system or similar multi-display systems for years, this issue happened just recently, I was happy with old releases, so I am considering it as a problem with new ADs.

WhoKnewKnows , 02-01-2022, 07:30 PM

Understood and agreed. I don't think I was very helpful here. Just speculating on what was going wrong. I suspect some issue with the interlock that controls/forces only one file or editor to allow active editing at a time, while other editors' objects appear highlighted. It seems like when this goes wrong, more than one editor is active and multiple editors' objects are active.