Cambridge, United Kingdom based XJTAG announced the release of XJBoardExplorer as a standalone tool. This marks the first time XJTAG has made its project exploration and sharing capabilities available independently, separate from its broader boundary-scan testing suite. XJBoardExplorer enables design teams to share complex board data securely across production, service, internal groups, and contract manufacturers through controlled, read-only access. Test engineers can examine design data to investigate PCB assembly issues without connecting to hardware.
The tool integrates netlist, schematic, and layout explorers into one interface. Users can search for components, pins, or nets and navigate between views with a single click. It supports viewing Bill of Materials details, JTAG configuration, and PCB layout with options for layer visibility control and custom image layers.
XJBoardExplorer imports and parses schematic files in PDF format, layout files in ODB++ (with a fault-tolerant parser for viable projects), and BOM files in Excel or CSV. Users can configure column assignments in BOMs for analysis. It also opens existing read-only XJTAG XJPack files.
For collaboration, the tool allows export of non-extractable project files that prevent access to source data, modification, or proprietary information extraction, suitable for transfer-to-manufacture processes.
It handles projects of varying scale, including multi-board setups, hierarchical schematics, board variants, and configuration details from other XJTAG products. Search functionality uses data from netlist, schematic, and layout sources to locate areas of interest, inspect design data, and perform measurements.
Licensing options include network or cloud-based models. Additional features provide control over information extraction and editing when sharing with third parties.
The tool supports compatibility with major EDA tools for importing and setting up new projects.
