Kicad 8.04 RC2 available - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: djsb
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 06, 2024, 06:55:13 pm
content: Version 8.04 RC4 is available for download. No official announcements so far that I can see.I normally download the nightly version once a week but have noticed that the last nightly was dated 3rd July. These normally slow down when a new release candidate is released. Also, available in the testing directory here:https://kicad-downloads.s3.cern.ch/index.html?prefix=windows/

author: Doctorandus_P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 17, 2024, 06:37:48 pm
content: KiCad V8.0.4 has been released today. (KiCad version numbers have two dots, the third number is the bug fix update count, and released approximately once a month. The second "minor" update is unlikely to happen now KiCad is on a yearly (Planned in February, before FOSDEM) update schedule.https://www.kicad.org/blog/2024/07/KiCad-8.0.4-Release/And of course, downloads also reachable from KiCad's own website:https://www.kicad.org/download/And of course, for anyone running a supported Linux version, KiCad will update itself together with all other programs when you run your normal updates. No need to intervene at all.

author: bson
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 20, 2024, 03:52:42 am
content: Looks good - like 8.0.3, 8.0.4 works fine. Great, in fact!Just some nitpicks...- When pasting in schematics, placing pins (in the symbol editor), and sheet pins in schematics if I just press RETURN in their dialogs the pace item doesn't snap to the grid unless the pointer is moved a tad. If I just hit RETURN and click they often end up off-grid by some tiny amount.- In the symbol editor pin dialog some pin types on the pulldown don't highlight when mousing over. They can be selected by clicking though so this is purely cosmetic.I think these are the ONLY two bugs I've found! I love this version.Wish list:- I wish when I hit a key to place something, like 'z' for a bus connector 'q' for an X, nothing would be placed when I press the key (or select the tool). Instead the cursor could change to a diagonal or X, and when I click it places one. If I hit 'r' it would rotate.- Same with 'a' for symbols. Once I've picked say R_Small and hit RETURN out of the dialog, the cursor could change to R_Small, and let me keep placing these (with rotating, x mirror, y mirror, etc) as long as I want without having to go back to the selection dialog. Any part, even ICs. If I want to place something else, like '+3V3' I can hit 'a' again.I can just ESC to the selection tool again when done. This would really streamling symbol placement for me...- Oh, and when placing pins, if the pin number was an integer just increment and populate the dialog for the next pin. More often than not this is what I want...

author: Doctorandus_P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 20, 2024, 10:38:46 am
content: First, your post should have been a separate thread, it has not much to do with the V8.0.4 release.I tried to reproduce the two bugs you mentioned, but could not reproduce them. Opening a thread on the KiCad user forum, or maybe a direct bug report on gitlab are better options. Adding the full KiCad version also helps (and is even mandatory when creating issues on gitlab). If bugs like this get reported and can be reproduced, they are very often fixed within hours to a few days.Concerning your wishlist, you may like:Preferences / Preferences / Common / Editing /[ ]First hotkey selects toolFor placing resistors, my normal method is to:1. Place a single resistor.2. Assign a footprint.3. Use[Ctrl + d]to make more.This also skips the whole "choose symbol" dialog with the added small bonus you don't have to assign footprints later. Personally I also do not like R_Small. I use the regular "european" resistor rectangle, and the value fits very nicely inside the resistor itself. Elektor has been drawing resistors like this since the '70-ies (or earlier) This is a space saver, and the totally used space is smaller then an R_Small with the value next to it.For repeated addition of symbols or pins I tend to agree with you. When placing pads in the footprint editor, KiCad already uses this method (including auto increment). But I do think this would not work as well for schematic symbols. When designing a schematic symbol I usually draw the pins in functional order, not in pin number order. When adding pins KiCad also puts the cursor on theNamefield by default, and not the pin order. I do not draw very many schematic symbols. If you do then consider this method:1. Put a pin at a random location, leave the pin number and name empty.2. Depress theert key for a while to make a column of pins.ert also works for adding wires and labels (with auto increment) to the schematic.3. OpenSymbol Editor / Edit / Pin TableYou now have a spreadsheet overview of all the pins. You can quickly add pin numbering names and change types.finalizes entry and goes to the next row, whilefinalizes and goes to the next column. You can also copy a value from one field, then select a (part of) a column, and paste the value there. With this you can quickly set a lot of fields to the same value, which is handy for pin type, orientation or length. Right clicking on the column names also brings up a context menu in which you can enable or disable visibility of columns.After filling in the pin table, you can drag and rotate them to their final location.

author: bson
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 20, 2024, 08:11:05 pm
content: The grid misalignment happens on a number of operations. The simplest way I've found to reproduce it:1. Set the grid to 1.27mm2. Place an R_Small3. Zoom in so you can clearly see the grid4. Select the reference (e.g. R1) by clicking on it5. Press 'm' to move it - watch it shift off the grid6. Without any mouse or trackpad movement, click to place it. It will now be unaligned with the grid.If you move it at all, it snaps to the grid.

author: Doctorandus_P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 21, 2024, 01:31:05 am
content: At first I thought this may be influenced byPCB Editor / Preferences / Preferences / Common / Editing / Warp mouse to origin of moved objectI experimented a bit with some texts (other footprint, not from R_Small) and at first I could not reproduce it. Then I move another text (about the 10th try) and it did indeed move at the moment I pressedm, and it stayed at the new position after pressing>However, this is expected behavior (at least in my case). At the moment the text moves (aftermand beforeI also saw a cross with a circle at the mouse cursor location. This means KiCad found a snap point, and thus it moved the cursor to that nearby snap point.So at least in the case I saw, it's not a bug, but expected behavior. If you change your mind and don't want to move the object, pressinstead.