periscope/frontend/content/file-guide.md

File Upload Guide

Pinscope needs two files from your EDA tool to review a design:

• A PADS-PCB ASCII netlist or an EDIF 2.0.0 netlist — the circuit's connectivity. Pinscope accepts .asc, .net, .NET, .txt (PADS-PCB) and .edn, .edif, .edf (EDIF); the format is auto-detected from the file's first bytes.
• A Bill of Materials (CSV or XLSX) — mapping each reference designator to a manufacturer part number.

Example files

New to Pinscope? Here's a complete set of files from Phil's Lab' KiCad 9 TI MSPM0 tutorial you can download and upload as a starter project:

• TI-MSP-KICAD9-TUTORIAL.asc — netlist
• TI-MSP-KICAD9-TUTORIAL.csv — BOM
• TI-MSP-KICAD9-TUTORIAL-SCHEMATIC.pdf — schematic (for your reference; Pinscope doesn't need this)

The BOM below shows the shape Pinscope is looking for.

The BOM

Pinscope auto-detects BOM columns by header name. After upload you'll confirm which column holds designators and which holds part numbers, so the exact header names don't matter — only that these columns exist.

Required

• Designator / Reference — one row per part, or grouped references like C1,C2,C5 in a single row (Pinscope expands these automatically).
• Manufacturer Part Number (MPN) — the full orderable part number. Pinscope uses this to look up datasheets, so 10uF 0805 on its own is not enough — it needs e.g. GRM21BR61C106KE15L.

Recommended

• Value or Comment — passive values (10uF, 4.7k, 8MHz). Used for passive value resolution and mismatch detection when the MPN can't be matched.
• Footprint — used to enrich the design graph.

CSV and XLSX both work. For XLSX, the first worksheet is used.

The Netlist

Pinscope accepts either a PADS-PCB ASCII netlist or an EDIF 2.0.0 netlist — the upload form auto-detects which one you sent based on the file's first bytes, so you don't have to pick a format.

PADS-PCB ASCII

This is the default format most EDA tools can export. It looks like this:

*PADS-PCB*
*PART*
U1 LQFP48
C1 0402
...
*NET*
*SIGNAL* GND
U1.1 U1.48 C1.2
*SIGNAL* VCC
U1.24 C1.1
...
*END*

If your file starts with *PADS-PCB* and ends with *END*, you're good. Reference designators may contain spaces (e.g. CV GND) — Pinscope resolves them against your BOM.

Heads up — two different .asc files exist. PADS (and tools that interop with PADS, like Xpedition) use the .asc extension for two unrelated things:

• The schematic-exported netlist starts with *PADS-PCB* and lists *PART* / *NET* sections. This is what Pinscope wants.
• The full PCB layout dump starts with !PADS-POWERPCB-V… and contains routing/footprint geometry. Pinscope cannot parse this.

If your upload errors with "No components found", check the first line of the file.

EDIF 2.0.0

EDIF is a vendor-neutral s-expression format. The first form is (edif …, with an (edifVersion 2 0 0) declaration near the top, libraries that define each cell's pin list, and a design library that lists (instance …) and (net …) forms. Pinscope has been verified against Siemens xDX Designer / DxDesigner exports; other EDIF 2.0.0 exporters (OrCAD, Altium, KiCad, Eagle) follow the same grammar and should work, but haven't been broadly tested. If your EDIF file doesn't parse, contact us and send a snippet — most fixes are small.

If your tool exports both PADS-PCB and EDIF, PADS-PCB is the path more users have validated; use EDIF when it's the only option.

Exporting from your EDA tool

KiCad

Works with KiCad 7.x, 8.x, and 9.x.

Netlist

1. Open the schematic in eeschema.
2. File → Export → Netlist…
3. Select the PADS tab → Export Netlist.
4. Save the resulting .net file and upload it directly.

BOM

1. In eeschema: Tools → Generate BOM…
2. Use the built-in bom_csv_grouped_by_value_with_fp plugin (or similar) — it produces a CSV with Reference, Value, Footprint, and any custom MPN field on your symbols.
3. If your symbols don't have an MPN field yet, add one via Edit → Edit Symbol Fields before generating the BOM.

Altium Designer

Netlist

1. In the Schematic Editor: Design → Netlist for Project → PADS.
2. The .NET file lands in Project Outputs for …. Upload it directly.

BOM

1. Reports → Bill of Materials.
2. In the template, include Designator, Manufacturer Part Number (or your equivalent parameter), Comment (= value), and Footprint.
3. Export → CSV or Excel.

OrCAD / Allegro

For OrCAD Capture and Allegro Design Entry.

Netlist

1. Tools → Create Netlist → format PADS-PCB (.asc).
2. Save to the project output directory.

BOM

1. Tools → Bill of Materials → configure columns to include Reference, Manufacturer Part Number, and Value.
2. Export CSV.

Xpedition

Works in Xpedition Designer / DxDesigner (VX.2.x, including VX.2.14). Xpedition and PADS are both Siemens EDA tools and share a netlist exchange format — but the PADS netlist export is only available in projects created with the Netlist project type. Projects on the integrated Xpedition flow (which forward directly into Xpedition Layout) don't expose PADS as a layout target.

Netlist

1. Open the schematic in Xpedition Designer / DxDesigner.
2. Setup → Settings → Layout Tool → confirm PADS (or PADS Professional) is selected. If this option isn't available, the project was created as an Integrated/Expedition project — create a new Netlist-type project and import the schematics into it.
3. Tools → PCB Interface → choose the PADS template (pads2007.cfg or equivalent).
4. Run the export. The output's first line should be *PADS-PCB* with *PART* and *NET* sections below. The file extension (.txt, .net, or .asc) doesn't matter — upload it as-is.

If your project is locked to the integrated Xpedition flow, export EDIF instead — DxDesigner's EDIF Exporter runs against any project type and Pinscope accepts the resulting .edn as an equivalent input. See Netlist (EDIF alternative) below.

Netlist (EDIF alternative)

1. Open the schematic in Xpedition Designer / DxDesigner.
2. File → Export → EDIF… (older builds: Tools → Run Tool → Edif Exporter).
3. In the export dialog:
   • EDIF version: 2.0.0 (Pinscope only supports 2.0.0)
   • EDIF level: 0 (the default)
   • Output format: Netlist view — make sure cells, instances, nets, and the viewMap back-annotation block are all included
   • Designator source: include back-annotated designators (otherwise instances export as templates like U? / R? and Pinscope drops them)
4. Save as <design>.edn and upload it as the netlist. The file should start with (edif …) and contain (edifVersion 2 0 0) near the top.

If neither PADS nor EDIF works for your project setup, send us the BOM and schematic PDF via Contact — we can usually help unblock the export.

BOM

1. Reports → Bill of Materials in Xpedition Designer, or run the Variant Manager BOM export.
2. Include Reference Designator, Part Number (manufacturer part), Value, and Footprint columns.
3. Export CSV or XLSX.

EasyEDA

For both EasyEDA Standard and EasyEDA Pro.

Netlist

1. EasyEDA Std: File → Export → PADS-PCB Netlist (.asc).
2. EasyEDA Pro: Design → Output → Netlist → PADS-PCB.

BOM

1. Fabrication → BOM → export CSV.
2. Confirm the Manufacturer Part Number column is populated — it comes from the LCSC supplier data or from a custom MPN attribute you've set on each part.

Autodesk Eagle

Netlist

1. In the schematic editor: File → Run ULP → pads-pcb.ulp (or File → Export → Netlist → PADS in newer builds).
2. Save and upload as-is.

BOM

1. File → Export → Bill of Materials → CSV.
2. Ensure your parts carry an MPN or MFR_PART attribute so the column ends up in the export.

Troubleshooting

• "No components found" — your netlist is missing the *PART* section. Re-export specifically in PADS-PCB format (not Spice, Protel, or a generic text netlist). If the first line is !PADS-POWERPCB-V…, you uploaded the PCB layout dump instead of the schematic netlist — re-export from the schematic side.
• "No ground net found" — your netlist has no net named GND, VSS, AGND, DGND, or similar. If you exported a sub-sheet, re-export the top sheet instead.
• Unresolved parts after the pipeline runs — a BOM row has no MPN, or the MPN wasn't found on DigiKey. Add the MPN, or rely on Pinscope's value fallback (fills in from the Value / Comment column).

Still stuck? Contact us with your netlist and BOM attached and we'll take a look.