The EAGLE Layout Editor is an easy to use, yet powerful tool for designing printed circuit boards (PCBs). The name EAGLE is an acronym, which stands for Easily Applicable Graphical Layout Editor.

The program consists of three main modules - Layout Editor, Schematic Editor, Autorouter - which are embedded in a single user interface. Therefore there is no need for converting netlists between schematics and layouts.

The program consists of three main modules:

￭ Layout Editor
￭ Schematic Editor
￭ Autorouter

which are embedded in a single user interface. Therefore there is no need for converting netlists between schematics and layouts.

Here are some key features of "Eagle":

General
￭ online Forward- and Back-Annotation
￭ context sensitive help function
￭ no hardware copy protection!
￭ multiple windows for board, schematic and library
￭ powerful User Language
￭ integrated text editor
￭ available for Windows, Linux and Mac

Layout Editor
￭ maximum drawing area 1.6 x 1.6m (64 x 64 inch)
￭ resolution 1/10,000mm (0.1 micron)
￭ up to 16 signal layers
￭ conventional and SMT parts
￭ comes with a full set of part libraries
￭ easily create your own parts with the fully integrated library editor
￭ undo/redo function for ANY editing command, to any depth
￭ script files for batch command execution
￭ copper pouring
￭ cut and paste function for copying entire sections of a drawing
￭ design rule check

Schematic Editor
￭ up to 999 sheets in one schematic
￭ electrical rule check
￭ gate and pinswap
￭ create a board from a schematic with a single command

Autorouter
￭ ripup&retry router
￭ up to 16 signal layers
￭ routing strategy driven by user definable cost factors

CAM Processor
￭ Postscript
￭ pen plotters
￭ Gerber plotters
￭ Excellon and Sieb&Meyer drill files
￭ configurable through ASCII file for easy definition of your own output devices


Limitations:

￭ The useable board area is limited to 100 x 80 mm (4 x 3.2 inches).
￭ Only two signal layers can be used (Top and Bottom).
￭ The schematic editor can only create one sheet.
￭ Apart from these three limitiations the EAGLE Light Edition can do anything the Professional Edition can do.
￭ Support is only available via email or through our forum (no fax or phone support).
￭ Use is limited to non-profit applications or evaluation purposes.

What's New in This Release: [ read full changelog ]

· The "Technologies" combo box in the "New/Change Attribute" dialog now lists the name of the current technology.
· Changed the behavior of the ATTRIBUTE command in case no coordinates are given in the command line, so that the value of an existing attribute can be changed via the command line.
· The DRC now reports supply layers, that are not contained in the layer setup of the Design Rules, as "Layer Setup" errors.
· The SET command can now be used to set parameters of the eaglerc file.
· If you don't like the way unprocessed polygons display their edges (as dotted lines), you can change this with the command SET. Option.DrawUnprocessedPolygonEdgesContinuous 1 The edges of unprocessed polygons will then be displayed as continuous lines, as was the case before version 5 (however, they will not be highlighted).
· The commands CUT, DRC, ERC, ERRORS, EXPORT, GROUP, OPTIMIZE, PASTE, PRINT, RATSNEST, UPDATE, USE and WRITE are now "transparent", which means they no longer terminate a previously active command like MOVE etc.
· The layers are now drawn in a sequence that properly reflects the actual resulting board. For instance, the bottom placeplan is drawn first, then the signal layers from bottom to top, then the top placeplan. This sequence is reversed when printing mirrored.
· Added a note to the online help of the PAD and VIA commands, saying that the shape only applies to the outer layers (in inner layers the shape is always "round").
· Parts on the board are now shifted into the allowed area of the Light or Standard edition, respectively, if they extend outside that area after a REPLACE, CHANGE PACKAGE or UPDATE operation.
· Fixed unexpected wire fragments in CAM Processor and PRINT output. WARNING: All EAGLE versions from 4.90.1 to 5.1.1 contain a bug which, under rare circumstances, may cause unexpected wire fragments in the CAM Processor and PRINT output, which may lead to short circuits. These wires are not visible in the editor window and are not reported by the DRC. This bug is fixed in version 5.2.0 (and since version 5.1.2, respectively). Please switch to version 5.2.0 as soon as possible. Windows users should also make sure they use the latest version of the command line version eaglecon.exe, which is automatically generated from the eagle.exe during installation. You can determine the actual version of your eaglecon.exe by calling eaglecon -?
· See the UPDATE file that comes with the installation archive for a list of fixes.