Need trace stretch feature

Todd Elliott wrote on Wed, 28 May 2014 13:09

Would it be possible to add a trace stretch feature that preserves

adjacent segment angles?  This feature would really be helpful when

routing more complex designs.  Being able to do this for multiple

selected traces would be nice, but just preserving adjacent angles for

a

single trace when moving would be a huge improvement.  Our usual

layout

engineer refuses to use Eagle on complex boards (high-density BGA)

only

because of this lacking feature.  Now that I'm forced to route this

board,  I see why.  It would be very helpful.

 

Description from another software of the feature needed:

h2. Track Dragging with Angle Preservation

Re-routing is not always the best approach to modifying routing, for

example, situations where you want to move a track segment slightly,

keeping the neat 45° and 90° corners at either end. (xxxxxx) 

supports

this, through multi-track dragging with angle preservation. Dragging

behavior is controlled by the Preserve Angle When Dragging option in

the PCB Editor - Interactive Routing page of the Preferences

dialog.

To drag, click once on the segment to select it - the cursor will

change

to a quad-arrow - then click and drag to slide it to a new location.

You

will notice that the angles to adjacent track segments are preserved,

maintaining the routing style.

Hello Todd,

Right now with EAGLE v6, to get what you are looking for, it can be done

but you have to first group the segments you want.  I have group assigned

to CTRL+G so it is pretty quick but it does take more mouse clicks.  And on

dense designs (of which we've done many) it would be much more efficient if

these angles were maintained during moving so that grouping was not

required for most basic moves.

I know you didn't mention it, but taking the first sentence and googling

it, I can see that you've taken that text from Altium's docs.  But let's

not give the excuse of an expensive tool having this feature.  KiCAD (the

gEDA open-source CAD tool) now has something very similar thanks to the

good folks at CERN.  See this tutorial:

( reference https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCG4daPvuVI )

So it appears that the low bar of the industry has just been raised.  This

is a good time for such a feature to be added to EAGLE.  I'm not asking for

all this interactive routing to be added right away, but being able to move

a trace and keep the angles of adjacent segments would be useful.  I also

like their snapping feature when one segment lines up with another and it

can be optimised into one line--that is a nice touch.

Cheers,

James.

--

James Morrison  ~~~  Stratford Digital

Specializing in CadSoft EAGLE

• Online Sales to North America

• Electronic Design Services

Take advantage of v7 License Promotion right now at

http://www.eaglecentral.ca

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Hi,

 

Right now with EAGLE v6, to get what you are looking for, it can be done

but you have to first group the segments you want.  I have group assigned

to CTRL+G so it is pretty quick but it does take more mouse clicks.  And on

dense designs (of which we've done many) it would be much more efficient if

these angles were maintained during moving so that grouping was not

required for most basic moves.

 

 

I use that technique too (except that I assign ALT+G instead of Ctrl+G ! ). But this is efficient when we move several wires. When moving a single wire it's quite annoying.

I would point out that if this feature could be add to eagle, it would be nice to implement it for every 'wire style' element such as polygons borders.

And of course, it can also be useful in schematic and library editor...

Guillaume.

If eagle is already capable of preserving angles for adjacent angles using a ctrl-g / alt-g group mapping,  is there some documentation on how this works?   If you mean selecting the segment and adjacent segments in a group, then moving that, then I understand.  That is not what I'm suggesting though. 

It would be a very helpful option to have the length of the segments change when moving a trace while preserving the adjacent angles instead of having the selected segment stay the same length while the angles are adjusted (how eagle currently works).  Hope that makes sense.

rf1 wrote on Mon, 02 June 2014 11:14

If eagle is already capable of preserving angles for adjacent angles

using a ctrl-g / alt-g group mapping,  is there some documentation on

how this works?   If you mean selecting the segment and adjacent

segments in a group, then moving that, then I understand.  That is

not

what I'm suggesting though. 

 

It would be a very helpful option to have the length of the segments

change when moving a trace while preserving the adjacent angles

instead of having the selected segment stay the same length while the

angles are adjusted (how eagle currently works).  Hope that makes

sense.

I understand what you are asking.  I just offered an option to help with

the current state of EAGLE.  Using the group command can help you move a

group of traces while maintaining the angles of the selected wire segments.

It isn't the full solution but it could help you be more efficient in the

short term.

Long term, I agree it should work better and I'd like to see what you have

suggested.

Cheers,

James.

--

James Morrison  ~~~  Stratford Digital

Specializing in CadSoft EAGLE

• Online Sales to North America

• Electronic Design Services

Take advantage of v7 License Promotion right now at

http://www.eaglecentral.ca

--

Web access to CadSoft support forums at www.eaglecentral.ca.  Where the CadSoft EAGLE community meets.

Has this feature been implemented yet in Eagle v7.6?

This, without a doubt, would have to be my #1 feature request!!!

I wouldn't say so.  We probably still don't have a native bottom board view

either.

Don't try to wake them.

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