BoardSurfers: Training Insights: Speed Up the Design Process in Allegro PCB Editor Using Shortcut Keys

You can customize your Allegro^® PCB Editor design environment to work around repetitive design tasks using aliases and shortcut keys. These are the shorthand of commands or keys that trigger a tool command or a sequence of commands, which would otherwise take longer when performed following the standard workflow. Shortcut keys help streamline your design process and make it significantly quicker.

This blog demonstrates how to define and use aliases and shortcut keys in Allegro PCB Editor. These shortcut keys, or function keys as they are called in Allegro PCB Editor, are essentially short-form keyboard sequences for frequently-used commands that help you run the commands quickly, without having to navigate through the menus or type the complete commands. You can use alphanumeric characters or a combination of keys as shortcut keys. What’s more, is that you can define a single shortcut key for a sequence of actions.

Using Aliases and Shortcut Keys

Aliases and shortcut keys provide an alternative way of running commands and functions. You type alias in the Command window and press the Enter key to run the corresponding command. To operate a shortcut key, however, you simply press the defined shortcut key while working in the design canvas.

How to View Default Aliases

Allegro PCB Editor comes with a set of pre-defined aliases and shortcut keys. You can access the list of these shortcut keys by typing alias or funckey in the Command window.

          

The aliases and shortcut keys are displayed in a new window.

Defining Temporary Aliases

You can redefine aliases and shortcut keys to match your preferences. To use a command using an alias, perform the following steps:

• In the Command window, type the following to define an alias:

                Syntax: alias <alias> <command to run>

                Example: alias al add line

• To assign an alias to run a series of commands, use the following syntax:

                Syntax: alias <alias> “<command1; command2>”

                Example: alias l15 “add line; setwindow form.mini; FORM mini line_width 15.0”

Now, when you run the alias al and press the Enter key in the Command window, notice that the add line command is running in the Current Active Command display at the bottom-left corner of the Allegro PCB Editor window.

Defining Temporary Shortcut Keys

Similarly, you can edit the shortcut key definitions as well. For example, to run the Add Via shortcut menu command using a shortcut key, perform the following steps:

• In the Command window, use the following syntax to define a shortcut key:

                Syntax: funckey <user-defined key or name> <command to run>

                Example: funckey m add line

Before using a shortcut key to run the command, ensure that the cursor is not active in the Command window.

• To define a series of commands to a key or a user-defined name, use the following syntax:

                Syntax: funckey <user-defined key or name> “<command1; command2>”

                Example: funckey p "add connect; setwindow form.mini; FORM mini acon_line_width 5; setwindow pcb"

After setting the shown shortcut key, when you press p on the keyboard, a cline gets routed, and its width is set to 5.

Aliases and shortcut keys redefined using the steps shown here are active only for the current work session, and any changes you make to the alias and shortcut key definitions are lost when you exit Allegro PCB Editor. For those keys to be persistent in subsequent sessions of Allegro PCB Editor, define the alias and shortcut key settings in your local environment (.env) file.

Also, it is important to remember that aliases and shortcut keys are case-sensitive. For example, you can define the following commands as separate valid shortcut keys at the same time:

• funckey m move
• funckey M show measure
• alias c copy
• alias C show element

Aliases and shortcut keys provide shortcuts to frequently used actions, offering a user-friendly and customizable way to fast-track your design processes and maximize productivity.

To learn in detail about User Preferences, watch Creating Aliases, Function Keys and, Hot Keys within the Allegro PCB Editor - v17.4-2019 (Video) training byte on the Cadence Support portal. Click the training byte link now or visit Cadence Support and search for this training byte under Video Library.

If you find the post useful and want to delve deeper into training details, enroll in the following online training course for lab instructions and a downloadable design:           
Allegro PCB Editor Basic Techniques v17.4-2019QIR2 (Online)                                                                
You can become Cadence Certified once you complete the course.          

Cadence Training Services now offers free Digital Badges for all popular online training courses. These badges indicate proficiency in a certain technology or skill and give you a way to validate your expertise to managers and potential employers. You can add the digital badge to your email signature or any social media channels, such as Facebook or LinkedIn, to highlight your expertise. 

To find out more, see the blog post Take a Cadence Masterclass and Get a Badge.

You might also be interested in the training Learning Map that guides you through recommended course flows as well as tool experience and knowledge-level training modules. To find information on how to get an account on the Cadence Learning and Support portal, see here.

SUBSCRIBE to the Cadence training newsletter to be updated about upcoming training, webinars, and much more. If you have any questions about courses, schedules, online training, blended/virtual live training, or public, or onsite live training, reach out to us at Cadence Training.