kicad-developers team mailing list archive

[jean-pierre charras <jp.charras@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Le 25/07/2011 08:54, Lorenzo Marcantonio a écrit :
> In pcbnew I'm trying to define a fixture hole (a non metalized one).
>
> If I try to remove the copper layers from the pad properties it says:
>
> "Error: pad is not on a copper layer and has a hole"
>
> Why is that? It seems to me that a substrate only hole is a perfectly
> legitimate thing to do... maybe it is to make it seen from the DRC?
>
> Our fabs require that NPTH holes have no pad under them, so I have to
> delete them manually in a gerber editor... that's really not cool:((

The reason is currently there is no support in Pcbnew for NPTH holes and pads that are just only a hole (both are related).
For instance, a pad that is not at least on a copper layer is not draw (and therefore) not seen on screen.
(And of course, they can have DRC requirement, which need to be on copper layers)
Not seen on screen is a bit annoying!

From my point of view, a hole is on each copper layer, and should exist on all copper layers.
However some components (like very small leds and opto-transistors) are inside a hole in the board, and require smd pads with hole.

I believe to handle pads that are not on Gerber files could be made by setting a flag ( something like a "do not plot flag" ).

Also, NPTH "through pads" are not easy to handle, from the point of view of connectivity calculation,
unless there is not connection allowed to these NPTH pads (but this is restrictive)


--
Jean-Pierre CHARRAS