Editing EAGLE (program) (section)

== History ==
{{anchor|1.3|1.35|2.0|2.6|3.0|3.5|4.0|4.1|4.90|5.0|5.1|5.2|5.3|5.4|5.5|5.6|5.7|5.8|5.9|5.10|5.11|5.12|5.91|6.0|6.1|6.2|6.3|6.4|6.5|6.6|6.91|7.0|7.1|7.2|7.3|7.4|7.5|7.6|7.7|8.0|8.1|8.2|8.3|8.4|8.5|8.6|8.7|9.0|9.1|9.2|9.3|9.4|9.5|9.6|9.7}}
The German CadSoft Computer GmbH was founded by Rudolf Hofer and Klaus-Peter Schmidinger in 1988 to develop EAGLE,<ref name="Spiegel_1992"/><ref name="Enet_2009"/><ref name="Kuther_2013"/><ref name="Siering_2015"/> a 16-bit PCB design application for [[DOS]]. Originally, the software consisted of a layout editor with part libraries only. An auto-router module became available as optional component later on.<!-- was already available for EAGLE 1.3 --> With EAGLE&nbsp;2.0, a schematics editor was added in 1991.<ref name="EAGLE_201"/> The software used [[Borland Graphics Interface|BGI]] video drivers, and XPLOT to print.<ref name="EAGLE_201"/> In 1992, version 2.6 changed the definition of layers, but designs created under older versions (up to 2.05) could be converted into the new format using the provided UPDATE26.EXE utility.

EAGLE 3.0 was changed to be a 32-bit [[DOS extender|extended DOS]] application in 1994.<!-- not sure if already DPMI-based, or still VCPI-based or something else -->

Support for [[OS/2]] [[Presentation Manager]] was added with version 3.5 in April 1996. This version also introduced multi-window support with forward-/backward-annotation, user-definable copper areas, and a built-in programming language with ULPs. It was also the first to no longer require a [[dongle]].

In 2000, EAGLE version 4.0 officially dropped support for DOS and OS/2, but now being based on Qt 3<ref name="Schmidinger_2001_Qt"/><ref name="Schmidinger_2003_Qt"/> it added native support for [[Windows]]<!-- Windows support might have been added with one of the 3.5x versions, but not with 3.50. --> and was among the first professional electronic CAD tools available for [[Linux]].<ref name="Dölle_2004"/> A 32-bit [[DOS Protected Mode Interface|DPMI]] version of EAGLE 4.0 running under DOS<ref group="nb" name="NB_DOS-DPMI"/> was still available on special request in order to help support existing customers, but it was not released commercially. Much later, in 2015, a special version of EAGLE 4.09r2 was made available by CadSoft to ease installation under [[Windows 7]].

Starting with version 4.13, EAGLE became available for [[Mac OS X]], with versions before 5.0.0 still requiring [[X11]]. Version 5.0.0 officially dropped support for [[Windows 9x]] and [[Windows NT]] 3.x/4.x in 2008. This version was based on Qt 4<ref name="Schmidinger_2007_Qt"/><ref name="CadSoft_2011_Qt"/> and introduced user-definable attributes.

On 24 September 2009, [[Premier Farnell]] announced the acquisition of CadSoft Computer GmbH.<ref name="Autodesk_2009"/><ref name="Enet_2009"/>

Version 5.91.0 introduced an [[XML]]-based file format in 2011 but continued to read the older binary format. It could not, however, write files in the former format, thereby not allowing collaboration with EAGLE 5.12.0 and earlier.<ref name="Paul_2014_FLYEAGLE"/> EAGLE 6.0.0 no longer supported Mac OS X on the [[Power PC]] platform (only on Intel Macs), and the minimum requirements were changed to Mac OS X 10.6, Linux 2.6 and Windows XP. This version also introduced support for [[assembly variant]]s and [[Differential signaling|differential pair]] routing with length matching and automatic [[meander]]ing.

Version 7.0.0 brought hierarchical designs, a new gridless topological pre-router called "TopRouter" for the conventional [[ripup router|ripup-and-retry]] auto-router as well as [[multi-core]] support.<ref name="Enet_2014"/> Version 7.3.0 introduced native 64-bit versions for all three platforms in 2015. Version 7.6.0 dropped support for the 32-bit Mac OS X version in 2016. EAGLE 6.x.x continues to read EAGLE 7.x.x design files for as long as the hierarchical design feature isn't used.<ref name="Enet_2014"/>

On 27 June 2016, [[Autodesk]] announced the acquisition of CadSoft Computer GmbH from Premier Farnell, with Premier Farnell continuing to distribute CadSoft products for Autodesk.<ref name="Buetow_2016"/> Autodesk changed the license to a [[subscription business model|subscription-only model]] starting with version 8.0.0 in 2017. Only 64-bit versions remain available. The file format used by EAGLE 8.0.0 and higher is not backward compatible with earlier EAGLE versions, however it does provide an export facility for saving an EAGLE 7.x compatible version of the design.

On 7 January 2020, EAGLE 9.5.2 was discontinued as a standalone product and only licensed to users as a bundled component (Fusion Electronics) with an [[Autodesk Fusion 360]] subscription license.<ref name="Fusion360_2020"/> The last standalone version of EAGLE is 9.6.2 as of 27 May 2020. Fusion Electronics design files carry a version 9.7.0 designation.
Autodesk will ultimately end any support for EAGLE on 7 June 2026, requiring their users to migrate to Fusion Electronics to access existing designs after that date.<ref name="Autodesk_2023"/>
<!--
==Version history==
- some early versions, most release dates and the main changes are still missing
* 1.3
* 1.35 (1989)
* 2.0 (2.00) (1991), 2.01, 2.02, 2.03, 2.05
* 2.6 (2.60) (1992), 2.61, 2.62
* 3.0 (3.00) (1994), 3.01, 3.02, 3.02r5
* 3.5 (3.50) (1996-04-16), 3.51, 3.51r4, 3.52 (ca. 1997), 3.53, 3.54, 3.54r1 (1997), 3.55r2, 3.55r3 (1999)
* 4.0 (4.00), 4.01, 4.02, 4.02r5, 4.03 (ca. 2001-05-14), 4.04, 4.05, 4.06, 4.07, 4.08, 4.08r1, 4.08r2, 4.09, 4.09r1, 4.09r2, [4.09r53-beta, 4.09r54-beta, 4.09r55-beta, 4.09r56-beta]
* 4.1 (4.10), 4.11, 4.11r1, 4.11r2, 4.12, 4.13, 4.13r1, 4.14, 4.15, 4.16, 4.16r1, 4.16r2
* [4.6 (4.60)]
* [4.90.1, 4.90.2, 4.90.6]
* 5.0.0, 5.0.1, 5.0.2, 5.0.3
* 5.1.0, 5.1.1, 5.1.2, 5.1.3, 5.1.4, 5.1.5
* 5.2.0, 5.2.1, 5.2.2, 5.2.3, 5.2.4, 5.2.5
* 5.3.0, 5.3.1, 5.3.2, 5.3.3, 5.3.4, 5.3.5, 5.3.6, 5.3.7
* 5.4.0, 5.4.1, 5.4.2, 5.4.3, 5.4.4, 5.4.5, 5.4.6, 5.4.7, 5.4.8
* 5.5.0, 5.5.1
* 5.6.0, 5.6.1, 5.6.2, 5.6.3, 5.6.4
* 5.7.0, 5.7.1, 5.7.2, 5.7.3, 5.7.4
* 5.8.0, 5.8.1
* 5.9.0, 5.9.1, 5.9.2, 5.9.3
* 5.10.0, 5.10.1, 5.10.2, 5.10.3, 5.10.4
* 5.11.0, 5.11.1, 5.11.2
* 5.12.0
* [5.91.0, 5.91.1, 5.91.2, 5.91.3, 5.91.4]
* 6.0.0, 6.0.1, 6.0.2
* 6.1.0, 6.1.1, 6.1.2, 6.1.3, 6.1.4, 6.1.5
* 6.2.0, 6.2.1, 6.2.2, 6.2.3
* 6.3.0, 6.3.1, 6.3.2, 6.3.3
* 6.4.0, 6.4.1, 6.4.2, 6.4.3, 6.4.4, 6.4.5
* 6.5.0, 6.5.1, 6.5.2
* 6.6.0 (2014-06-02)
* [6.91.1, 6.91.2]
* 7.0.0 (2014-07-14), 7.0.1, 7.0.1a
* 7.1.0 (2014-08-11), 7.1.1, 7.1.2, 7.1.3, 7.1.4
* 7.2.0 (2014-11-27), 7.2.1, 7.2.2, 7.2.3 (2015-05-07)
* 7.3.0 (2015-05-11), 7.3.1, 7.3.2, 7.3.3
* 7.4.0 (2015-08-31), 7.4.1 (2015-10-07), 7.4.2 (2015-04-11)
* 7.5.0 (2016-01-26), 7.5.1, 7.5.2, 7.5.3, 7.5.4
* 7.6.0 (2016-05-18), 7.6.1, 7.6.2 (2016-08-15), 7.6.3 (2016-09-16), 7.6.4 (2016-09-21)
* 7.7.0 (2016-10-05)
* 8.0.0 (2017-01-16), 8.0.1 (2017-02-06, 2017-02-10), 8.0.2 (2017-02-21, 2017-03-03)
* 8.1.0 (2017-03-15), 8.1.1 (2017-04-17)
* 8.2.0 (2017-05-11), 8.2.1 (2017-05-22), 8.2.2 (2017-06-15)
* 8.3.0 (2017-08-16), 8.3.1 (2017-08-16), 8.3.2 (2017-09-06)
* 8.4.0 (2017-10-17), 8.4.1 (2017-10-31), 8.4.2 (2017-11-15), 8.4.3 (2017-11-27)
* 8.5.0 (2017-12-12), 8.5.1 (2018-01-02), 8.5.2 (2018-01-12)
* 8.6.0 (2018-01-25), 8.6.1 (2018-02-07), 8.6.2 (2018-02-16), 8.6.3 (2018-02-23)
* 8.7.0 (2018-03-07), 8.7.1. (2018-03-15), 8.7.2 (2018-03-28)
* 9.0.0 (2018-04-18), 9.0.1 (2018-05-15)
* 9.1.0 (2018-06-30), 9.1.1 (2018-07-10), 9.1.2 (2018-08-03), 9.1.3 (2018-08-15)
* 9.2.0 (2018-09-28), 9.2.1 (2018-10-11), 9.2.2 (2018-10-26)
* 9.3.0 (2019-01-16), 9.3.1 (2019-03-01), 9.3.2 (2019-03-21)
* 9.4.0 (2019-04-24), 9.4.1 (2019-05-14), 9.4.2 (2019-05-29)
* 9.5.0 (2019-08-30), 9.5.1 (2019-09-25), 9.5.2 (2019-11-13)
* 9.6.0 (2020-03-10), 9.6.1 (2020-04-07), 9.6.2 (2020-05-27)
* 9.7.0 (2020) (integrated in Fusion 360)
-->