HOW TO: Eagle shortcut keys and scripts
As we picked up some experience with Eagle, we figured out that clicking icons and typing in commands slows down productivity. Eagle’s key-binding features make it faster to do common tasks by pressing a few keys, but for a real kick they can also run scripts. We use a hot-key to run our project export script that builds preview images and BOMs in excel, html, and wiki formats.
This is a short tutorial about our journey into creating key-bindings for common commands. Read below how to create shortcuts in Cadsoft Eagle.
Where to access
To add custom key-bindings, or shortcuts, go into the ‘Options’ tab and click on ‘Assign’.
Available commands
Eagle has a few default keys already assigned like ‘zoom’, ‘move’, ‘grid on-off’, etc… You could always change them to your liking.
Assigning a shortcut
To assign a key to a command, go to the ‘Assign Menu’ and click ‘New’. The key assignment window will pop up.
Select the hot-key combination from the drop-down list, then type in the command to be executed.
Other Commands
A list of Commands can be found in Eagle’s Help file (”Help>General”) under ‘Editor Commands’.
Be aware that the schematic and PCB editor don't share the same hotkeys. Both have to be individually set-up.
Running scripts
Another good thing about Eagle key-bindings is that you can run scripts directly from a key. Here’s an example of our PCB editor custom shortcut keys.
script [complete eagle script path]
The syntax for running a script is shown above.
We’ve put some scripts we find useful in SVN here.
Conclusion
Assigning custom shortcut keys is easy, but the ability to run scripts is a big bonus.
Comments
My custom key shortcuts looks like this…
—————-
F2 Route
F3 Ripup
F5 Ratsnest;
ctrl-a DISPLAY None Top Bottom tOrigins bOrigins tPlace bPlace Dimension Pad Via 45 milling;
ctrl-b DISPLAY None Bottom bOrigins bPlace Dimension Pad Via 45 bNames milling;
ctrl-d DISPLAY none Top Bottom Dimension Via Pad Unrouted
ctrl-t DISPLAY None Top tOrigins tPlace Dimension Pad Via 45 tNames milling;
ctrl-u DISPLAY Unrouted;
shift-ctrl-u DISPLAY -Unrouted;
ctrl-k DISPLAY tKeep bKeep tRest bRest vRest;
shift-ctrl-k DISPLAY tKeep bKeep tRest bRest vRest;
—————-
^A displays both layes and the silk
^D displays both layers but without the silk to declutter while routing
^T Top layers displayed
^B Bottom layers displayed
^U Toggles Unroutred
^K Toggles Keepouts & Restricts
F5 Is the classic refresh screen so the Ratsnest command makes sense
I was tempted to add your shortcuts for setting text size/ratio and smashing for a while, then I remembered that usually just do a “RUN normalize-text” and use the two default values. That smashes all parts and sets the text size to 40 mil and ratio 11%. Easy as pie. Labels are easy to handle in one go later.
can u please share ur scr file
I can’t imagine Eagle without the keyboard short-cuts , it’s really great
Eagle on a trackpad is horrible. A proper mouse with a middle button and a scrollwheel makes life so much easier.
Where is placed the file with set keybindings? I want to copy it to another computer.
not sure but maybe its located inside the bin folder of Eagle