Bulk Editing Library Symbols

[thisismyusername]

Hi,

Is there any way to bulk edit symbols and save the updates ?

I am aware of Edit symbol fields but this seems to be limited to the schematic it is opened in and then fails to propagate the added fields through other schematics.

I an not wanting to edit generic symbols, I want to edit about 200 in my own library to add fields that are the same in every instance.

Thanks

[RaptorUK]

@thisismyusername

I an not wanting to edit generic symbols, I want to edit about 200 in my own library to add fields that are the same in every instance.

Perhaps . . . . not 100% sure of the precise steps, but something like this:

Start a new Project
Open all the symbols you want in the schematic
Use “Edit Symbol Fields” to add what you want
Export Symbols to Library . . .

or something similar . . . sorry, it’s the best I can do off the top of my head.

[devbisme]

Not sure what thecurrent best practice is, but kifield was created for this purpose. It was last revised for KiCad 7, so backup your library before using this.

[DaveL]

@thisismyusername

I an not wanting to edit generic symbols, I want to edit about 200 in my own library to add fields that are the same in every instance.

@DaveL

You can add your own fields. Attached is a python program that prompts the user for the path name of a kicad_sym file, parses through it and creates a new field called Description2 that contains the same entry as the symbol name.

https://forum.kicad.info/t/more-descriptions-why-does-nobody-care/60666/4?u=davel

[paulvdh]

Are you aware of: Schematic Editor / File / Schematic Setup / General / Field Name Templates? With this, you can create “virtual” fields, that appear to be present for all used symbols. And as soon as you add the values to those fields they become “real”.

For the rest, it may be time for you to start looking into KiCad’s database driven library system. It adds database capabilities to library management.