Allegro PCB Design Tutorial
alias and funckey
To execute commands in Allegro you need to go through a series of commands. For example to add a board out line, you click on Add then line then you select the respective class and subclass. It is possible that you can use the special keys to acheive same function. By default Allegro provides a small set of alternate way of these function using keyboard. For example Control + F5 is used for Display Color/Visibility function.
The good news is that you can define your own keys and function. This is done using two ways. Alias and funckey.
Alias
You can use the alias command to remap the keyboard function keys to a command or series of commands. You can also define the class and subclass separated by a semicolon. Examples:
alias F4 "add line"
alias F5 "add line ; class board geometry ; subclass Outline"
In the above example, pressing the F5 key will add a line and will select the Board Geometry -> Outline.
funckey
funckey was added in later versions of the Allegro. Using the funckey command you can map a command or series of commands separated by a semicolon.
Examples:
Here is the real world example where ct will add a connect on top layer while the cb will add a connect on bottom layer
funckey ct "add connect; class Etch ; subclass Top"
funckey cb "add connect; class Etch ; subclass Bottom"
Notice that doint it this way, you will loose the alias and funckey when you restart your Allegro. You may like to explore the skill to define it permanently.
How to find a list of the current Alia
You can find a list of the current alias using
Command> alias
It typically gives the following list
#alias F1 help ## Read-Only
#funckey "\t" tab ## Read-Only
#funckey C ctab ## Read-Only
#funckey CS sctab ## Read-Only
#funckey S stab ## Read-Only
alias CDown 'ipick 0; ipick_to_gridunit 0 -1'
alias CF2 next
alias CF5 color192
alias CF6 layer priority
alias CLeft 'ipick 0; ipick_to_gridunit -1'
alias CRight 'ipick 0; ipick_to_gridunit +1'
alias CSF5 status
alias CUp 'ipick 0; ipick_to_gridunit 0 +1'
alias Down roam y $roamInc
alias F10 grid toggle
alias F11 zoom in
alias F12 zoom out
alias F2 zoom fit
alias F3 add connect
alias F4 show element
alias F5 redraw
alias F6 done
alias F7 next
alias F8 oops
alias F9 cancel
alias Left roam x -$roamInc
alias Right roam x $roamInc
alias SDown 'move; ipick_to_gridunit 0 -1'
alias SF10 save_as temp
alias SF11 zoom previous
alias SF12 zoom world
alias SF2 property edit
alias SF3 slide
alias SF4 show measure
alias SF5 copy
alias SF6 move
alias SF7 dehilight all
alias SF8 hilight pick
alias SF9 vertex
alias SLeft 'move; ipick_to_gridunit -1'
alias SRight 'move; ipick_to_gridunit +1'
alias SUp 'move; ipick_to_gridunit 0 +1'
alias Up roam y -$roamInc
alias bubset 'settoggle shove_mode Off "Hug preferred" "Shove preferred"; options bubble_space $shove_mode'
alias cdnshelp cdsdoc
alias dehilite dehilight
alias edps padedit
alias hilite hilight
alias ipickx ipick
alias ipicky ipick 0
alias ix ipick
alias iy ipick 0
alias pickx pick
alias picky pick l
alias reopen open -q $module
alias revert open -q $module
alias rps replace padstack
alias sar set pcb_autoroam
alias smoothset 'settoggle smooth_mode Off Minimal Full; options smooth_level $smooth_mode'
alias uar unset pcb_autoroam
alias unplrp report unplaced
alias window zoom
alias x pick
alias y pick l
alias ~B bubset
alias ~C smoothset
alias ~D delete
alias ~N new
alias ~O open
alias ~S save
alias ~Z undo
funckey + subclass -+
funckey - subclass --
We found that there is a file called env in the location
C:\Cadence\SPB_16.3\share\pcb\text\
If you permanently want to change the alias, you may like to modify this file. Before making changes, make a copy of this file, so you can revert to the original, in case something goes wrong.You can open this file and make changes into it to define the alias and funckey.