Comment 8 for bug 1570120

@Novak, see my answers below:
> Still not clear, if that makes sense.
> Most of the standard footprints (SO, SOT, DIP, LQFP, TQFP, SMD-RC...) are shared among a lot of schematic components . Only a few specific parts (like switches, connectors) have a unique footprint, where the footprint's name worth to be the part's own name.
Makes sense. In my case I mostly re-use schematic components, I try not
to re-use footprints (except for standard passives) because different
manufacturers often recommend slightly different land patterns (even for
standard packages) and I like to stick with their recommendations
instead; to be completely safe and avoid having the board come back wrong.
> Let's assume, I have a new PicoBlade connector Molex 53261-0471, which probably has a unique footprint. My workflow is:
> 1 - I create the footprint in Footprint Editor. Value="Molex_53261-0471" and Reference="CN?"
> 2 - in eeschema I place a conn lib / CONN_01X04 connector
> 3 - I fill the Value with "Molex_53261-0471" (yes, I need to type it again)
> 4 - I select Footprint "Connectors:Molex_53261-0471" previously created for the connector.
>
> The order will be 2 - 3 - 1 - 4 when I forget to create footprint in
> advance.
>
> It rarely happens, that I place a footprint in pcb_new what does'nt have the corresponding eeschema part (e.g. mounting holes), but no significant names for those footprints.
> Parts' typenames are *always* come from schematic parts' Value field, through the netlist.
> I can't find any reason for automatic filling footprint's Value with its name.
>
> @Camilo, would you describe a case in details, when it makes sense?
Here is my workflow (e.g. for BC817-40LT3G - NPN BJT):
1. Create a new footprint in footprint editor.
Value="SOT-23_BC817-40LT3G" (i.e. same as footprint name/filename) and
Reference="REF**"
2. In eeschema, from my own library I place a
Bipolar_Transistors_BJT_Single lib / Q-NPN-BEC
3. I annotate schematic components (e.g. Reference="Q1")
4. I run CvPcb to associate components and footprints. I select the
SOT-23_BC817-40LT3G and save footprint association.

In eeschema if I were to open the component properties for the
transistor it would look like:

Reference: Q1
Value: Q-NPN-BEC
Footprint: ON_Semiconductor_Bipolar_Transistors:SOT-23_BC817-40LT3G

Here is a snapshot:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/44438953/eeschema_component_properties.png

Note that: in eeschema I only modify the footprint field, either through
CvPcb or directly through the component properties menu (as recommended
in the KiCad docs, "KiCad workflow
<http://docs.kicad-pcb.org/en/getting_started_in_kicad.html#kicad-work-flow>").
I don't modify the Value (except for passives) as this is a property of
the schematic component and is unrelated to the footprint, though I can
see how overwriting this field works for you.

So, It would be nice if you could do this in the PCB footprint editor:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/44438953/footprint.png
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/44438953/footprint_properties.png

Such that, for footprints where the value is just the footprint name
(e.g. SOT-23_BC817-40LT3G), you can have the text auto-replaced when
laying out the board in Pcbnew.

However if this is not really needed/wished by everyone except me, feel
free to close this issue :). Also since this data is not available when
Pcbnew reads the netlist it might be more difficult than it is worth.

Thanks guys,

--
Camilo Tejeiro
Be honest, be grateful, be humble.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/camilotejeiro
http://camilotejeiro.wordpress.com
http://osohm.org/