CvPcb Commands

Main Screen

The image below shows the main window of CvPcb.

The main window of CvPcb

The left pane contains the list of available footprint library file names associated with the project. The center pane contains the list of components loaded from the net list file. The right pane contains the list of available footprints loaded from the project footprint libraries. The component pane will be empty if no netlist file has been loaded and the footprint pane can be also empty if no footprint libraries are found.

Main Window Toolbar

Main Toolbar of CvPcb

The top toolbar allows for easy access to the following commands:

save

Transfer the current footprint association to Eeschema (this is the content of footprint fields).

config

Invoke the CvPcb configuration menu.

show footprint

Display the footprint of the component selected in the footprint window.

left

Automatically select the previous component in the list without a footprint association.

right

Automatically select the next component in the list without a footprint association.

auto associe

Automatically associate footprints with components starting using an equivalence file.

delete association

Delete all footprint assignments.

datasheet

Open the selected footprint documentation pdf file using the default pdf viewer.

module filtered list

Enable or disable the filtering to limit the list of footprints to the footprint filters of the selected component.

module pin filtered list

Enable or disable the filtering to limit the list of footprints using the pin count of the selected component.

module library list

Enable or disable filtering to limit the list of footprints using the selected library.

Main Window Keyboard Commands

The following table lists the keyboard commands for the main window:

Right Arrow / Tab

Activate the next pane to the right of the currently activated pane. Wrap around to the first pane if the last pane is currently activated.

Left Arrow

Activate the next pane to the left of the currently activated pane. Wrap around to the last pane if the first pane is currently activated.

Up Arrow

Select the previous item of the currently selected list.

Down Arrow

Select the next item of the currently selected list.

Page Up

Select the item up one full page of the currently selected list.

Page Down

Select the item down one full page of the currently selected list.

Home

Select the first item of the currently selected list.

End

Select the last item of the currently selected list.

CvPcb Configuration

Preferences menu

CvPcb can be automatically closed after saving the footprint association file, or not.

Invoking the Libraries'' entry in the Preferences’’ menu displays the library configuration dialog.

Depending on the CvPcb version, there are 2 different methods of library management:

  • The legacy management, using *.mod files, and a library list of files.

  • The new ``Pretty’’ format, using one file by footprint. It uses a folder list. Each folder (*.pretty folder name) is a library. When using this new method of library management, You can also use native libraries originating from GEDA/GPCB or even Eagle xml format files.