Component moving when pressed ALT

[odinrizhanin]

Hi,
I have issue with component moving (at PCB editor) using fine grid.
Problem description:
1) My intention: move component by 5 mil, when it's placed on 50 mil grid.
2) My actions&expectations : I have main grid 50 mil and alternative grid 5 mil. I select "Move" command and press at origin of component. Then, (after component is selected) I press "Alt" key, I expect, that I could easily relocate component by 5 mil from its initial coordinate.

3) Problematic behaviour of Eagle: when I press "Alt", as described previously, component is relocated to some other place near its origin (the mouse / touchpad stay unmoved during this event)

[havlicek6TH3H]

Hi,

I hope I understand your question.

I think it´s because you move with the cursor before you hit ALT. So origin is 0, 0 you move with cursor on position (for example) 0, 10 mil - in original grid 50 mil there is no movement but when you press ALT it moves part to new position.

Let´s try it. 

Best regards,

Vojta

[jm2morri]

I tried to reproduce with 9.1.3 running on Mac. For me, it works as expected.  When the ALT key is pressed the part moves by the smaller grid.  When the ALT key is not pressed, then the part moves by the larger grid.  I don't see any unexpected jumps as you describe.  Sorry.

Is this still a problem for you?

[odinrizhanin]

Hi,

The cursor is not mvoed before you hit ALT.
please, see video - https://vimeo.com/291649366 - there you can see, that mouse pointer is still. When "Alt" is pressed, component moves. It "works" on any grids.

[odinrizhanin]

Hi,
I have latest version too (9.1.3), but on Windows. This problems existed, actually, in some previous versions too.
I've posted explanatory video in previous reply-post.

[jorge_garcia]

Hi @odinrizhanin,

I hope you're doing well. The video unfortunately doesn't show me much. Holding the ALT key will allow you to move in 5 mil increments. Try this:
1) Click Move icon
2) Now move away so you see that you move on the default grid
3) Now hold ALT and you should see the movements be in finer increments.

If you see those behaviors then its working as expected. Screencasts tend to work better for us since they also capture the key strokes of your keyboard.

Let me know if there's anything else I can do for you.

Best Regards,

[odinrizhanin]

Hi!
Oh, probably you misunderstood the problem;
The problem is not, that component doesn't move in small grid steps at all! - it  is possible to move component in small steps, when Alt is pressed;

The problem is, that I find it frustrating, that component moves from its original position, already when I press the Alt button (before I start moving cursor). Thus, I can't move it manually by small grid steps, relatively to initial position.

For example, I have main grid 100mil, small grid - 5 mil. I have component, that is placed at coordinates (640;365). I want to move it by 5 mil to the North. When I press the Alt key, component "loses" its original position and jumps to  other location (i.e. 650;300); This is the problem, because now, when I want just to move component by 5 mil relatively to initial position (to 640;370 coordinate), I need to do more work, than just moving cursor by one component movement "step" North.  I can do this only by script, or through "Info" menu, not manually.

Please see the explanatory video:  https://vimeo.com/291872692

I make component repositioning by 5 mil with 3 methods:

1) Through info field (most time consuming)

2) By setting main grid to 5 mil (through hotkeys - moderately time consuming) and moving component by one "step"

3) By setting main grid to 50 mil, alternative grid to 5 mil (when worked ok in some earlier versions, the least time-consuming), I try moving component by pressing "Alt" key. I have bad visual memory, so after component "loses" its origin (After "Alt" is pressed), I don't know, where is the precise (initial Y coordinate)+5mil increment)

P.S.> what freeware / software could you recommend for video capture with keypress capture?

[odinrizhanin]

...I guess, I found way, how to define problem in shorter way 🙂 :
1) when component is selected, cursor centerpoint and component origin are coincident.

2) after pressing "Alt" key, the cursor centerpoint and component origin are NOT coincident.

[jm2morri]

I set my grid settings a bit more extreme (1mm grid, 0.05mm alt grid) and now I see exactly what you are seeing.  I'm on Mac with 9.1.3.  And I agree, it shouldn't behave that way.

Here's how I reproduced it in the PCB:

1) select move command

2) left click on origin of part but don't move mouse (zoom in to make it obvious)

3) push ALT key

The origin of the part snaps to some unknown grid, it's not the larger grid size and it's many multiples of my ALT grid away from where it was.

James.

[jorge_garcia]

Hi @jm2morri,

I can't duplicate this behavior. If your cursor is within a radius of the alt-grid from the origin of the part then holding the alt-key shouldn't cause a move.

Could you record a screencast showing this?

This is Autodesk's tool for screen recording, it also grabs key strokes which aids in duplicating and troubleshooting issues. https://knowledge.autodesk.com/community/screencast

Let me know if there's anything else I can do for you.

Best Regards,

[jm2morri]

OK @jorge_garcia, I've created a screencast to demonstrate.

https://autode.sk/2N7VR9V

NOTE:  When I try to add a Video from the Autodesk forum editor, it actually chokes on that URL!

[jorge_garcia]

Hi @jm2morri,

Thanks for the screencast, I can reproduce the issue. I'll make a bug report for this.

Let me know if there's anything else I can do for you.

Best Regards,

[jm2morri]

That's great that you can reproduce it Jorge.  What did the video show that was unclear from what we were describing?  Just curious.

James.

[jorge_garcia]

Hi James,

I was holding Alt at the time of clicking. I didn't click first, stay put and then press the alt key to see that it immediately jumped.

Best Regards,

[Pieter.Jan.Van.de.Maele]

Hey guys,

Just wanted to let you know that the fix is in review currently and if all goes well will be included in the upcoming 9.2.1 release. 

Thanks for your cooperation in tracking this down.