New in Version 6: Custom Shortcuts
The new Custom Shortcuts functionality allows more customization flexibility within the user interface. Users can now configure DesignSpark PCB, defining their own shortcuts and hot keys making it much easier and quicker to use the tool, especially if they are used to specific shortcuts operations when using other PCB design tools.
How to use Custom Shortcuts
Custom Shortcuts function is avaiable from the Main Menu > Settings > Customise
Use this Customise dialog page to programme your keyboard for commonly used options in DesignSpark PCB. This means that once programmed, you can press a key or key combination to run an option. This makes the programs operation more efficient for experienced users.
When DesignSpark PCB is first installed you will find a set of shortcuts already defined for you. This is only a default set and can be modified using this dialog to your own preference. Almost all of the keys on a standard keyboard can be utilised giving you an extensive number of available shortcuts.
How to create a shortcut
1. On the Settings menu, click on Customise and the Keyboard dialog will be displayed.
2. Select the category containing the required command. Use the Filter to reduce the list of commands to the relevant ones. The categories tend to follow the menu structure, but there are a few others worth mentioning.
Use All Commands to access a list of all commands in the system. You can then use the Filter to reduce the list to the relevant commands. For example, enter Copper in the filter to only see commands containing that word. This is the easiest way to find a command if you are not sure which category it would appear on.
The Interaction category contains all commands found on shortcut menus within the DesignSpark interactive operations.
The Component category contains all commands used when editing components in the library.
3. Select the command you wish to change from the command list. A description of the command will be shown in the Description box and its current shortcuts, if any, will be listed in the Assigned Shortcuts box.
4. Click in the Press New Shortcut Key edit box and press the key that you want to assign to the command. The Shift, Ctrl and Alt key modifiers may be used in combination with the key to define a modified key selection. The key combination will be displayed in the Press New Shortcut Key box ready for assignment. Below this box a message will appear showing the command the pressed key is already assigned to. It will say [Unassigned] if not assigned yet. Press another key if you wish to change it.
5. Click the Assign button to assign the key combination to the chosen command. If the key is already used for another command it will be removed from that one before being added to the chosen command. A shortcut can only be assigned to one command, whereas a command can have multiple shortcuts defined for it.
6. To remove a shortcut for a command, first select the command, next select the shortcut key combination in the Assigned Shortcuts list and then press the Remove button to remove it from the list.
7. Before any assigned keys can be used you must Close the customise dialog.
Default Key Assignments
There is a set of default key assignments provided with the system. The assignments can be reset to the defaults by pressing the Reset All button.
Use the Reset All button to reset the shortcut key assignments to the standard default set provided with DesignSpark release 5 and earlier.
Shortcut Key Report
A report of the assigned key shortcuts is available by pressing the Shortcut Report button.
Saving and Loading Shortcut Keys
The Save and Load buttons allow you to save all the current shortcut key settings to a file, and to load shortcut keys from a file. These options can be useful when moving to a new computer, allowing you to copy all the shortcut key settings from your original installation on the old computer rather than setting them all by hand.