how to cycle through vias during routing?

[eric_engineer]

I have multiple vias like 1-16, 1-2, 2-3, 3-4, 1-4, etc.  When I'm routing I hit space to get a via at the end of my trace but how do I cycle through the choices?  I see I can place it and manually modify it but that's not always possible in a tight space (and it's an extra step).

[jorge_garcia]

Hi @eric_engineer ,

I think this post is linked to another one, I haven't checked the other one yet. When you use the space bar to shift to a different layer, Electronics automatically chooses the appropriate via configuration. So if you are transitioning from layer 2 to 3, the Route command should automatically use (2-3) by default. You transition through the layers and Electronics tries to make the most reasonable selection. If this is not desired then you can switch it after the fact, there's no mechanism to switch layers AND select a specific via configuration.

The via config seems excessive to me 1-2,2-3,3-4 can all be covered by 1-4 and the board would be cheaper. If this is intentional then go for it but just wanted to mention it. I'll check the other post now.

Best Regards,

[eric_engineer]

That's how I thought it worked but that's a less than ideal work flow. It's too slow and has too many steps do it right. I want to tell the tool what layer I want to go to next, because a lot of times it makes the wrong decision. A simple keyboard shortcut like pg up/down, +/- or something would help. Even a context menu.

Oh and when I'm placing GND or VCC vias I would love for it to stop switching me to the GND layer every single time.  Don't switch if you've made a connection to a plane.  Drives me nuts when I have to put in a bunch of them 🙂

[jorge_garcia]

Hi @eric_engineer ,

Ok, there's a few shortcuts that may help you here. First off the route command has a TON of keyboard shortcuts. 

1) Spacebar cycles down the list of layers, shift+spacebar goes the other way. If you look at the bottom of the screen on the left you'll see what layer you are going to. For short transitions (1 maybe 2 layers) this is fine and comfortable. If you just want to specify the layer directly, while routing click the middle button of your mouse. A dialog will pop up asking you what layer you want to transition to, select it and click OK.

2) If you want to drop a via and continue routing on the same layer, hold the shift key when you left click. You'll see the via will have dropped but you stay on the same layer.

Try these and let me know how it goes. If you have any questions feel free to reach out.

Best Regards,

[chuck_toddN7PTC]

@jorge_garcia 

Those are very useful keyboard shortcuts to know.

I think the Electronics keyboard shortcuts in Fusion Help needs to be updated. The shortcuts you mentioned are not listed.

Electronics shortcuts are at the very bottom of the page.

https://help.autodesk.com/view/fusion360/ENU/?guid=GUID-F0491540-0324-470A-B651-2238D0EFAC30

Can you confirm that if a Fusion Electronics command already has a keyboard shortcut that it can't be re-assigned using the 'SHORTCUTS' menu command?

This is just for personal preference. If I don't care for the key combination for a particular command, I could re-assign it.

BR -Chuck

[jorge_garcia]

Hi @chuck_toddN7PTC ,

The problem with these shortcuts I mentioned is that they are specific to the route command, that's why they don't show up in the link you shared. You can find the Route command's modifiers here:
https://help.autodesk.com/view/fusion360/ENU/?guid=ECD-CLI-R#route

I can confirm that if a shortcut has already been reserved by Fusion then you can't re-assign it.

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

Best Regards,