{"id":769,"date":"2023-03-27T10:27:50","date_gmt":"2023-03-27T14:27:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/xcelerator-academy\/?p=769"},"modified":"2026-03-27T08:21:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T12:21:19","slug":"how-to-master-the-game-of-setting-rules-constraint-manager","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/xcelerator-academy\/2023\/03\/27\/how-to-master-the-game-of-setting-rules-constraint-manager\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Master the Game of Setting Rules: Constraint Manager\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Every game has rules and in order to master a game, you have to follow these rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The more rules you have, the better \u2013 this doesn\u2019t always mean that you\u2019re restricted or limited by these rules, but rather that you have a more specific frame of reference for which direction to take to achieve precisely what you desire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rules are everywhere and are presented in different forms, for PCB designers it comes in the form of constraints<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Setting constraints can be tricky sometimes as you must be aware of your design requirements, determine the desired end result, and then identify the needed steps to achieve it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Xpedition Enterprise<\/strong> flow provides a constraint-driven design methodology that reduces design costs and your time-to-market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Constraint Manager<\/strong> is a spreadsheet-based interface that provides the same editing environment in design tools from schematic capture through PCB layout. Both electrical and physical constraints are in a single database and viewable through the same application.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Constraint Manager spreadsheet is shown in the image below; as you can see, it includes Menu Bars, Toolbars, a Navigator window, an Output Window, and an Excel spreadsheet with multiple tabs at the bottom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can rearrange the Constraint Manager interface to suit your needs.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Constraint Manager provides many rules that covers both net constraints and board-layer rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n