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I have read and viewed how one can compare two PCB files for differences, however I am confused at the Job Tabs once both are imported.

If I import a set of compressed gerbers as New Job1..... I have tabs "job" and "job1" .... job 1 displays the imported pcb ... so thats fine. ("job" is empty)

I then import next file which is  odb++ as a New Job2 ..... I have tabs "job1" "job2" and "layout" 

However if  select tab job2 .... its empty ..... however "layout" displays the pcb

So is "layout" ..... actually job2 ????


Rule: Each Job must have a "unique name".

Here's what's occurring:
1.  An empty Job (called "job") is always created automatically when you start using FAB 3000.
2. If you create another job, called "job2" now you have an empty job.  
Note:  You can delete that original "job" if you find it annoying.  Move mouse cursor over the tab "job", right-click, and select "delete".

3. Now when you're importing ODB++ files, FAB 3000 will use the exact same Job name as the ODB++ Step name  (i.e ODB++ calls their jobs "steps").  
Important:  ODB++ files can contain hundreds of steps (i.e jobs), so you do not need to create a new job each time before importing ODB++ files.  

However if you already have an existing job in FAB 3000 using that name already - there is a naming conflict.  Thus FAB 3000 will create a new job and append a number afterwards (i.e   myjob1,  myjob2, myjob3, etc.). 

Suggestion #1:  To avoid the problem when performing "compare" try using a descriptive job name (when importing your gerbers) that will clearly indicate what your loading - such as "job23-gerber".  Then when importing your ODB++ to perform a comparison there will be no need for FAB 3000 to modify identical jobs names.

Suggestion #2:  You can also map the resulting Job name, during ODB++ Import you can decide what names FAB 3000 will use for the job names.

Here's a quick tutorial showing me import a setup of Gerbers, and then ODB++  (I don't need to create new jobs because FAB 3000 already handles everything for me). 


To recap, I believe the primary problem you're having is to (1) avoid creating additional jobs before importing ODB++ (let FAB 3000 handle that), and (2) use descriptive jobs names (or map them during ODB++ import).

Let me know if that helps, and please let me know if you have any questions.

Best regards,

Simon

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