Visual indication of overridden properties (clearances, SPICE models, etc.)

Bug #1786116 reported by Evan Shultz
6
This bug affects 1 person
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
KiCad
Fix Released
Unknown

Bug Description

From https://github.com/KiCad/kicad-symbols/issues/418#issuecomment-379481770.

If I add a voltage source with VALUE="AC 1 SIN(0 1 1k)" I get a 1kHz sine wave source in a Transient analysis. This is easy and handy if I know the nomenclature for a SPICE voltage source.

Then if I open the Spice Model Editor dialog I can see my 1V, 1kHz sine wave. Using the dialog I then change the frequency to "10k" and save. This adds a Spice_Model="ac 1 sin(0 1 10k)" property to the voltage source.

Now, the interesting part happens: the Spice_Model property wins and I get a 10kHz sine wave. But the old VALUE property looks like I should have a 1kHz sine wave. While it's understandable what's happening in hindsight, the UI certainly does look confusing.

There may be a way to force the parameters to be in sync or alert the user if the format of the VALUE field looks like a SPICE source and the parameters don't match the Spice_Model property value. Or some other resolution.

Application: kicad
Version: (5.0.0), release build
Libraries:
    wxWidgets 3.0.3
    libcurl/7.54.1 OpenSSL/1.0.2l zlib/1.2.11 libssh2/1.8.0 nghttp2/1.23.1 librtmp/2.3
Platform: Windows 7 (build 7601, Service Pack 1), 64-bit edition, 64 bit, Little endian, wxMSW
Build Info:
    wxWidgets: 3.0.3 (wchar_t,wx containers,compatible with 2.8)
    Boost: 1.60.0
    OpenCASCADE Community Edition: 6.8.0
    Curl: 7.54.1
    Compiler: GCC 7.1.0 with C++ ABI 1011

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

Revision history for this message
Evan Shultz (evan-shultz) wrote :

Here is the demo sallen_key filter circuit showing this behavior.

Changed in kicad:
status: New → Confirmed
importance: Undecided → Low
tags: added: eeschema ngspice
Revision history for this message
Jeff Young (jeyjey) wrote :

This is similar to having zone connections overridden at some level: there's not much we can do to indicate that the default value has been overridden (other than better documentation/training/etc.).

Changed in kicad:
status: Confirmed → Won't Fix
Revision history for this message
Evan Shultz (evan-shultz) wrote :

@Jeff

I can think of some ways to improve the situation so clearly-wrong info isn't displayed, and I alluded to some ideas above. KiCad will know if the Spice_Model property is present or not. And if it is, other properties which have conflicting info (that loses) could be hidden or overwritten or otherwise notated so the user can tell the info is old and stale.

I do see the analog you're making: The UI says some zone connection is selected but the user can see from the board canvas that the zone connection doesn't adhere to those connection parameters. Probably another good place to show in the UI that an override is happening. Maybe change the color of the text or textblock background, put the value in parenthesis or brackets, force the values to be in sync by overriding the value at the "lower level" and using a blocking dialog to alert the user the value can't be changed, etc.

Revision history for this message
Jeff Young (jeyjey) wrote :

I agree that a program-wide facility for visually distinguishing overridden properties would be of value.

summary: - SPICE source property overwrite
+ Visual indication of overridden properties (clearances, SPICE models,
+ etc.)
Changed in kicad:
importance: Low → Wishlist
status: Won't Fix → Triaged
Revision history for this message
KiCad Janitor (kicad-janitor) wrote :

KiCad bug tracker has moved to Gitlab. This report is now available here: https://gitlab.com/kicad/code/kicad/-/issues/2204

Changed in kicad:
status: Triaged → Expired
Changed in kicad:
importance: Wishlist → Unknown
status: Expired → New
Changed in kicad:
status: New → Fix Released
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