Managing Unions using the PCB Panel in Altium Designer
The Unions mode of the PCB panel
Summary
A union is a collection of objects that have been grouped together. When grouped as a union, they can be moved, modified or deleted as a single object. The Unions mode of the PCB panel allows you to access a hierarchical view of union types, unions, and union primitives for easy reference. The unions and the primitives contained within can also be edited from this mode of the panel.
As you click on entries in the panel, corresponding filtering will be applied to the workspace, presenting the member objects accordingly.
In the PCB panel’s Unions mode, the three main regions of the panel will change to reflect:
- Union Types - displays all the union types (user-defined union, layer stack table, etc.,) in the PCB document.
- Unions - displays specific unions within the selected union type from the above section.
- Union Primitive(s) - displays primitives that make up a selected union.
Panel Access
When the PCB Editor is active, click the Panels button at the bottom-right corner of the workspace then select PCB from the context menu. Alternatively, you can access the panel through the View » Panels » PCB sub-menu.
Once the PCB panel has been opened, select the Unions option from the drop-down menu at the top of the PCB panel to enter Unions mode.
Using the Unions Editor
When the Unions mode of the PCB panel is selected, the panel lists all unions detected in the PCB workspace. The following types of unions will be listed when present:
| Union Type | Behaviors |
|---|---|
| Drill Table | Click and drag to move; click to select and display resize handles; double-click to open the Properties panel; right-click on the union name in the panel to rename it. |
| Length Tuning Accordion | Click to select; click and drag on edge/vertex to reshape; double-click to open the Properties panel; right-click on the union name in the panel to rename it. |
| Layer Stack Tables | Click and drag to move; click to select and display resize handles; double-click to open the Properties panel; right-click on the union name in the panel to rename it. |
| Smart Paste (Pasted OLE Object) | Click and drag to move; click to select and display resize handles; double-click to open the Properties panel; right-click on the union name in the panel to rename it. |
| User-defined Union | Right-click on any object in the union then choose Unions » Select All In Union. Use standard selection behavior for copying, deleting, moving, rotating, etc. Note that standard left-click will select the object under the cursor, not the union. Right-click on the union name in the panel to rename it. |
| Via Shielding | Click to select; double-click to open the Add Shielding to Net dialog; right-click on the union name in the panel to rename it. |
| Via Stitching | Click to select; click and drag on edge/vertex to reshape; click and drag to move; double-click to open the Add Stitching to Net dialog; right-click on the union name in the panel to rename it. |
Union Types
The top region of the panel displays all the Union Types (User-defined Union, Layer Stack Table, etc.,) in the PCB document. Select one or more types to have the lowest-level member objects (unions and the primitives contained within) of those Union Types filtered in the workspace. Standard Ctrl+Click and Shift+Click controls are available to select multiple entries in a list region.
The following right-click menu commands are available in this region of the panel (as well as the other two regions):
- Select All - use this command to select all entries in the panel region.
- Clear Filter - use this command to remove all filtering from the workspace.
Unions
The middle region of the panel displays the individual unions within the selected Union Type. Select one or more union to have the lowest-level member objects (Primitives) of those unions filtered in the workspace.
In addition to the commands available in the Union Types region of the panel, the following right-click menu commands are available in this region of the panel:
- Break objects from Union - click to open the Confirm Break Objects Union dialog to remove selected objects from the specified union.
- Select All In Union - click to select all primitives from the union in the workspace.
- Deselect All In Union - click to deselect all selected primitives from the union in the workspace.
- Resize Union - click to manually resize the selected union. After running the command, the pointer becomes a crosshair with which you can select objects to add to the Union.
- Explode Length Tuning To Free Primitives - click to break the chosen length tuning accordion union into the track and arc segments from which it is constructed.
- Rename - click to open the Rename Union dialog to manually enter a new name for the union.
Union Primitives
The bottom region of the panel displays all the primitives contained within the Union selected in the panel. Select one or more Primitives to filter them in the workspace.
In addition to the commands available in the Union Types region of the panel, the following right-click menu commands are available:
- Zoom Selected - use to zoom in on and filter a selected primitive(s) in the workspace.
- Properties - click to open the Properties panel mode for the selected primitive, such as the Track mode. The Properties panel can also be accessed by double-clicking on a primitive.