What is Eagle drill file format?

Thread Starter

RichardO

Joined May 4, 2013
2,270
I have an oddball PCB CAD program and I want to submit PCB files that are compatible with Eagle.

My program can generate three different versions of Excellon drill formats. They are Decimal, Leading zero suppress and Trailing zero suppress.

Which one does Eagle use?
 
I thought that it would be easy to find this listed in the manual, but no such luck. It's kind of interesting.

As near as I can tell, normally Eagle creates Excellon files in 2.4, leading zeros suppressed, absolute inches,
format.

Some have, apparently changed this by adding to the .def file and sending to the new device, but by default, leading zeros suppressed, is what it appears to be.

Here are some supporting links, but I see nothing in the manual http://labhw.computacao.ufs.br/programas/eagle/V7.3_manual_en.pdf

https://www.element14.com/community/thread/12810/l/drill-files-viewmate?displayFullThread=true
https://electronics.stackexchange.c...-with-2-4-precision-and-trailing-zero-suppres
https://www.element14.com/community...-isopro-31-scale-issue?displayFullThread=true
http://eagle.support.eng.narkive.com/DLz8349I/trailing-zero-supression-in-excellon-drill-files
 

MrChips

Joined Oct 2, 2009
30,622
Here is a sample from the drill file:

%
M48
M72
T01C0.0236
T02C0.0360
T06C0.0394
T08C0.0512
T09C0.0906
T11C0.1260
T12C0.1406

%
T01
X7477Y3900
X18477Y14940
X16177Y20500
X15377Y20200
X15177Y21500
X14177Y21500
X13577Y20700
X15041Y24497
X15045Y25290


Here is my .dri file

Generated by EAGLE CAM Processor 6.5.0

Drill Station Info File: C:/PCBS/DSP10_2015/DSP10_2015.dri

Date : 31/07/2015 12:38:30 PM
Drills : generated
Device : Excellon drill station

Parameter settings:

Tolerance Drill + : 0.00 %
Tolerance Drill - : 0.00 %
Rotate : no
Mirror : no
Optimize : yes
Auto fit : yes
OffsetX : 0inch
OffsetY : 0inch
Layers : Drills Holes

Drill File Info:

Data Mode : Absolute
Units : 1/10000 Inch

Drills used:

Code Size used

T01 0.0236inch 685
T02 0.0360inch 40
T03 0.0374inch 4
T04 0.0394inch 36
T05 0.0400inch 13
T06 0.0433inch 1
T07 0.0440inch 3
T08 0.0512inch 2
T09 0.0906inch 2
T10 0.0906inch 1
T11 0.1260inch 3
T12 0.1300inch 2
T13 0.1400inch 4

Total number of drills: 796

Plotfiles:

C:/PCBS/DSP10_2015/DSP10_2015.TXT
 

mcgyvr

Joined Oct 15, 2009
5,394
Try one.. See if it works.. If not try another..
Should take a few minutes and you answered your own question with real life proof..
 

Thread Starter

RichardO

Joined May 4, 2013
2,270
Try one.. See if it works.. If not try another..
Should take a few minutes and you answered your own question with real life proof..
The only sure way to know if my files work is to order boards and see if they were fabricated correctly. :eek:
 

Thread Starter

RichardO

Joined May 4, 2013
2,270
Before placing an order I double check all Gerber files and drill files using ViewMate.
Me too. ViewMate is a great program -- and the price is right. I also use it to print toner to make my own homemade boards.

I have used freedfm from the Advanced Circuits web site but this is when I am going to order from them. I have caught a lot of gotchas that just viewing a file set does not.
 

ebeowulf17

Joined Aug 12, 2014
3,307
The free version of Viewplot has worked well for me so far. I wonder how it compares to Viewmate.

I'd be terrified to place a PCB order before confirming my files externally, and I'm always glad I've got a way to view the Gerber and drill files.
 

BobTPH

Joined Jun 5, 2013
8,767
The places I have ordered from let you upload the files and view the results to check them. I wrote my own PCB CAD program and produce Gerber + Excellon, which has worked perfectly.

Bob
 
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