Fix inconsistencies in pcbnew context menus (incl. "Get and Move Footprint")

[Jason]

Updated:

This pertains to the "Get and Move Footprint" feature which can be invoked by pressing "T" and entering a single reference designator such as "R1".

Observations:
 1. It is hard for inexperienced users to discover this feature since (apparently) it is not present in any of the context menus. It is only listed under the hotkey editor. The can be easily remedied by adding a "Get and Move Footprint" entry to the selection tool's context menu.

 2. The "Get and Move Footprint" feature only supports placing one component at a time. If a user wishes to place a list of components in order (ie. R1, R2, R3), they must manually invoke the the tool for each component: entering the reference designator for a single component and placing it. While this is fine for small designs, it can significantly slow the placement phase of larger layouts.

What I propose, in the "Get and Move Footprint" feature if the user enters a single reference designator. ie. "R1", it acts normally. But, if the user enters multiple reference designators seperated by spaces, ie. "R1 R2 R3", then the placement tool is automatically invoked in order for each component entered. So, after "R1 R2 R3" was entered then the user would click a total three times to place each component in the list. This saves the user from having to stop and reenter reperence designators so often while they are placing components.

I would like to see what the general consensus is for this feature and if this feature is realistically implementable in Pcbnew.

[Chris Pavlina (pavlina-chris)]

Have you tried pressing "T"?

[Jason (whitewaterssoftwareinfo)]

I did not know about that feature... I have updated the original posting to reflect the current situation. It would seem the "Get and Move Footprint" feature needs to be made move visible. Perhaps adding it to the selection context menu would be a good idea?

[Novak Tamas (novak-7)]

I think "Get and Move" wouldn't go to context menu.
If you have invoked context menu, "Get" part is already done, and simple "Move" is there on the context menu.
"Get and move" is to be used when your mouse pointer is far from the component (you don't even know where that component is actually). It is a "locate this footprint and grab it to cursor" function, so it makes sense only "off-site".

[Jason (whitewaterssoftwareinfo)]

You are correct Novak, the entry should only appear when nothing is
selected. (ie. right click on empty background)

On Wed, May 11, 2016 at 9:38 AM, Novak Tamas <email address hidden> wrote:

> I think "Get and Move" wouldn't go to context menu.
> If you have invoked context menu, "Get" part is already done, and simple
> "Move" is there on the context menu.
> "Get and move" is to be used when your mouse pointer is far from the
> component (you don't even know where that component is actually). It is a
> "locate this footprint and grab it to cursor" function, so it makes sense
> only "off-site".
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1568396
>
> Title:
> Pcbnew: Part Selection/Placement By Refdes (Usability Enhancement)
>
> Status in KiCad:
> Incomplete
>
> Bug description:
> Updated:
>
> This pertains to the "Get and Move Footprint" feature which can be
> invoked by pressing "T" and entering a single reference designator
> such as "R1".
>
> Observations:
> 1. It is hard for inexperienced users to discover this feature since
> (apparently) it is not present in any of the context menus. It is only
> listed under the hotkey editor. The can be easily remedied by adding a "Get
> and Move Footprint" entry to the selection tool's context menu.
>
> 2. The "Get and Move Footprint" feature only supports placing one
> component at a time. If a user wishes to place a list of components in
> order (ie. R1, R2, R3), they must manually invoke the the tool for
> each component: entering the reference designator for a single
> component and placing it. While this is fine for small designs, it can
> significantly slow the placement phase of larger layouts.
>
> What I propose, in the "Get and Move Footprint" feature if the user
> enters a single reference designator. ie. "R1", it acts normally. But,
> if the user enters multiple reference designators seperated by spaces,
> ie. "R1 R2 R3", then the placement tool is automatically invoked in
> order for each component entered. So, after "R1 R2 R3" was entered
> then the user would click a total three times to place each component
> in the list. This saves the user from having to stop and reenter
> reperence designators so often while they are placing components.
>
> I would like to see what the general consensus is for this feature and
> if this feature is realistically implementable in Pcbnew.
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/kicad/+bug/1568396/+subscriptions
>

--
Jason White

[Jeff Young (jeyjey)]

Huh. Not sure how this one slipped through the cracks. It was certainly there in Legacy.

Note that while fixing this I noticed that there were no Cancel context menu options for Place Footprint, Place Target, Place Drill Origin, or Place Grid Origin.

And that Place Drill Origin and Place Grid Origin have Paste options in their context menus.

[KiCad Janitor (kicad-janitor)]

Fixed in revision 53e705f634193e4598237178a689c5a994dab7f3
https://git.launchpad.net/kicad/patch/?id=53e705f634193e4598237178a689c5a994dab7f3

[Maciej Suminski (orsonmmz)]

Thank you Jeff, I have just committed your patch.