kicad-developers team mailing list archive

[Chris Pavlina <pavlina.chris@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi,

There's a feature I'd like to contribute if nobody objects (and if
nobody is working on something similar - let me know!). This should not
change or impede the existing standard KiCad workflow, but should help
out those who do it a bit differently.

I would like to add another section to the component selector in
eeschema. This section would have footprint preview, footprint 3D
preview, and footprint selection, behaving thus:

- If the component already has a footprint selected in the Footprint
  field, display that. Otherwise blank

- Dropdown box allows the user the choose between:
    - Contents of the Footprint field
    - Everything matching the component's footprint filter list
    - "Other..." which calls up the full FP selector

This way, if the part already has a footprint selected the user can see
it, and if it has a list of acceptable parts, the user can choose it,
before placing the part in the schematic.

If the part has no footprint spec at all, these panels would be blank -
the user can still pick "Other" and choose one, or just place the part
directly with no change to the workflow.

-- 
Chris