Start a command

To start a command, you can do any of the following:

• Choose the command from the menu.
• Use the toolbar icon.
• Choose the command from the layout editor shortcut menu.
• Press the bindkey associated with the command.
• Draw a stroke in the design window.

Cancel a command

To cancel a command without changing your data or to stop a command that automatically repeats, press Esc or click Cancel on the corresponding form.

The Modify Corner and Size commands are exceptions. To cancel these commands, click Cancel on the form.

Undo a command

To undo a command, choose Edit – Undo or press U. You can undo up to 128 previous commands. You can set the undo limit to either 0 or 128. You can set the number of commands by choosing Options – User Preferences in the Command Interpreter Window (CIW).

The system keeps an undo history or check points in a single, global stack. When you choose Undo in a cellview, the last edit made to any open cellview is undone. Once you have saved a cellview, the edits made prior to saving the cellview cannot be undone.

Redo a command

To reinstate a change you canceled with Undo, choose Edit – Redo or press Shift+U.

Repeat a command

Many layout editor commands automatically repeat. For example, each time you finish drawing a rectangle, the Create Rectangle command prompts you to draw another one.

By default, all commands on the Create menu and the Create Measurement command are set to repeat. To set the automatic repeat on or off, choose Options – Editor and use the Repeat Commands check box to enable or disable the repeat operation.

Nest a command

You can pause before completing one command to perform a second command. This is called nesting a command. For example, if you move an object and then zoom out, the zoom command would be nested, allowing you to use another command such as moving another object.

You can nest any display command but you cannot nest edit or create commands. As exceptions, edit and create commands can be nested within the Modify Corner and Size commands.

You can nest up to 20 commands. To set the number of commands you can nest, choose Options – User Preferences from the CIW and set the Nest Limit field to the number you want.

Discard all edits

To cancel your edits, choose File – Discard Edits. A Discard Edits dialog box appears and prompts you to confirm whether you want to discard your edits. This command discards all edits you made since the last time you saved the cellview.

Use infix mode for the first point location

You can set the layout editor to automatically use the current pointer location as the starting point whenever you start commands with bindkeys. This is called infix mode.

To set infix mode on or off, from the CIW, choose Options – User Preferences. In the User Preference form, turn the Infix (No Click Necessary for First Point) check box on or off, as required.

Use menu access keys

Menu access keys provide keyboard access to application menus and the functionality they contain without the need to use mouse selections. For example, if you press Alt+F on your keyboard, the software displays the contents of the File menu.

The menu access key for a Layout XL menu, submenu, or command is the underlined letter in the menu command label. For example, to display the Connectivity form using only menu access keys, with the cursor in the Layout XL window, press Alt+O. This displays the contents of the Options menu. Then, press O.