kicad-developers team mailing list archive

[Strontium <strntydog@xxxxxxxxx>]

My 2c for what its worth,

The properties we are talking about are just KEY:Value pairs, and i 
don't think its wise to change from that.  Its simple and easily handles 
most possibilities.

What I think would be useful however is a customisable "set" of standard 
"keys", So when you go into the properties of a placed component, you 
can just select from your "standard" set of keys, and populate the value 
fields.

To handle what Kasper suggests, one would have two standard keys:
"MPN" and "MANUFACTURER", or a standard field format for MPN that can 
hold both the manufacturer and part number.

The issue with the keys isnt that they are customisable, its that they 
are easy to type wrong/get inconsistent, you have to remember what keys 
you are using, did you leave any out, etc, etc.

In this situation, we could define a "default" set of standard keys, 
like "MPN", etc.  Users would be able to define their own sets, add or 
delete from the "default" set, etc.  Tool writers would invariably use 
the defaults, unless there was a good reason not to.  Its not 
proscriptive, just suggestive.

So, rather than a change to the schematic file, its a UI change and a 
change to an existing config file, or a (my preference) new config file.

As a suggestion, a "standard" key would be defined as:
"KEY Name", "Help String", "Type"|"Validity RegEx"

The KeyName is shown in a drop down, hovering over it produces the help 
text, anything entered in the Value is checked against the optional 
Validity RegEx or Type, (eg, Type could be "filename", and its checked 
to be a valid file).

This doesn't change the ability to add a fully customised Key:Value, 
just like one can now, its just a type validating shortcut to help keep 
ones fields assigned to schematic parts on their schematic orderly and 
consistent.

One change I would LOVE to see however, is the ability to add properties 
to nets on the schematic, as well as components.  I would also LOVE to 
be able to propagate those properties to their respective features on 
the PCB via the net list, but that's a different conversation.

Steven