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How to change pad shape in Eagle?

KX36

Hi, I've been using CadSoft EAGLE for a short while and I've pretty much just had to pick things up as I went along.

 

I was wondering if someone can tell me how to change the pad shape of components on the .brd board without changing the package in the library or using the DRC to change every component on the board. E.g. A generic resistor pad is octagonal, I want to make all my resistors have round pads without changing the library part and without my IC pads becoming round too. It does seem to be possible to do this as looking at the "Hexapod" example, the resistors there have round pads while being the same "0207/10" package (with octagonal pads) as I'm using, yet the TO220 voltage regulators elsewhere use their library pad shape.

 

Thanks a lot,

Matt

  •  

    "KX36" <communitymanager@premierfarnell.com> wrote in message

    news:924210811.8201310827082263.JavaMail.jive@flmspu-csapp-02.premierfarnell.com...

    Hi, I've been using EAGLE for a short while and I've pretty much just had

    to pick things up as I went along.

     

    I was wondering if someone can tell me how to change the pad shape of

    components without changing the library or using the DRC to change every

    component on the board. E.g. A generic resistor pad is octagonal, I want

    to make all my resistors have round pads without changing the library part

    and without my IC pads becoming round too. It does seem to be possible to

    do this as looking at the "Hexapod" example, the resistors there have

    round pads while being the same "0207/10" package (with octagonal pads) as

    I'm using, yet the TO220 voltage regulators elsewhere use their library

    pad shape.

     

    Thanks a lot,

    Matt

     

     

    What you are overlooking is that the Hexapod example is ancient and was

    created with an "R" library that is no longer part of the Eagle

    installation. That's why the resistors have round pads in that example. Do

    an 'INFO' on the Hexapod resistors and look at the "Library" field.

     

    What you can do is open the RCL library and make a copy of the 0207/10

    package, (give it a new name), change the pads' shape to round, and then add

    that package as another device "R-US" (or whatever it may be) variant.

     

    'UPDATE' the RCL library in the BRD editor, and then change packages where

    desired. You cannot simply change pad shapes on a device in your BRD file.

     

    You can also make package changes on groups but I believe that all the

    devices contained within that group must be from the same library and be

    using the same symbol. There may be other requirements to the group change

    scheme but it's too late in the day for me to worry about.

     

     

     

  • in reply to Former Member

    I too find the current approach of designing new packages, to what I see are minor changes, are not designer friendly and most time consuming.

    The packages that are used in a design are saved along with the board file, so a "local" change on one design/layout shouldn't affect the "global" part that is copied from a library. Of course, this has consequences; If you make a library update, or if you replace components, your local changes will be lost.

    However, I still see this as a most beneficial feature that already exist in competing products.

     

    Regards,

    Marcin

     

    PS @ moderator: If this post fits better in a change request thread, please feel free to move it there, accompanied with the history above.