Automatically reload an appended board

Layout
1

Hi!

I’m pretty new to KiCad so please forgive me. I hope I’m in the correct board.

I’m currently designing a keyboard with Ergogen which automatically outputs a kicad_pcb file which I import via the menu File -> Append.

Is it possible to automatically update the layout when I generate a new kicad_pcb or do I have to manually delete the board a append a new version every time I update it from Ergogen?

It’s not a deal-breaker but it would speed up my workflow immensely if I could get that to work.

Thanks!

2

? ? ? ? does it give you a schematic too ? to make life simple you really do want a schematic . . .

3

I’m using KiCad since 2017 but I really don’t understand what you are doing. For example: what “appended board” is?
…
After some time. I found File - Append Board…
I have never seen this function.

1 Like
4

If you go to https://ergogen.cache.works

You can generate a pcb and download it.

image
image1661×1108 142 KB

5

And then you can import it via file->append board and you’ll get something like this:

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image1419×1341 131 KB

What I would like is for that to update automatically every time I update the downloaded kicad_pcb file.

6

Appending a board is a one time operation, there is no remaining association with the file on disk.

Edit: there isn’t an equivalent of the hierarchical sheets feature for the PCB editor.

There is a longtime wishlist item for PCB design blocks, which could function in a similar way. If you think this would be useful, you can give it a “thumbs up” on Gitlab. (Please don’t comment on the issue, just hit the thumbs up emoji to show support).

3 Likes
7

Thanks! I gave it a thumbs up!

8

KiCad tries to make changes to design “explicit” meaning that if you append a board and later change the source file of that board, KiCad won’t update the file with the appended board. Because the user didn’t append it again explicitly, this helps to keep designs safe even if some source file changed by any reason.

1 Like