kicad-developers team mailing list archive

[Wayne Stambaugh <stambaughw@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 6/27/2012 5:13 AM, Samuel Lesueur wrote:
> Hi wayne,
>
> On Tue, Jun 26, 2012 at 10:33:54AM -0400, Wayne Stambaugh wrote:
> > A few minor comments on your patch.  As Lorenzo already mentioned,
> > add a new line before comment lines to group the comment with the
> > code that it is associated with.  Also use a new line between the
> > break and next case statement to define the end of the last case
> > statement and the beginning of the next one.
>
>
> Humm, actually, my patch was only a proof of concept, It is only a quick
> and dirty patch that uses the functions from the shortcut keys, it was
> not meant to be integrated but was here to say : "hey guys, i would like
> this feature, here I found a dirty way to add vias, I know it is not the
> right way to do it, but it is a start and it's better thant nothing"
>
> I will look your coding style policy, but I was more expecting some
> hints to add the vias directly in the memory mapping of the board, and
> to get a general feeling about the way this feature should be implemented.
>
> After testing, there is clearly a bug with this patch and the track
> auto-remove subsystem. For example, if I add a via directly on a zone
> and then remove the zone, the via becomes orphan and loose it net
> attachement.

I see two potential paths to add vias that are not connected to a trace. 
 I'll call these free vias to avoid confusion with normal vias.  You 
could either create a new free via object type derived from SEGVIA or 
add the free via functionality to SEGVIA.  My preference is a new object 
because it separates the special features of free vias.  You will then 
need to add code to the board clean up function, the DRC, and file 
save/load plug-in to handle free vias.  In the clean up code you would 
add tests for free vias that were not connected to the selected net on 
either end.  In the DRC you would test free vias for clearance and 
connectivity issues.  I would mark clearance issues and connections to 
invalid nets (also known as shorts) as errors and mark floating 
connections as warnings to let the user know that they will be deleted 
when board clean up is run.  In the load/save file code you will have to 
support at least the new s-expression file format and if you need it 
immediately then you will need to update the current (legacy) file 
format.  You will also potentially need to figure out how to load free 
vias from any other file formats currently supported in the Pcbnew 
plug-in (currently this is only Eagle).  All of this will require input 
from the development team since it will impact the behavior of a large 
portion of Pcbnew.

> There is also a small graphical bug : after adding a via it is not
> displayed because drawn under the track. I have to zoom in or zoom out
> to trigger a screen refresh before I can see it. Is there a function to
> refresh the screen I can use in my patch?

You have to call wxWindow::Refresh() to tell wxWidgets to update the 
client area.  The easiest way is to refresh the entire visible area of 
the drawing by calling Refresh() with no parameters or you can pass the 
area of the drawing that needs to be refreshed by the addition of the 
free via.  The latter can cause redrawing issues depending on the 
objects that need to be redrawn.  I usually give refreshing the area of 
the new object a try first.  If there are no drawing issue you are good 
to go.  Otherwise, you can always fall back to refreshing the entire 
visible area.

Wayne

> On Wed, Jun 27, 2012 at 08:29:42AM +0200, jean-pierre charras wrote:
> > I also should say I do not understand why it is so hard to start a
> > track from$ and then press the v key to insert a via, as many times as
> > you want.
>
> Jean-pierre : Well indeed it might be a solution but not acceptable if
> you have to add 500 vias on a power board, either for power dissipation
> or for connecting two cooper zones. If you knit tracks all around your
> board just to add vias, the final outputs will just be aufull and each
> time you will have to do minor layout changes on your board, those
> tracks and vias will always be on your way ...
>
> Imagine if we can add a feature that draw those termal vias during the
> "zone filling" process. It would be so usefull for power designers !
>
> I am willing to do it (or at least to try ;) ) but I need some
> directions to find where I should look and work in the code.
>
> Thanks for your time guys !
>
> Samuel
>
>
>
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