Suggestion: Group objects

[cristi_m90]

A small suggestion: add the possibility to create groups of objects (lock objects' positions relative to other objects), thus enabling the possibility to move the entire group.

[rachaelATWH4]

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@cristi_m90 wrote:

A small suggestion: add the possibility to create groups of objects (lock objects' positions relative to other objects), thus enabling the possibility to move the entire group.

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Hello,

You can already create groups and move items as a group.

1. Select the MOVE command.

2. Select the GROUP command.

3. Drag to select a group or click points to create an irregular shaped group/

4. Ctrl+Right Click to activate MOVE GROUP.

The only thing that might be a spanner in the works is the "Group Command Default On" setting in the Options->Set...->Misc tab breaks this functionality although it does replace it with an alternative but to me its a lot more clumsy.

The only thing you can't do is persistent groups so you group objects together and make a group which persists no matter what others you create. I'm hoping they will address this at some point.

Best Regards,

Rachael

[cristi_m90]

Thanks for the advice. This is how I currently work.

I was referring to persistent groups.

[rachaelATWH4 · Accepted solution]

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@cristi_m90 wrote:

Thanks for the advice. This is how I currently work.

I was referring to persistent groups.

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Ok, unfortunately persistent groups haven't been implemented yet. Given the rate that Autodesk are adding new features to EAGLE I would think that it'll be available at some point, I'm a lot more hopeful now for new features like this to arrive is a reasonable time frame.

So there is one other way which might help in some situations. If you've drawn your schematics such that the related components are grouped in the schematic so the are convenient for grabbing with the group command, you can then run the ULP select-sch-group-to-brd-group.ulp and then issue a Ctrl+Right click when you get into the board editor to move the group. I also have another ULP called pickgrouped.ulp which is very similar but it initiates the group move on switching to the board. That's not a default ULP shipped with EAGLE though. It's still not persistent groups, but it might make selecting groups in a congested board quicker if you need to do a lot of group moving.

Best Regards,

Rachael

[matt.berggren]

Thanks Rachael, cristi_m90 …In fact persistent groups are planned. We did some work on this over the previous year but decided to hold off releasing it until we nailed a few other items first (better selection, better use or subcommand menus, etc). So suffice it to say, creating a persistent collection of objects that move as a unit is on the roadmap. Again, super happy to hear this because it means we’re building stuff that’s useful, so thank you!

Best regards,

Matt

Matt Berggren
Director – Autodesk Fusion 360
Autodesk EAGLE, Tinkercad, Fusion 360

[rg.jones]

I too would like persistent groups.

On a side note is it possible to have a default action like move auto selected after you do a group select action? Or possibly re-choose the last action automatically as an option. This would be helpful were you are repeating operations on multiple groups.

[rachaelATWH4]

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@rg.jones wrote:

On a side note is it possible to have a default action like move auto selected after you do a group select action? Or possibly re-choose the last action automatically as an option. This would be helpful were you are repeating operations on multiple groups.

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This had been the way EAGLE worked for many years before v8 came along with the "Group Command Default On" mode. Fortunately you can turn this off in Options->Set...->Misc and then you will get this functionality back again.

Best Regards,

Rachael

[Anonymous]

Any updates on this feature?  I would also find this useful.

[trey]

Bump...

This feature would be really useful for moving around parts that have already been laid out partially (i.e. BGA + decoupling).  Being able to snap the main part (BGA) to grid while still maintaining all the viass and routing's relative position would be hugely valuable.

Trey

[rajat.goel]

Thanks for the request. This feature will be out very soon. So stay tuned!

[trey]

Awesome!  Thanks Rajat!!

[rajat.goel · Accepted solution]

Hi all,

I'm so glad to announce that we have added the feature of persistent groups in EAGLE 9.5.0 that will enable users to create permanent groups out of design components, save those groups and easily retrieve them later. The design manager has a new 'Groups' view to navigate and manipulate those saved groups.

Users can also perform actions like move, rotate etc. directly on groups, with all the relative positions within the group in place. So check it out and let us know what you think of it.

Thank you for your valuable suggestions and feedback!

[dirtechSSCWJ]

Hello,

How can we resize the frame of the group ?

The groups can be used in the schematics windows is it also existing in the PCB window and can we move the group on the PCB ?

Regards.

[rajat.goel]

Hi @dirtechSSCWJ 

The frame of the persistent group in schematics are dynamic and is formed around the member objects. If you move one of the member objects, you would see the frame getting resized automatically. Since the frame is dynamic, there is currently no way to resize the frame manually. If you really need to resize the frame outline, then a workaround could be to add a bogus object to the group and move that object to resize the frame outline.

The persistent groups can be created in PCB (brd file) as well. The commands are same as in sch to create and manipulate the groups. However, you wouldn't see frame outline around the persistent group objects in brd as you see in sch. You could access all the groups in Design Manager of pcb/sch and then select the group and perform operations on group (like move, delete etc.). Commands are also supported with group names. So you can also perform "Move G1" in command line to move group named G1.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have more questions.

[dirtechSSCWJ]

Thank you very much for the clear explanation.
Is there a link between the schematics group and the board groups ?

In the board window when I select only  "Group" in the Selection filter tag. I cannot select with the mouse the group I just created. Is there a way to select it ?

[rajat.goel]

Hi @dirtechSSCWJ 

There is currently no link between schematic group and board group.

To select a group in board window, switch to Design Manager tab, go to Browser Tab and select "Groups" View in the drop down. You'll be able to see all the groups that you have created in the board. You can click on the group name to select a group. If the group is selectable, the group itself is selected. If the group is not selectable, the member objects are selected as if you have selected them through dragged window selection (or incremental selection)

To confirm what is currently selected, you may switch to Inspector tab.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have further questions regarding groups.

[dirtechSSCWJ]

Thanks a lot.

It helps.

F.G.

[christopher2KLSVU]

1.The software is poor. Old PADS allows you to create groups of objects and then use the groups to place the parts to the Board. I am very disappointed. And would never suggest our boss company to buy such poor software.

You have introduced groups in 2020 lol but they are useless, mostly.

One of the most important advantage of the groups  is to quickly and in easy way place components on the board. Not one by one step by step what cost hours.

It works so you create group in sch, then in pcb editor you select groups and drag/move then on PCB.

Your groups sch and PCB are separated/out of sync, it is like having  a great ceramic disc brakes in the car, but not in own car but in a neighbor car. Cool.

2.Why this poor PCB software does not have simultaneous view of SCH and PCB. Main advantage is to select and highlight a track either prom PCB  or Sch and view them in sch/PCB.

3.It seems the people which create this poor software have never worked on PCB designing.

When you try to build washing machine it is good to make at least one..washing before... and this will not be good machine, like this poor fusion 360..

4. We do not need fancy mechanical design or stress analysis tools which EE will never use..I am not buying a sport roadster to have nice sleeping place in and gas oven inside, roadster is not a RV. Integrating Eagle into fusion was very bad decision. 3D view ok, but man ..old Protel 99Se had 3D view features...man it was 20 years ago...

I just can not imagine how the hell anybody can work without groups and simultaneous view..unbelievable

Sorry I lost 10 minutes to give you tips and you trying to sell unfinished software..

[tonyXTMAY]

I agree that the groups could be implemented better, and a link between sch and brd would be a definite plus. But to say that this is "poor PCB software", and that "It seems the people which create this poor software have never worked on PCB designing" is a stretch to say the least.

But the "Integrating of Eagle into fusion was very bad decision" comment really made me go to the effort to reply on this post. How incredible to be able to integrate 3D boards into a 3D mechanical design. The advantages are just to much to sum up. If that is not understood, one has never tried to do this kind of work the good old fashioned way.

For me, every minute I work on my projects in F360 I wonder how anyone can get such an amazing system to work so well and stable. All I can say is:  Keep up the great work guys!

[jesper8W75R]

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@tonyXTMAY wrote:

But the "Integrating of Eagle into fusion was very bad decision" comment really made me go to the effort to reply on this post. How incredible to be able to integrate 3D boards into a 3D mechanical design. The advantages are just to much to sum up. If that is not understood, one has never tried to do this kind of work the good old fashioned way

It would be even more incredible if you could actually create PCBs with the PCB program.
Currently it's so littered with bugs and it cannot even create proper Gerber files (or 3D files, for that matter).

I have been using EAGLE for over 20 years.
I have NEVER wasted so much time since I was forced over to use Fusion Electronics.