PCB editor: What determines whether a track can connect to a footprint's pad?

Layout Footprints
1

I’m putting together a simple connector/transition board based on a photo, not a schematic, and I’m only using the PCB editor directly. I created my own footprint for one of the custom connectors, and I can draw tracks from its pads, but the editor doesn’t permit me to connect them to pads on an edge connector (which are lined up within another custom footprint).

I’d like to understand what determines whether a track is allowed to touch/connect (or not) to a given pad. Can someone illuminate this for me?

FYI: I kindly suggest that there is no need to respond by telling me to make a schematic, unless you can tell me with certainty that doing so is absolutely required in order to force the PCB editor to allow tracks to touch pads. I don’t think it is-- I think I’m misunderstanding something else about the configuration of the footprints that I’d like to understand.

Thanks!

2

The origin of the track and the destination pad have to be on the same Net. Since you do not want to make a schematic which assigns the Nets as a result, you will have to assign the pads to Nets manually.

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3

Alternatively you can disregard the rules checking that currently prevents you from routing to pads by disabling DRC checking entirely in Router > Interactive Router Settings.

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4

Thank you. This is the behavior I was looking for.