A very little known feature of EAGLE is the ability to type commands instead of clicking an icon on the toolbar.  This can come in handy when trying to perform multiple actions like selecting a group and moving it to a different part of the schematic.  For me, since I use OSX trying to use function keys in EAGLE can be more cumbersome than typing a few letters.

Regardless of the operating system, trying to remember all of the keyboard shortcuts in EAGLE can be difficult.  This is especially true if you aren’t using EAGLE every day!  What makes using typed commands so powerful is that you just think about the action you are going to perform and type it!  How do you find out the commands to type?  Simple, just hover over a tool in the tool bar and watch the tool-tip that pops-up.

Let’s look at 3 simple examples in the Schematic editor.

Info Command


The “Info” command opens up extended properties for whatever element that is clicked. You can also shortcut the word “info” with just the letter “i“.

Move Command


For me, the most common use of the typing shortcut is when switching back to Move. I have found that you can just use the shortcut “mo” instead of the full word “move.”

Wire Command


Just to illustrate one more example, “wire” works as well.

Conclusion

I used three examples here, just to hammer in how to use the feature.  For some people, typing the command may not seem faster, but I encourage you to give it a shot.  Sometimes it will be faster than moving the mouse cursor back and forth across the entire screen.

Other useful commands are “ERC“, “DRC“, and “RAT” (for ratsnets in the board editor.)

Author

Fan of making things beep, blink and fly. Created AddOhms. Stream on Twitch. Video Host on element14 Presents and writing for Hackster.IO. Call sign KN6FGY.

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