In this screenshot I am about to select these 2 SOT23s. Out of convenience I start a selection box on the right and I draw it to the left so I don’t have to draw the box all over the components. I do this out of instinct really.
Than this side effect always happens to me. The measurement is selected with it.
Now we can see it happening, there are however also many times that I am zoomed in so far that I am not aware that I am moving a measurement along side my components.
I personally think it is annoying. I ofcourse do understand that I can simply do this:
But I still think it is strange that I can select a measurement when there are no visual parts of that measurement within my selection box.
I think I go learn to live with the selection filter until my prayers are heared and this behaviour is or is not changed in Kicad 9 some time next year
It would be very hard for KiCad to guess which elements that you selected only part of them (as you select to the left) you have in mind and which not.
If the selection would be changed that if selection rectangle is all inside the element rectangle than this element is not selected I suppose somone else will write that what is going on as his selection rectangle had common part with element and that element was not selected.
Yes, but busk185 would be happy if when selection rectangle (when selecting to the left) is whole inside the object than this object would be not selected.
And I understand him. When I have a big element (like LCD display) and under it many small elements I have selection to the left excluded from use when working on such PCB as LCD would be selected always (or if locked I will be probably (I’m not sure how it behaves) each time asked if I want to include locked elements into selection.
I simply suppose that if such change would be done that someone else would said that he needs such big element be selected each time.
If the selection rectangle catches somehting extra, you can remove it from the selection with Ctrl-Click. Sometimes it’s easier to select a bunch of stuff, then subtract the few you don’t want.
The problem with big elements (footprints and others) is that you don’t notice something bigger then your whole screen is also selected so you do what you want and long after you notice that that big element is wrongly positioned and you don’t know how it happened.
just a small remark, on Mac this does not work because when you Ctrl-Click it is = Right-Mouse button and you open the pop-up window. I haven’t found a solution for that but it would be nice to have “deselect” on Mac. Maybe there is but didn’t discover it … yet.
I think that locking the measurements is also a good solution. This sole problem is solely about measurements being moved without me knowing nor willing it.
It would be very hard for KiCad to guess which elements that you selected only part of them (as you select to the left) you have in mind and which not.
I understand but I would change the conditions for selecting measurements. I would change it like that atleast one visible part has to be inside the selection box (from right to left) before it is selected.
This is already the case for ground planes. You can only select a ground plane if one of it’s edges is within a right to left selection box.
Dimensions are in the Fab layer. Can you exclude the Fab layer in the selection or visibility filter? You probably don’t need to move it once put in place, unless you move the board.
Do your R to L selection, Group, Enter group, click Remove once and then click anything you wish to not move, Move the rest.
You will find this in the Right Mouse Click Select menu, but it is much quicker and easier to set up hotkeys for these actions.
Open hotkeys and type “group” into the filter box.
Perhaps some context. I had these 4 mosfets in H bridge configuration. Their layout was… well plain bad really. And I had to redesign about half the PCB. The first thing I did was moving the mosfets and other things outside the PCB. From that moment on I started to move things back inside… including a certain measurement… than this thread started.
