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Re: Discussion: Hidden Pins, Net labels

 

I think the multiple netnames on the same net should be included in the roadmap v5 DRC check. This should as a minimum throw a warning as this might break the finished pcb.

It might also affect the hidden pins issue as one might have several supply voltages connected to VCC pins. However, it's better to get warned by this in eeschema than risking having parts supplied with 5V when it should have been 3.3V.

I see no issues with this for backwards compability.

-----Original Message----- From: Wayne Stambaugh
Sent: Saturday, February 06, 2016 4:52 PM
To: kicad-developers@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [Kicad-developers] Discussion: Hidden Pins, Net labels

I would not have allowed that to be implemented.  One thing I try to
avoid is forcing users down the "one true way" path of pcb design
whenever possible.  I prefer to give users the flexibility to design as
they see fit even if it means that kicad has a steeper learning curve.
I don't pretend to be wise enough to know what the "one true way" is and
I really don't like someone else forcing it upon me so it would be
hypocritical of me to force it upon someone else.  If you are
comfortable with hidden pins, use them.  If not, don't.

On 2/6/2016 9:59 AM, Thor-Arne wrote:
I agree with Chris on the hidden pins issue, old design should not be
broken.

That is also a no-no for the project.  One of the goals of kicad is to
make every effort to maintain backwards compatibility.


When it comes to net names I think they should be forced to be unique.

Anyway, are we going to collect features requests now?
Would it be better to have a wanted-feauture list on github instead of
the mail list so nothing gets lost?

Take a look at the release 5 (current development cycle) road map.
Maybe we can add it to one of the existing tasks where it makes sense.
Please keep in mind, we cannot endlessly add tasks to the release 5 road
map.  We need to be realistic about what we can achieve given our
current manpower.  I can always add new tasks to the global road map for
future dev cycles.



-----Original Message----- From: Chris Pavlina
Sent: Saturday, February 06, 2016 3:30 PM
To: André S.
Cc: KiCad Developers
Subject: Re: [Kicad-developers] Discussion: Hidden Pins, Net labels

Eh. I agree 100% about hidden pins being Bad, anyone using them surely
should
be tarred and feathered. But I'm not sure it's our place to enforce good
schematic drawing practices. If people want to use KiCad to draw terrible,
horrible schematics, they'll find a way. Personally, I'm *strongly* against
breaking old projects, the feature should be kept around at least as a
legacy
support feature for old projects that are imported.

I just don't use hidden pins, they're strictly forbidden in my libs and
I would
never use them for anything other than implementing power symbols.

On the fence about net names.

On Sat, Feb 06, 2016 at 03:22:04PM +0100, André S. wrote:
Hi everyone,

this issues are still on my wishlist for KiCad:
- Ban hidden Pins.
- Disallow multiple labels on the same net.
Especially the combination of those two is a source for non-obvious
design
bugs.

Wayne recently stated that now the planning for release 5 has started,
so I
just thought I bring it up again.

I wrote a blog entry why I think those two topics should be addressed,
you
can find it here (warning: wall of text ahead ;)):
http://transistorgrab.de/2016/02/05/why-hidden-pins-are-evil-and-nets-should-only-have-one-name/


I'm really interested that at least there is a definite conclusion for
KiCad
and that this conclusion is then put somewhere obvious in the
documentation
with all the pitfalls that come with that features and how to avoid them.

Thanks in advance for anyone taking part in the discussion. :)

Best Regards,
  André

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