kicad-developers team mailing list archive

[Jon Evans <cdawzrd@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Kevin, thanks for your valuable feedback.

Are you using opengl or Cairo canvas, or have you tried both?
By default for now, transparency is turned off in GAL. I will switch it to
default to on, but you can hit the button on the left toolbar.

I will fix the default grid preference to be dots.

I also want to switch the default canvas to OpenGL once everything is
supported, but for now there are some things that only render in legacy.

Regarding the file loading, this is the same behavior as in the stable
release. I actually don't like it, but haven't figured out what to propose
to change it to. The reason it works this way is that opening a file with a
layer selected that already has data will replace the existing data. I
could change it to set the last loaded layer as the active one, and then
jump to the next available one when loading another file, but then there
would need to be another option somewhere to clear an existing layer. Maybe
this is worth looking into.

Show Source works for me in Linux, but I haven't touched that feature. It
should prompt you to select an editor. I haven't tried it in Windows.

I will take a look at your other UI bugs, thanks for pointing them out.

Best,
Jon


On Mar 12, 2017 12:16, "Kevin Cozens" <kevin@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On 2017-03-11 09:48 PM, Jon Evans wrote:

> I want to bump this thread and ask developers who use GerbView a lot to
> take
> a look at my branch again.
>

Jon, I have not done an extensive testing of the gerbview branch. I have
only tested it with the gerbers from a current project of mine. The
following are just some observations from a short time trying it out. Most
of the points are minor things. It looks good enough for my needs and makes
me think I don't need to use the external gerber viewer I have previously
been using.

I like that I can select multiple gerber files to be loaded so I don't have
to load them one at a time.

In legacy mode I can see through the layers. When I switch to GAL mode I
can't see through the layers like I can when using GAL mode in pcbnew.

I like it that gerbview can show oval slots. Some other (third party)
gerber viewers, and the one used by some FAB houses, only show a slot as a
round hole.

The rendering of D codes looks better (less confusing) vs. the git master
version of Kicad.

I notice that the default layer after I load a set of gerber files is the
next one (ie. an empty layer). If you try select Miscellaneous->Show after
loading it will tell you it can't show an empty layer. Is this a feature in
case more gerbers are going to be loaded next? Should it default to
pointing to the first layer after a load?

The gerbview program defaults to Legacy mode and shows the grid as dots.
When I switch to GAL it uses lines for the grid. The setting under
Preferences->Options is set for Lines. Legacy mode isn't using that setting.
When I select dots I do see dots in both legacy and GAL modes.

One minor point is about the Visibles columns on the right. When gerbview
first starts the text in the Layer tab shows "Graphic laye". It isn't
opened wide enough to see the full text. When I load a set of gerbers the
width adjusts to almost show the full text of the filename from which it
had read the data. It just truncates the "Bot)" from a layer whose full
text is "Interface Board-B.Mask.gbr (Soldermask, Bot)".

The Layer tab shows the full name of the file which contains enough
information for me to know what part of the board design is being shown so
it doesn't matter to me if I can't read the part that is appended inside
the ().

Selecting a layer then Miscellaneous -> Show Source doesn't appear to do
anything. When running Kicad from a Linux console it seems to invoke vi. If
I was running the branch of Kicad from a menu or icon I wouldn't have been
aware of it doing anything.

I will pass along any additional thoughts if I notice anything else once I
have more time to experiment with the program and using it to look at the
gerbers from some of the other PCBs I have made.

-- 
Cheers!

Kevin.

http://www.ve3syb.ca/           |"Nerds make the shiny things that distract
Owner of Elecraft K2 #2172      | the mouth-breathers, and that's why we're
                                | powerful!"
#include <disclaimer/favourite> |             --Chris Hardwick


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