Eeschema: changing Library Reference from/to multiple unit symbols messed up

[dhaillant]

Hi,

In EEschema, place a single part component (ex. a resistor or a diode...).

Edit (E) it. In Symbol Properties window, click on "Browse Library" and in "Choose symbol" window, select a multi part symbol. Validate.

(Unit dropdown list is greyed.)

Validate.

The symbol now looks funky with all the parts rendered stacked.
The component reference has a "@" char at the end.

Edit that symbol again.

In Symbol Properties window, "Unit" dropdown list is now enabled but no unit selected by default. Choose a unit.

Validate.

Things are back to normal. No more stacked parts.

Now, two different behaviours:

1) if you selected the first unit (A), no problem

2) but if you selected any other part (B, C, etc...) and you go back to Symbol Properties and choose a single part unit, say a resistor, and validate:

your symbol has NO pin.

You need to edit the symbol again, choose any multi part, validate, edit again, choose unit A, validate, edit again (!) and then choose your single part unit.

Tested both on Windows and Linux.

Application: kicad
Version: 5.1.0-060a0da~80~ubuntu16.04.1, release build
Libraries:
    wxWidgets 3.0.2
    libcurl/7.47.0 OpenSSL/1.0.2g zlib/1.2.8 libidn/1.32 librtmp/2.3
Platform: Linux 4.4.0-143-generic x86_64, 64 bit, Little endian, wxGTK
Build Info:
    wxWidgets: 3.0.2 (wchar_t,wx containers,compatible with 2.8) GTK+ 2.24
    Boost: 1.58.0
    OpenCASCADE Community Edition: 6.8.0
    Curl: 7.47.0
    Compiler: GCC 5.4.0 with C++ ABI 1009

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

[dhaillant (david-haillant)]

In my opinion, this is how it should behave:

Once you choose a Single Part symbol, Unit dropdown selector should be greyed/disabled.

And once you choose a multi part component, the dropdown list should be instantly enabled, with the correct multi parts informations loaded, and one default unit selected.

Plus, reverting to a single part symbol should not mess with units...

Thank you.

[Michael Kavanagh (michaelkavanagh)]

Well this is a weird set of steps but it definitely could be handled better.

Application: kicad
Version: (5.1.0-161-gd928aa978-dirty), debug build
Libraries:
    wxWidgets 3.0.4
    libcurl/7.54.0 LibreSSL/2.6.5 zlib/1.2.11 nghttp2/1.24.1
Platform: Mac OS X (Darwin 18.5.0 x86_64), 64 bit, Little endian, wxMac
Build Info:
    wxWidgets: 3.0.4 (UTF-8,STL containers,compatible with 2.8)
    Boost: 1.69.0
    OpenCASCADE Community Edition: 6.9.1
    Curl: 7.54.0
    Compiler: Clang 10.0.1 with C++ ABI 1002

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

[KiCad Janitor (kicad-janitor)]

Fixed in revision fe1c2310e498655f504fba18f08af82f100604c4
https://git.launchpad.net/kicad/patch/?id=fe1c2310e498655f504fba18f08af82f100604c4

[Seth Hillbrand (sethh)]

@Jeff-

The solution here causes issues as it changes the default unit/convert from 1 to 0. This ends up generating invalid schematics [1]. Luckily, we have a repair function on open that resets the schematic.

I've reset the places I know of but I wonder if you could cast an eye over things for any other places this might be set?

[1] https://bugs.launchpad.net/kicad/+bug/1824764

[Jon Evans (craftyjon)]

Since I was just digging through this, a reminder on the status quo of the convert field:

The default convert for a component needs to be 1.
The default convert for a component *pin* is 0, meaning "applies to both converts"

The code could be better-commented about this, because it's easy to interpret the comments around the convert property to mean that components should have a default convert of 0, but currently only values of 1 or 2 are valid.

[Jon Evans (craftyjon)]

Ah I see Seth just made it more clear with an enum, thanks Seth!

[KiCad Janitor (kicad-janitor)]

Fixed in revision fe1c2310e498655f504fba18f08af82f100604c4
https://git.launchpad.net/kicad/patch/?id=fe1c2310e498655f504fba18f08af82f100604c4