pcb-rnd 1.2.8

[ScribblesOnNapkins]

From our mailing list.

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Hi all,

I've just finished the release process for pcb-rnd 1.2.8.

Thanks for everyone who contributed and/or kept on testing and using pcb-rnd despite of the bugs introduced by the big data model switchover. Our code is a bit less stable than it was a year ago, I am sure we'll hit some yet unknown bugs introduced by the data model rewrite, but I hope we can get back the same stability before the next release. Thank you for using pcb-rnd!

I expect the next biggish user-visible change, for our next release, will be the menu rewrite. I will first make the menu file configurable, to make sure existing users can keep the old menu file if they prefer to. But we really need a new, more organized menu file with a somewhat more "traditional" mouse button bindings to ease the learning curve of new users.

Other than that, I think the big changes that requires our users to le-learn things are over for some time. There will be some infrastructural changes later this year, like find.c rewrite, but those should be transparent to the user.


Release notes:

pcb-rnd 1.2.8
~~~~~~~~~~~~

This release switches over the whole code base to use the new data model
(padstacks, subcircuits) instead of the old, now obsolete model (vias,
pins, pads, elements). When using alien file formats, conversion forth and
back is done automatically, on the fly, during load and save.

The local rtree implementation has been replaced with genrtree. This makes
it much easier to share the rtree code among projects, decreases the
maintenance burden. Unlike the local rtree implementation, genrtree
has unit tests.

The new rtree API features loop iterators, which allows the caller to
have much simpler and more readable code, without callback functions and
context structs.

The rest of the development focused on fixing bugs.


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Best regards,

Igor2

[xaxaxa]

I just decided to give pcb-rnd another try and have found these issues:

* the subcircuits thing seems to add a whole bunch of visual clutter (the boxes and refdes text); if I turn off the subcircuits layer then i can't seem to select any elements anymore

* element selection seems to not obey layer order (if i drag on an element on the top side, it seems to prefer selecting elements on the bottom side.)

* on large designs after you drag any element it will freeze for several seconds (see attached pcb)

* element names (on silk screen layer) seem to be always visible now even though I've hidden them; this makes dense designs a cluttered mess

* rats nest connectivity checking seems to always think polygons are not full ones; (see back side of attached pcb; there are many pins that are already connected to ground but pcb still draws the yellow circle when you show rats nest)

* segfaults seem to happen randomly during any operation (i.e. deleting a trace)

There are probably more that i've forgotten, but overall it seems I still can't switch away from old pcb any time soon.

(rename file to .pcb before opening)

[ScribblesOnNapkins]

I just decided to give pcb-rnd another try and have found these issues:

* the subcircuits thing seems to add a whole bunch of visual clutter (the boxes and refdes text); if I turn off the subcircuits layer then i can't seem to select any elements anymore

* element selection seems to not obey layer order (if i drag on an element on the top side, it seems to prefer selecting elements on the bottom side.)

* on large designs after you drag any element it will freeze for several seconds (see attached pcb)

* element names (on silk screen layer) seem to be always visible now even though I've hidden them; this makes dense designs a cluttered mess

* rats nest connectivity checking seems to always think polygons are not full ones; (see back side of attached pcb; there are many pins that are already connected to ground but pcb still draws the yellow circle when you show rats nest)

* segfaults seem to happen randomly during any operation (i.e. deleting a trace)

There are probably more that i've forgotten, but overall it seems I still can't switch away from old pcb any time soon.

(rename file to .pcb before opening)

So we are phasing out elements in favor of subcircuits. Subcircuits can do a lot of things that elements can't including solve the problem of "How do I do an F antenna on a board with out DRC screaming it's head off" they also have pad stacks which help us do things like blind and burred vias. Sorry but the element model is going away.

If you can make a simple test case that reproduces the element selection problem we would be happy to fix it.

We are in the middle of phasing out the older data model that supported elements. You probably noticed how slow the loading of the design was before you saved and exited. On reload it will probably be faster, i know it's slow now and after things get more editing they may get faster... (your not the only one to noticed the speed issue)

The element name thing ; are you talking about the red label in the subc layer?

The rats nest thing obviously needs seeing too. Thanks for pointing it out!

To fix the segfaults we need to get proper bug reports to know what was happening when the code faulted. Please drop in on our IRC and we will be very happy to work with you on this.

[xaxaxa]

you can reproduce the element/subcircuit selection issues in my attached pcb by trying to drag U307 (on the top side).

Is it possible to hide the red dashed lines and refdes text? There doesn't seem to be an option in the settings. The black (silkscreen) refdes text seems to also be always visible even though in the original pcb file (saved from pcb) they are hidden. (see attached picture). pressing "H" does nothing.

[ScribblesOnNapkins]

you can reproduce the element/subcircuit selection issues in my attached pcb by trying to drag U307 (on the top side).

Is it possible to hide the red dashed lines and refdes text? There doesn't seem to be an option in the settings. The black (silkscreen) refdes text seems to also be always visible even though in the original pcb file (saved from pcb) they are hidden. (see attached picture). pressing "H" does nothing.

I see your point about the dashed lines. Turn off the "Subcircuits" layer and leave the "Subc. parts" on.

I also tried your footprint selection bug... That's an issue but I am not sure how to condense it down to something simple for a bug report.

Your file shows me what I suspect are more bugs. It looks like some components are rotated and their pins are not rotated properly. Is that correct?

We will work on all these issues.