kicad-developers team mailing list archive

[Wayne Stambaugh <stambaughw@xxxxxxxxx>]

On 8/27/2015 9:22 AM, jp charras wrote:
> Le 27/08/2015 14:47, Wayne Stambaugh a écrit :
>> On 8/27/2015 2:32 AM, jp charras wrote:
>>> Le 27/08/2015 08:16, Lorenzo Marcantonio a écrit :
>>>> On Wed, 26 Aug 2015 22:19:17 +0200, Wayne Stambaugh wrote:
>>>>> Good question Peter. Does someone want to field this? I didn't change
>>>>> this code so I cannot answer why Pcbnew will no longer allow you to
>>>>> change trace widths by selecting an alternate width from the combobox.
>>>>> You can switch to the gal canvas and use the trace properties dialog
>>>>> but in the legacy canvas, this feature doesn't exist. :(.
>>>>
>>>> Ouch. Very very very not fun.
>>>>
>>>> That's inacceptable for power designs... I have boards where I go around
>>>> with 22mm traces (yes, *so* much current, and 70µm of copper :D) and
>>>> then stubs out with smaller ones to feed parts. Of course it's a royal
>>>> PITA to evaluate hot spots so a FLIR cam is a must for these...
>>>>
>>>> Less extreme use case: feed bypass caps with a moderately big track
>>>> (wide as the plane via) and then thin out to feed the IC.
>>>>
>>>> IIRC the previous behaviour was quite useful and sufficient, you had the
>>>> 'netlist value' as a default slot (marked with *) and an override for
>>>> specific widths. And hotkeys too (I found them by mistake :P)
>>>>
>>>> We should consider a rollback/merge up or whatever bzr call the
>>>> operation to restore the functionality... or something changed so that
>>>> is no more possible to have it without a lot of work?
>>>>
>>>
>>> I don't understand what you mean.
>>>
>>> What it the "previous behavior" and what functionality do you want to
>>> restore ?
>>
>> JP,
>>
>> At one time, all of the defined trace widths (before net classes were
>> implemented) would show up in the track width combobox.  You could
>> select any width from the list and that would be the width used to
>> create new tracks or change an existing track width.  Now only the track
>> width of the last selected track shows up in the combobox (see attached
>> image).  Why even have a combobox when there is nothing to select or am
>> I missing something here?  What information is supposed to be displayed
>> in the track width and via diameter comboboxes?  I wrongly assumed it
>> was a list of widths and diameters for every defined net class (in this
>> example there should be three entries: default, GND, and GND_WIDE) which
>> is obviously not the case.  If track width combobox only displays the
>> currently selected track information, why bother?  This information is
>> already displayed in the message panel.  Yes, I realize I can switch to
>> gal and change the track width on the on the fly but this is an annoying
>> extra step.
>>
>> I'm not asking for any changes.  I'm trying to determine what is the
>> expected behavior and does this make sense.  If it does not make sense,
>> then we should define the expected behavior and then make the
>> appropriate changes.
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Wayne
> 
> You should have in combo boxes:
> 
> - In first entry: the track width (or Via size) of the current net class
> ( there is a "star" at the end of the first line to flag the netclass
> width/size selection ).
> - on other entries: all track widths (or Via sizes) defined in Global
> Design Rules (of course, expecting you have defined a few values).
> 
> If you have defined in Global Design Rules a few values, and if they are
> not visible in combo boxes, there is a serious combo box refresh issue.

OK.  This is where my understanding was wrong.  I assumed the all of the
net class information was added to the combobox as well as the global
settings.  Only the currently selected net class information is shown
along with the global settings.  This seems a bit confusing to me but I
can live with it now that I understand how it works.  Perhaps after the
stable release we should revisit this.

Thanks,

Wayne

> 
> If the first entry is selected: the netclass value is always used (and
> this first entry can have its value changed, when the current net class
> changes).
> 
> If an other entry is selected, the selected value is forced, regardless
> the netclass setup of the track which is created and this track width
> (or via size) is always used in track/via creation.
> 
> I don't remember an other behavior, since netclasses exist.
> 
>>
>>>
>>> There is no change.
>>> The list of available widths is also accessible in the track popup
>>> context menu (during track creation you can select a new width).
>>> in GAL mode you also can define on the fly a new width/via size during
>>> track creation.
>>>
>>>
>>>
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> 
>