Angle brackets in indeterminate string can be confusing

[TraditionAndrew Denham]

I am running KiCad V5.1.0 under windows 64bit professional. This has been tried on two very different PCs with the same result.

In Edit tab / Edit Text & Graphic Properties: If a line has been previously drawn on edge.cuts before this tab is selected, trying to set a new line width results in all lines on layer set to width = 0. Also applies to Dwgs.User layer and maybe other layers.

Edge cuts lines can still be selected individually with right click, but if co-sited with another line such as one on Dwgs.User layer it is very hard to select the (now) 0 width line. Turning off the Dwgs.user layer was the only way to grab the line.

When it is selected by using block command, message is provided "Line width cannot be 0". It can now be set to any required value, but changing in the Edit tab / Edit Text & Graphic Properties again to try to set all edge.cuts to (say) 0.05mm still sets it back to width 0.

As I could not get the change size to work I eventually settled for setting the graphic default to .05mm and re-drawing the outline as a work around, and that is fine as long as the setting remains as started.

The graphics setting tab is not covered in the supplied PCBnew Documentation as far as I can discover.

Build details:

Application: kicad
Version: (5.1.0)-1, release build
Libraries:
    wxWidgets 3.0.4
    libcurl/7.61.1 OpenSSL/1.1.1 (WinSSL) zlib/1.2.11 brotli/1.0.6 libidn2/2.0.5 libpsl/0.20.2 (+libidn2/2.0.5) nghttp2/1.34.0
Platform: Windows 7 (build 7601, Service Pack 1), 64-bit edition, 64 bit, Little endian, wxMSW
Build Info:
    wxWidgets: 3.0.4 (wchar_t,wx containers,compatible with 2.8)
    Boost: 1.68.0
    OpenCASCADE Community Edition: 6.9.1
    Curl: 7.61.1
    Compiler: GCC 8.2.0 with C++ ABI 1013

Build settings:
    USE_WX_GRAPHICS_CONTEXT=OFF
    USE_WX_OVERLAY=OFF
    KICAD_SCRIPTING=ON
    KICAD_SCRIPTING_MODULES=ON
    KICAD_SCRIPTING_PYTHON3=OFF
    KICAD_SCRIPTING_WXPYTHON=ON
    KICAD_SCRIPTING_WXPYTHON_PHOENIX=OFF
    KICAD_SCRIPTING_ACTION_MENU=ON
    BUILD_GITHUB_PLUGIN=ON
    KICAD_USE_OCE=ON
    KICAD_USE_OCC=OFF
    KICAD_SPICE=ON

[John Beard (john-j-beard)]

I can't reproduce the issue of the width being set to 0, unless I clear that box, or write in 0.

This is a bug in itself (shouldn't be able to set 0).

Are you seeing an additional bug where the thickness is set to zero, even when you enter a non-zero width?

[TraditionAndrew Denham (andrewdwork)]

Hello John.

Apart from the fact that the line is almost impossible to click on to edit, there do not appear to be any other issues, just that I can set it to whatever width I want, but any attempt to alter the line with the EDIT tab from the menu sets it back to 0 width again. I will try re-installing V5.1.0 and see if the issue persist although it happens on both a PC and a laptop.

I did find with V5.0.1 that line width changes were not persisted throughout a board unlike in V 4.0.x where if I set the width of a line as .01mm default then all lines on that layer stayed at .01mm, but that could only be done by editing the line when it was first drawn. With V 5.1.0 that facility has vanished from the "right click"/"edit" action on a line.

There are pictures of my issue on the kicad info forum here: https://forum.kicad.info/t/line-width-in-v5-1-0/15901

[TraditionAndrew Denham (andrewdwork)]

Me again, no bug just not knowing how to drive it. Sorry.

The width setting option in Action box appears as: Line Width <.....> mm.

I have been very carefully typing my width inside the <....> and removing the stray ... as I assumed it was like that for a reason. As in <0.05>

Just tried entering 0.05 with no brackets and it works fine. Another case of not enough knowledge for the uninitiated. It does not see the combination as a valid figure.

Maybe the <...> could auto delete when figures are added to help idiots like me.

Pressing + in the edit pre-defined sizes tab enters track widths as 0, but unless changed the OK tab gives an error.

[Michael Kavanagh (michaelkavanagh)]

Related to https://bugs.launchpad.net/kicad/+bug/1816556

[KiCad Janitor (kicad-janitor)]

Fixed in revision ee3bac5a325c1165968e6a138d911b426243ffe2
https://git.launchpad.net/kicad/patch/?id=ee3bac5a325c1165968e6a138d911b426243ffe2