kicad-developers team mailing list archive

[Dick Hollenbeck <dick@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

>> Both of those work.  After using the program for 5 years, I had grown accustomed to
>> previous behavior which did not require selecting drag.  You could simply use the wire
>> tool and back trace over an existing track starting from its end, with a new track
>> gesture.  This used to shorten the wire.
>>
>> I can live with the single G key however.
>>
>> Dick
> I see...
>
> It is certainly a side effect of my bug fix bzr3467.
>
> Previously the SCH_LINE::MergeOverlap( SCH_LINE* aLine ) function tried to merge 2 collinear segments
> (wires, busses or graphic lines) by creating a segment from the starting point of the first
>   to the ending point of the second.
> Therefore the intermediate point is not always the removed point.
> The result of merging 2 collinear segments connecting 2 pins can be:
> - a merging segment that still connect the 2 pins (the intermediate point was removed)
> - or a shorter segment between a pin and the end of the second segment (not necessary the pin)
>    and a connection is lost ((the intermediate point was kept and an end point removed ).
>
> (I am thinking you were using the consequence of this bug)
>
> However, during calculations, for each segment, ends can be swapped,
> and you are not able to know in all cases the starting point end the ending point of a wire.
>
> Now the resulting segment connects the ends having the bigger distance, and in my example the 2 pins
> are always kept connected.
>
> I noticed this bug when I tried to create a rectangle (4 consecutive wires or graphic segments)
> in an empty sheet:
> Depending on the way the 4 edges are created (CW or CCW) one or 2 segments were lost (removed).
> (SCH_LINE::MergeOverlap( SCH_LINE* aLine ) is widely used in Eeschema after segments creations
> and netlist calculations).
>
> I was also able to create erroneous merges on existing complex connections
> with collinear wires and junctions.
>
> After creating a collinear wire on this kind of connections, some segments sometimes disappear.
> (and a wrong connection created)

Thanks Jean-Pierre for the explanation.  The functionality to shorten a wire is there.  I
just have to press the G key, and that is not an inconvenience.

Not knowing I had to do this was the inconvenience.  :)

Thanks much.