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OrCAD™ SDT 4.x schematic file format

I reverse-engineered the file format to implement my OrTie page tie generator. Use at your own risk. Sorry, I don't have anything on the library file format (complex, can be translated into text form), or the 32-bit format (probably very similar structure).

Header Format

0000-0010	"Schematic FILE", cr, lf, eof
0011-0015	00 ???
0016-0019	Byte count (offset component list - 0020)
001a-001b	current x cursor position
001c-001d	current y cursor position
001e		current  level (1/2/5/10)
001f		00 ??

0020		title block tag = 0
0021-0022	byte count (fixed)
0023-0024	sheet number (1..32767, 0 = invisible)
0025-0026	number of sheets (1..32767, 0 = invisible)
0027		0x  =  visible title block
		8x  =  invisible title block
		x0  =  A size
		x1  =  B size
		x2  =  C size
		x3  =  D size
		x4  =  E size
0028-003a	date			(string)
003b-005f	document number		(string)
0060-0063	revision number		(string)
0064-0090	title of sheet		(string)
0091-00bd	organization name	(string)
00be-00ea	address line 1		(string)
00eb-0117	address line 2		(string)
0118-0144	address line 3		(string)
0145-0171	address line 4		(string)

{rec}		Records (see below)

xxxx		End of file tag = 0f
		length  =  0
		
{str}		Component list. The library name of each component used
		is given in the sequence it appears in the preceding
		records.

Record Format

  • Each wire segment is stored separately, and can point in any direction.
  • Except for the header and the end of file record, the elements seem to come in any sequence.
  • Only the lower four bits of the tag value seem to be valid, the fourth bit seems to be used internally by OrCAD.
01	Tag = SHEET
cccc	Byte count
xxx1	Position top left
yyy1
xxx2	Position bottom right
yyy2
????	Junk ?
????	Junk ?
cc	Number of sheet nets
	File name
	Sheet name

	Sheet nets: 0 to 255 records
	
	??	Junk ?
	pp	00 = left
		FF = right
	yyyy	vertical offset from top, 14, 24 ... on normal grid
	tt	Type	00 = unspecified
			01 = output
			02 = input
			03 = bidirectional
		Port name
	
	        Note: The name of the library symbol is stored at the
	        end of the file.

02	Tag = COMPONENT
cccc	Byte count
xxxx	Position
yyyy
xofs	Reference designator offset
yofs
xofs	Part value offset
yofs
dd	Device number (1..26)
	Orientation:	00 = ->		80 = mirror
			20 = ^
			40 = <-
			60 = v
ff	Flags:		01 = use converted symbol
			02 = reference invisible
			04 = part value invisible
			40 = include field attributes
			80 = device number
vv	Visibility:	01 = first attribute invisible
			02 = second attribute invisible
			..
			80 = eight attribute invisible
ss	Sheetpart:	40 = sheetpart name invisible
			80 = include sheetpart name
FFFF	???
xxxx	???
xxxx	???
xxxx	??? part of time stamp ?
tsts	4 byte time stamp, recognized by INET
tsts

	Reference designator, includes optional device number
	Part value

Field attributes (optional section), eight repetitions:

xofs	Attribute offset
yofs
	Field attribute

Sheet part name (optional section):

xofs	Sheet part name offset
yofs
	Sheet part name

03	Tag = WIRE
0008	Byte count
xxx1	First position
yyy1
xxx2	Second position
yyy2

04	Tag = BUS
0008	Byte count
xxx1	First position
yyy1
xxx2	Second position
yyy2

04	Tag = BUS
05	Tag = JUNCTION
0004	Byte count
xxxx	Position
yyyy

06	Tag = MODULE PORT
0xxx	Byte count = 0007 + number of characters
xxxx	Position
yyyy
1E	Width in pixels (min. 30)
tt	Type:	00 = unspecified  	00 = neither pointing
		40 = output		10 = left pointing
		80 = input		20 = right pointing
		C0 = bidirectional	30 = both pointing
	String

07	Tag = LABEL
0xxx	Byte count = 0007 + number of characters
xxxx	Position
yyyy
ssss	Size:	+1, +2 ... horizontal
		-1, -2 ... vertical
	String

08	Tag = ENTRY
0005	Byte count
xxxx	Position
yyyy
tt	Type:	00 = /
		01 = \

09	Tag = DASHED LINE
0008	Byte count
xxx1	First position
yyy1
xxx2	Second position
yyy2

0A	Tag = POWER
0xxx	Byte count = 0006 + number of characters
xxxx	Position
yyyy
tt	Type:	00 = circle	00 = top
		01 = arrow	04 = bottom
		02 = bar	08 = left
		03 = wave	0C = right
	String

0B	Tag = TEXT
0xxx	Byte count = 0007 + number of characters
xxxx	Position
yyyy
ssss	Size:	+1, +2 ... horizontal
		-1, -2 ... vertical
	String

0C	Tag = MARKER
cccc	Byte count
tt	Type:	00 = Trace name
		01 = Vector column
		02 = Stimulus
		03 = Error
		04 = NoConnect
		05 = Layout directive
xxxx	Position
yyyy

	Trace name, vector column:
	
	0000	??
		String
	
	Stimulus:
	
	llll	String length + 2
		String
	0	End of string
	
	Error, layout directive:
	
		String
	
	NoConnect:
	
	no additional fields

0F	Tag = END OF FILE
0000	Byte count
 

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