GENT, BELGIUM – Ucamco, KiCad and Pentalogix have developed the CAD/CAM Exchange NC format (XNC), a subset of IPC-NC-349 that transfers CAD/CAM drill information without the need for additional sidecar files.

Graphicode, Cuprum and Zofz support the free format for PCB drill data.

Gerber-type attribute provide machine-readable metadata on complete files, tools or individual holes that describe their characteristics in a standard way. XNC files can be added to Gerber X2 data sets, while ensuring the format is compatible with software that does not read attributes.

With XNC, CAD developers can create output software, using well-known formats but without having to choose from an array of possibilities and functionalities, or reverse engineer from multiple incomplete and confusing NC files.

With XNC, designers can provide a specification that will improve the CAD-CAM data transfer process.