Hi,
here are some topics that crept up after I began routing my pcb. I am
not sure if I overlooked something in the docs, so I am asking here
before filing feature requests:
1) Is there an alternative to the default routing style with 45°
segments at the start of the current line? It would be nice to switch to
45° segments at the other end. What I mean is:
style A:
start\
\
\_____________mouse cursor
style B:
start____________
\
\
\mouse cursor
Sometimes style A is more convenient, sometimes style B. So it would be
nice to switch dynamically with a shortcut key while routing.
style C:
Vertical and horizontal only. (Manhattan style)
style D:
Direct connection of two points, allowing for any angle, not just
integers of 45°
If style D is not implemented, how do I do lines with arbitrary angle?
2) What is the most convent way to change sides during routing? Is there
a shortcut that sets a via and toggles the active layer from top to
bottom? (Protel: [numpad-*])
2b) Is there a keyboard shortcut that toggles the active layer between
component and solder?
3) Is there a way to tune the auto router in addition to the sizes that
are given by the "routing style"? e.g. priority directions for specific
layers, penalty if the direction of a track is "wrong", penalty for
vias, maximum number of undo if the routing gets stuck, etc.
4) The autorouter seems to do Manhatten style routing only. Can it be
configured to do 45° style?
5) I noticed, that I get different layers if I start pcb with a *.pcb
file, that was generated by gsch2pcb. Without any pcb file it is
1:component
2:solder
3:GND
4:power
5:signal1
6:signal2
With the gschem generated file is is:
1:solder
2:GND-sldr
3:Vcc-sldr
4:component
5:Vcc-comp
What is the significance of this difference? The colors seem to depend
on the numbers rather than the names. I.e with the default layout solder
gets the same color as component with the gsch2pcb...
6) Is there a way to "go backwards" while routing? Sometimes I discover
right after the click, that I'd better go a different way. In these
situations I'd like to do an immediate undo of the click. i.e. return to
the situation before the click with the line tool still attached to the
mouse cursor. In Protel I could do this with by hitting the backspace
button while routing. Is this little helper implemented in pcb too?
And finally a meta question: Would you prefer if I wrote a separate
email to the list for every topic? --> "Karel style" :-)
---<(kaimartin)>---
--
Kai-Martin Knaak
kmk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Blog: http://lilalaser.dyndns.org/blog
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