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Shortcuts for the Altium NEXUS Multi-board Assembly Editor

Created: May 03, 2022 | Updated: September 02, 2022 | Applies to version: 5

This documentation page references Altium NEXUS/NEXUS Client (part of the deployed NEXUS solution), which has been discontinued. All your PCB design, data management and collaboration needs can now be delivered by Altium Designer and a connected Altium 365 Workspace. Check out the FAQs page for more information.

 

The following sections present shortcut keys that are specific to the Multi-board Assembly Editor. For general information regarding shortcut keys - including access and editing, general Altium environment shortcuts, and accelerator keys - see Altium NEXUS Shortcut Keys.

When looking at the shortcut key listings, keep in mind the following:

  • When referring to shortcuts, use of the plus (+) symbol denotes holding multiple keys down on the keyboard in the indicated sequence. For example, Shift+F1 means holding down the Shift key then pressing the F1 key. Likewise, Shift+Ctrl+PgUp means holding down the Shift key then holding down the Ctrl key at the same time and pressing the PgUp key.
  • Where use of the standard mouse buttons is made, Click refers to a single click of the left-hand mouse button, Double-Click refers to two clicks of the left-hand mouse button, and Right-Click refers to a single click of the right-hand mouse button.

Standard Shortcuts

The following shortcuts are standard to the Multi-board Assembly Editor. They are available in general and do not require you to be performing an interactive process to access them.

General Editing
Right-Click Access context menu for the design space.
Ctrl+Z Undo.
Ctrl+Y Redo.

Selecting

Click
  • Select the part currently under the cursor.
  • When editing a part, select the component currently under the cursor.
Shift+Click When editing a part, select the component currently under the cursor and add it to the current selection of components for that part (cumulative selection).

Moving
Click (on an object), Hold&Drag
  • Move the single selected part.
  • Move the single selected component of a part being edited (or group of selected components if the component is part of that selection).
  • Move a mated part (it's mate will move with it).

Viewing the Assembly
Ctrl+PgDn Change the view in the main design window so that all objects are made completely visible (where possible).
Shift+Ctrl+PgDn Change the view in the main design window so that only selected objects are made completely visible (where possible).
Ctrl+Mouse Wheel Up Zoom-in, relative to the current cursor location. Use of the Ctrl key is a default setting that can be changed from the System - Mouse Wheel Configuration page of the Preferences dialog.

You can also use the mouse to zoom into a region of the document by one of the following methods (where applicable and depending on how the buttons of your mouse might be assigned):

  • Hold both the Ctrl key and the right mouse button, then move the mouse forward.
  • Click and hold the mouse wheel, then move the mouse forward.
Ctrl+Mouse Wheel Down Zoom-out, relative to the current cursor location. Use of the Ctrl key is a default setting that can be changed from the System - Mouse Wheel Configuration page of the Preferences dialog.

You can also use the mouse to zoom out from a region of the document by one of the following methods (where applicable and depending on how the buttons of your mouse might be assigned):

  • Hold both the Ctrl key and the right-mouse button, then move the mouse backward.
  • Click and hold the mouse wheel, then move the mouse backward.
Mouse Wheel Scroll vertically within the design space. This is a default setting that can be changed from the System - Mouse Wheel Configuration page of the Preferences dialog.
Shift+Mouse Wheel Scroll horizontally within the design space. This is a default setting that can be changed from the System - Mouse Wheel Configuration page of the Preferences dialog.
Right-Click, Hold&Drag Pan the view within the main design window.
Shift+Right-Click, Hold&Drag Pivot the design space view around the click location.
P Toggle projection type between Orthographic and Perspective.
X Re-orient the view to be looking down the X axis, directly into the Y-Z plane. Corresponds to using the Red X-axis Gizmo in the main design space.
Shift+X Re-orient the view to be looking down the X axis, directly into the Y-Z plane, from the opposite direction. Corresponds to using the Red X-axis Gizmo in the main design space.
Y Re-orient the view to be looking down the Y axis, directly into the X-Z plane. Corresponds to using the Green Y-axis Gizmo in the main design space.
Shift+Y Re-orient the view to be looking down the Y axis, directly into the X-Z plane, from the opposite direction. Corresponds to using the Green Y-axis Gizmo in the main design space.
Z Re-orient the view to be looking down the Z axis, directly into the X-Y plane. Corresponds to using the Blue Z-axis Gizmo in the main design space.
Shift+Z Re-orient the view to be looking down the Z axis, directly into the X-Y plane, from the opposite direction. Corresponds to using the Blue Z-axis Gizmo in the main design space.
Shift+Ctrl+V Toggle display of the Section View between Edit, On and Off.

Working with Mates

(To work with an existing mate, select it first in the Multiboard Assembly panel)
Shift+Ctrl+A Switch to Mating mode. The cursor will highlight potential mate sites on each surface, as the cursor is moved over the surface. Two mating sites on different parts - Source and Target parts - must be nominated, these will be bought together (mated) after the second one is chosen.
Shift+Space Rotate Source part of the mate clockwise.
Space Rotate Source part of the mate counterclockwise.
Up Arrow Increase the distance of the source part from its mated target part, along the mating axis. Note that this shortcut is only available for Auto and Plane-to-Plane mating modes.
Down Arrow Decrease the distance of the source part from its mated target part, along the mating axis. Note that this shortcut is only available for Auto and Plane-to-Plane mating modes.
Ctrl+Right Arrow Increase the offset of the Source part in the X direction of the target mating plane. Note that this shortcut is only available for Auto and Axis-to-Axis mating modes.
Ctrl+Left Arrow Decrease the offset of the Source part in the X direction of the target mating plane. Note that this shortcut is only available for Auto and Axis-to-Axis mating modes.
Ctrl+Up Arrow Increase the offset of the Source part in the Y direction of the target mating plane. Note that this shortcut is only available for Auto and Axis-to-Axis mating modes.
Ctrl+Down Arrow Decrease the offset of the Source part in the Y direction of the target mating plane. Note that this shortcut is only available for Auto and Axis-to-Axis mating modes.
Ctrl+T Toggle the orientation of the source part in relation to its mated target part.
Delete Remove the currently selected mate.

Working with Parts

(A part is a constituent PCB of the overall multi-board assembly)
Ctrl+E Edit selected part.
Ctrl+D Finish part editing. A comparison is then made to detect any changes. If there are any, a component has been moved for example, an Engineering Change Order (ECO) will be created, ready to pass changes back to the source PCB document.
Ctrl+U Update the currently selected part with any changes made to the source PCB document.
Shift+Ctrl+U Update all parts with any changes made to their source PCB documents.
Delete Delete selected part(s).

Miscellaneous
Q Toggle measurement units between metric and imperial - the displayed measurement values will update accordingly.
Ctrl+K Check for collisions between the various constituent entities of the multi-board assembly. Detected collisions will be listed in the Messages panel.
Ctrl+M Switch to Measurement mode. Click one object and then click a second object, the distance between their closest edges/surfaces will be displayed.
Esc Escape from the current mode - either Mating or Measurement.
L Access the View Configuration panel, from where you can change the projection, control attributes of the section view, and modify system colors as required.
F11 Toggle the display of the Properties panel.

 

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