About User Defined ECAD Areas
User defined ECAD areas allow you to create areas with company specific names and colors. User defined ECAD areas can only be created on boards in ECAD Assemblies.
The area name and color can be set in one of the following ways:
• By a *.csv file—Set the path to the *.csv file using the ecad_usrdef_area_type_file_path configuration option.
• Manually—Type a name in the box when creating the area. To change the default color, click 
and choose a color.
and choose a color.The color for area lines and quilts set by the *.csv file, must be a system color. Its name must exist in the *.dmt appearance file. You can use custom colors when you use the global_appearance_file to set the file path to a custom *.dmt appearance file. When the color is not set by the *.csv file, the default user defined area color is used. You can change the default color in the Geometry section of the System Appearance page in the Creo Parametric Options dialog box. Setting a color from the ribbon overrides the color set by the *.csv file. In collaboration mode, the collaboration colors override all colors set. When you exit collaboration mode, the colors return to those set for the area.
User defined ECAD areas are imported from an IDX file, just as any ECAD area. They are exported with EDA and IDX files in both the baseline and the incremental files.
 | You should use user defined areas for importing and collaborating on a small amount of data. Using these areas to import and collaborate on large amounts of data will result in a large feature list that will slow regeneration and model performance. The application may become unresponsive on various user actions such as collaboration. |
A user defined area is identified by 
in the Model Tree. Add the ECAD Parameter PTC_ECAD_USER_DEFINED_AREA_TYPE Model Tree column to view the area name.
in the Model Tree. Add the ECAD Parameter PTC_ECAD_USER_DEFINED_AREA_TYPE Model Tree column to view the area name.