I turn electrical snap off, then set the snap grid to the pitch of the vias you need e.g. 5mm. Unselect all entities on the board.
I then manually place a full board width row of selected vias (i.e. press tab before the first via is placed and check the selected flag - then all subsequent via placements will also be selected), with a unique hole size if you deem it necessary. Copy the row of vias and successively paste more rows down the board until you have a complete matrix. Do a global edit of selected vias to set the net name e.g. GND Now the painful part: jump to each DRC error (which will relate to each via that's been placed on top of a feature attached to another net) and delete the offending via. Now the caveat: if you have a via that's landed on a GND net primitive, e.g. a component land, you won't get a DRC error but you probably won't want a hole in the pad either. This is the main reason why I DON'T very often use this method. I find it better (if annoyingly slow and a good way to get a sore finger from the mouse clicks) to simply place each via in sequence - which is easy since the snap grid is set to the pitch desired - making the decision of "to place or not to place" as I go, based on the surrounding circuitry. I still make sure I place vias with the selected attribute enabled, so that I can easily do a global net assignment without needing to use a unique hole size. Hope this helps, John Haddy > -----Original Message----- > From: Sean James [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Wednesday, 27 February 2002 8:12 AM > To: Protel EDA Forum > Subject: [PEDA] VIAS > > > Does anybody know of an easy way to "sprinkle" vias on a board? I want to > place several (100+) vias on a board to get a good top-bottom current flow > for GND. > > Sean James > PCB Designer > Telecast Fiber Systems > 102 Grove Street > Worcester, MA 01603 > TEL 508-754-4858 x33 > FAX 413-541-6170 > > > > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * To post a message: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] * * To leave this list visit: * http://www.techservinc.com/protelusers/leave.html * * Contact the list manager: * mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] * * Forum Guidelines Rules: * http://www.techservinc.com/protelusers/forumrules.html * * Browse or Search previous postings: * http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
