EAGLE Help

WIRE


Function
Adds wires (tracks) to a drawing.

Syntax
WIRE * *..
WIRE 'signal_name' wire_width * *..
WIRE * wire_width *..

Mouse
Right button changes the wire bend (see SET Wire_Bend).
Center button selects the layer.

See also SIGNAL, ROUTE, CHANGE, NET, BUS, DELETE, RIPUP

The WIRE command is used to add wires (tracks) to a drawing. The wire begins at the first point specified and runs to the second. Additional points draw additional wire segments. Two mouse clicks at the same position finish the wire and a new one can be started at the position of the next mouse click.

Depending on the currently active wire bend, one or two wire segments will be drawn between every two points. The wire bend defines the angle between the segments and can be changed with the right mouse button. Pressing the center mouse button brings a popup menu from which you may select the layer into which the wire will be drawn.

Signal name

The signal_name parameter is intended mainly to be used in script files that read in generated data. If a signal_name is given, all subsequent wires will be added to that signal and no automatic checks will be performed.
This feature should be used with great care because it could result in short circuits, if a wire is placed in a way that it would connect different signals. Please run a Design Rule Check after using the WIRE command with the signal_name parameter!

Wire Width

Entering a number after activating the WIRE command changes the width of the wire (in the present unit) which can be up to 0.51602 inch (13.1 mm).

The wire width can be changed with the command


CHANGE WIDTH width *
at any time.

Wire Style

Wires can have one of the following styles:

The wire style can be changed with the CHANGE command.

Note that the DRC and Autorouter will always treat wires as "Continuous", even if their style is different. Wire styles are mainly for electrical and mechanical drawings and should not be used on signal layers. It is an explicit DRC error to use a non-continuous wire as part of a signal that is connected to any pad.

Signals in Top, Bottom, and Route Layers

Wires (tracks) in the layers Top, Bottom, and ROUTE2...15 are treated as signals. If you draw a wire in either of these layers starting from an existing signal, then all of the segments of this wire belong to that signal (only if the center of the wire is placed exactly onto the center of the existing wire or pad). If you finish this drawing operation with a wire segment connected to a different signal, then EAGLE will ask you if you want to connect the two signals.

Note that EAGLE treats each wire segment as a single object (e.g. when deleting a wire).

When the WIRE command is active the center mouse button can be used to change the layer on which the wire is drawn.

Do not use the WIRE command for nets, buses, and airwires. See NET, BUS and SIGNAL.


Index Copyright © 2002 CadSoft Computer GmbH