Altium Designer Documentation
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Design Objects Reference
Schematic Design Objects
Elliptical Arc
This document is no longer available beyond version 17.1. Information can now be found here: Elliptical Arc for version 25
Parent page: Schematic Objects
A placed Elliptical Arc.
Summary
An elliptical arc is a non-electrical drawing primitive. It is essentially an open circular or elliptical curve that can be placed on a schematic sheet.
Availability
Elliptical arcs are available for placement in both Schematic and Schematic Library Editors:
- Schematic Editor - the following commands are available:
- Choose Place » Drawing Tools » Elliptical Arc 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 » Elliptical Arc 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 elliptical arc placement mode. Placement is made by performing the following sequence of actions:
- Click or press Enter to anchor the center point of the arc.
- Move the cursor to adjust the X radius of the arc, then click or press Enter to set it.
- Move the cursor to adjust the Y radius of the arc, then click or press Enter to set it.
- Move the cursor to adjust the first end point of the arc, then click or press Enter to anchor it.
- Move the cursor to change the position of the arc's other end point, then click or press Enter to anchor it and complete placement of the arc.
- Continue placing further elliptical arcs, or right-click or press Esc to exit placement mode.
Additional actions that can be performed during placement – while the arc is still floating on the cursor, and before the center point is anchored – are:
- Press the Tab key to access an associated properties dialog, from where properties for the arc 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 arc anti-clockwise or Shift+Spacebar for clockwise rotation. Rotation is in steps of 90°.
- Press the X or Y keys to mirror the arc along the X-axis or Y-axis respectively.
Graphical Editing
This method of editing allows you to select a placed elliptical arc object directly in the workspace and change its size, shape or location, graphically.
When an elliptical arc object is selected, the following editing handles are available:
A selected Elliptical Arc.
- Click and drag A to change the vertical radius.
- Click and drag B to change the horizontal radius.
- Click and drag C to adjust the end points.
- Click anywhere on the elliptical arc – away from editing handles – and drag to reposition it. While dragging, the elliptical arc 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: Elliptical Arc
This method of editing uses the Elliptical Arc dialog to modify the properties of an elliptical arc object.
The Elliptical Arc dialog.
The Elliptical Arc 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 elliptical arc object to be changed, which will be applied when placing subsequent elliptical arcs.
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 elliptical arc object.
- Placing the cursor over the elliptical arc object, right-clicking and choosing Properties from the context menu.
- Using the Edit » Change command and clicking once over the placed elliptical arc 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.