Pad classes are at least better than directly naming pads in rules (e.g. You can choose fill mode, properties for size of free island copper, deviation for pad boundary, polygon name, polygon active layer, net connection, etc. For example, the copper pour pitch is 16mil, other safety pitches are 8mil, the via-to-via pitch is 100mil, the pad-to-pad pitch is 100mil, the pad-to-via pitch is 100mil, the top ground copper is 0. Ed: your search for a more general rule is a worthy one, because not only are pad classes just another step you need to ensure is made, but also as component names or IDs are updated in the course of updates, class assignments can be lost, or confused accidentally. PCB Advanced Spacing Rules-Altium Designer's spacing rulesThis article is going to tell you about the PCB Advanced Spacing Rules on Altium designer. 5991: Fixed crash in Interactive Router caused when routing from a no-net pad. 5942: Fixed freeze/hang with Interactive Differential Pair Router. You can calculate the conductance of a thermal spoke, and I think you will find it isn't substantial under most cases, is merely worth increasing (but not eliminating) under more demanding cases. Polygon properties dialog will now correctly handle shelved polygons when invoked from polygon manager. Direct connects are a hazard for poor reflow soldering. Keep in mind that direct connection is rarely necessary, and simply increasing the size of the thermals will do. My designs often have a, for example: IsPad AND (AsMils(PadXSize_AllLayers) > 60) AND (AsMils(PadYSize_AllLayers) > 60) query in them for a Polåonnect rule, and set to a modest increase in dimension, say 20 or 30 mils spokes, with 10 being the default. You can also construct rules by size, which is probably a more common case anyway. Component class is certainly one (since old versions), and you can use component class, pad naming and optionally footprint naming to select relevant pads. I'm not sure offhand if ClassName is one of them.
AD17 or 18 or so? You can add schematic parameters, which are pulled into PCB and can be queried by rules.