Any conflict with names of modules and libraries?

Layout Footprints
1

Newbie here, slogging along the learning curve. Managed to create some new footprints and libraries - happy camper. I have questions about good file management practice. Here’s my setup: I have a folder (“librariesAdded”) where I put all the new libraries I create or download. Inside that folder I have another folder (eg. “arduino-1”), and inside that folder I have arduino-2.lib and another folder (“arduino-3.pretty”) and inside the .pretty are the kicad-mod footprint files. Like this:

LibrariesAdded
arduino-1
arduino-2.lib
arduino-3.pretty (folder)
arduino-4.kicad_mod

Question: can arduino-1, arduino-2, etc. all be the same name (except the extensions of course)? Any serious show stopper conflicts? Maybe a bad idea for what other reasons?
Thanks,
J

2

yes

The following rules apply though:

For symbols:
A symbol needs to have a unique name over all symbol libraries. If you have two symbols with the same name in the same library, kicad will complain. If you have two symbols with the same name in different libs, kicad will use the one from the lib with the highest priority. (The priority is determined from the position of the library in the component lib dialog. See screenshot.)

Something similar applies to symbol library names and directories in the search path. If you have multiple symbol libs with the same name (In different directories of course) kicad will take the one from the searchpath with the higher priority. I think the priority is again determined by the position of the search path in the component lib dialog. (I noticed that the search directory i added has a higher priority then the system directories.)

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For Footprints:
Footprints (kicad_mod files) only need to have a unique name within their respective lib. (You can not have multiple files with the same name in the same .pretty directory.)

I have not tested if you can have multiple footprint libs (.pretty directories) within different search paths that have the same name.
I assume they only need a unique nickname. (again: i have not tested this.)

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3

Thanks. Too much work for my brain to keep track of the priorities. I’ll just make sure I have unique names for all my symbols and libraries. Thanks again.

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4

Priority is liable to change from a software update, so avoiding duplication is the wisest move

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