Kicad - GUI is Horrific!

[Simon]

 

Given that I have said nothing about where on the spectrum I might land, you have zero right (or point of reference) to make any claims about it. (Unlike me debunking your explicit claims of having intellect so superior that it supposedly makes up for your rotten personality.)

I think he debunked that himself with his "cultural reference" 

[nctnico]

Something I use all the time in Altium that KiCad can’t do is editing multiple objects at once.

I don't understand.  Can you explain that, svp?

Schematic:
Suppose the boss has said to change all the resistors from 0805 to 0603. I can do a Find to find and select all the 0805 resistors, then use the Properties to assign the 0603 footprint to all of them, all the while all their other properties remain unchanged.

Or maybe I need to change an IC from one type to another, for example the old 7805 to a more modern LM1117-style LDO. I can prepare a schematic symbol with the same layout, then select all my 7805’s and replace the symbol with the LM1117.

Not only that. A feature I use often in Orcad is a table view (called part manager) with all the components which can be sorted in various ways. When sorted by value it is super handy to do part value optimisations. For example: if there are 2 3k9 resistors to set a divider and 10 4k7 resistors used for logic pull-ups, it makes sense to change the pull-ups to 3k9 as well. And the same for component sizes. Sometimes I copy parts of a schematic as well but some designs are 0402 and others are 0603. The part manager is a huge help to get a good overview. WIth the component database behind it, the component changes not only change the footprint but everything that is needed to create a correct bill of materials. Schematic entry is not just about creating a netlist but it also plays a huge role in the logistics side of having boards produced.

[thinkfat]

Not only that. A feature I use often in Orcad is a table view (called part manager) with all the components which can be sorted in various ways. When sorted by value it is super handy to do part value optimisations. For example: if there are 2 3k9 resistors to set a divider and 10 4k7 resistors used for logic pull-ups, it makes sense to change the pull-ups to 3k9 as well. And the same for component sizes. Sometimes I copy parts of a schematic as well but some designs are 0402 and others are 0603. The part manager is a huge help to get a good overview. WIth the component database behind it, the component changes not only change the footprint but everything that is needed to create a correct bill of materials. Schematic entry is not just about creating a netlist but it also plays a huge role in the logistics side of having boards produced.

Coincidentally, KiCad has a functionality quite similar to what you describe as a "part manager". It's a table view of all components in the schematic, with entry grouping for various attributes. Huge help in consolidating BOM lines. Also makes it easy to change e.g. all footprints of all 100n capacitors in the design etc.

[ebastler]

Coincidentally, KiCad has a functionality quite similar to what you describe as a "part manager". It's a table view of all components in the schematic, with entry grouping for various attributes. Huge help in consolidating BOM lines. Also makes it easy to change e.g. all footprints of all 100n capacitors in the design etc.

Right, it's called the "Symbol Fields Table" in KiCad (Tools > Edit Symbol Fields in Eeschema). I have used it a lot, for the purposes mentioned by thinkfat and nctnico. I have also shot myself in the foot a few times using it:

Worth mentioning that this functionality was buggy in KiCad versions 6.03 and 6.04, when used with hierarchical schematics. Some value and footprint fields would sporadically show as empty in the Symbol Fields Table. And if you did not notice that while editing other entries and then saved the results, the respective details went missing from the schematic view as well. There is a workaround which recovers the information, but it's better to update to a more recent version of Kicad.

https://gitlab.com/kicad/code/kicad/-/issues/11194
https://gitlab.com/kicad/code/kicad/-/issues/11311

[SiliconWizard]

One thing that has bitten me in the ass is that duplicating a symbol in schematic copies ALL attributes, including the "exclude from BOM" one.
No need to say that the duplicated symbol in question was not meant to be excluded from BOM.
That wouldn't have been a problem if there was a clear indication of a symbol not being in BOM, either on the schematic itself or in the symbol fields table. It's on neither.
Just be careful.

[John B]

If my understanding is correct, when you insert a symbol, you are copying a template from your libraries and creating a unique symbol in your schematic. There is still a relation to the original library symbol so you can always synch/update a symbol to the library and overwrite whichever fields you wish.

The process has caught me out in a few instances of migrating projects from V5 -> 6 -> 7

[hpw]

One thing that has bitten me in the ass is that duplicating a symbol in schematic copies ALL attributes, including the "exclude from BOM" one.
No need to say that the duplicated symbol in question was not meant to be excluded from BOM.
That wouldn't have been a problem if there was a clear indication of a symbol not being in BOM, either on the schematic itself or in the symbol fields table. It's on neither.

And an other(s) comes up, why those attributes are not copied from MY symbol... 

I mean, this is a clone operation with altered attributes, as you like to have a pure library symbol copy, what is complete different operation. So request this as a feature.

Or simple select the symbol from the library, as a workaround.

Hp