Working with a Rectangle Object on a Schematic Sheet in Altium Designer

Parent page: Schematic Objects

A placed Rectangle.

Summary

A rectangle is a non-electrical drawing primitive. It is a graphic element that can be placed on a schematic sheet and can be filled or unfilled.

Availability

Rectangles are available for placement in both Schematic and Schematic Library Editors:

• Schematic Editor - the following commands are available:
  • Choose Place » Drawing Tools » Rectangle from the main menus.
  • Click the  button on the Utility Tools drop-down () of the Utilities toolbar.
• Schematic Library Editor - the following commands are available:
  • Choose Place » Rectangle from the main menus.
  • Click the  button on the Utility Tools drop-down () of the Utilities toolbar.

Placement

After launching the command, the cursor will change to a cross-hair and you will enter rectangle placement mode. Placement is made by performing the following sequence of actions:

1. Click or press Enter to anchor the first corner of the rectangle.
2. Move the cursor to adjust the size of the rectangle and click or press Enter to complete placement.
3. Continue placing further rectangles, or right-click or press Esc to exit placement mode.

Additional actions that can be performed during placement – while the rectangle is still floating on the cursor, and before its first corner is anchored – are:

• Press the Tab key to access an associated properties dialog, from where properties for the rectangle can be changed on-the-fly.
• Press the Alt key to constrain the direction of movement to the horizontal or vertical axis, depending on the initial direction of movement.
• Press the Spacebar to rotate the rectangle anti-clockwise or Shift+Spacebar for clockwise rotation. Rotation is in steps of 90°.
• Press the X or Y keys to mirror the rectangle along the X-axis or Y-axis respectively.

Graphical Editing

This method of editing allows you to select a placed rectangle object directly in the workspace and change its size, shape or location, graphically.

When a rectangle object is selected, the following editing handles are available:

A selected Rectangle.

• Click and drag A to resize the rectangle in the vertical and horizontal directions simultaneously.
• Click and drag B to resize the rectangle in the vertical and horizontal directions separately.
• Click anywhere on the rectangle – away from editing handles – and drag to reposition it. While dragging, the rectangle can be rotated (Spacebar/Shift+Spacebar) or mirrored (X or Y keys to mirror along the X-axis or Y-axis respectively).

Non-Graphical Editing

The following methods of non-graphical editing are available:

Via an Associated Properties Dialog

Dialog page: Rectangle

This method of editing uses the Rectangle dialog to modify the properties of a rectangle object.

The Rectangle dialog.

The Rectangle dialog can be accessed prior to entering placement mode, from the Schematic – Default Primitives page of the Preferences dialog. This allows the default properties for the rectangle object to be changed, which will be applied when placing subsequent rectangles.

During placement, the dialog can be accessed by pressing the Tab key.

After placement, the dialog can be accessed in one of the following ways:

• Double-clicking on the placed rectangle object.
• Placing the cursor over the rectangle object, right-clicking and choosing Properties from the context menu.
• Using the Edit » Change command and clicking once over the placed rectangle object.

Via an Inspector Panel

Panel pages: SCH Inspector, SCHLIB Inspector, SCH Filter, SCHLIB Filter

An Inspector panel enables the designer to interrogate and edit the properties of one or more design objects in the active document. Used in conjunction with appropriate filtering - by using the applicable Filter panel, or the Find Similar Objects dialog - the panel can be used to make changes to multiple objects of the same kind, from one convenient location.

Via a List Panel

Panel pages: SCH List, SCHLIB List, SCH Filter, SCHLIB Filter

A List panel allows the designer to display design objects from one or more documents in tabular format, enabling quick inspection and modification of object attributes. Used in conjunction with appropriate filtering - by using the applicable Filter panel, or the Find Similar Objects dialog - it enables the display of just those objects falling under the scope of the active filter – allowing the designer to target and edit multiple design objects with greater accuracy and efficiency.