Comment 21 for bug 1757446

I would just like to avoid the extra selection step and have your
current patch select the net object (if it's a net object) under the
cursor. If your patch did that, that would be more than adequate for my
needs. Anything else would just be icing on the cake. Hotkeys should
always perform some action on the object(s) under the cursor without
having to first select them or begin drawing an object without having to
click on the current cursor location. The fewer steps I need to take to
perform an action the better. I know not everyone agrees with me but I
think it's important.

On 3/25/2018 8:38 PM, Jon Evans wrote:
> I am hesitant to just do a hotkey to enter the highlight tool without
> also providing some keyboard way to clear highlight. Having used Jeff's
> suggested method of combining both functions into one hotkey for a bit,
> I think it is a way better user experience than needing to enter a
> special "highlight mode" before choosing a net to highlight.
>
> Do you think there is value in having a separate highlight tool?
>
> I could add a "highlight net" menu item to the context menu when you
> right click on something in addition to the hotkey. That would mean you
> can access the functionality either through the mouse or keyboard.
>
> Then you would have three ways to control highlight:
>
> 1) Control+LMB on an item to highlight, or on empty space to clear highlight
> 2) Right-click on an item and choose "highlight net" (if the item is part of a net)
> 3) Press the hotkey to highlight the net of the selection, or press again to clear highlight
>
> In that scenario, (and in my opinion) the "highlight net" toolbar button
> could be completely removed. The only loose end to tie up would be
> cross-probing: right now highlights are only cross-probed when the tool
> is active. We could make highlights from eeschema automatically enter
> highlight mode on pcbnew to solve that issue (as an option that users
> can disable).
>