Is there any way in the KiCad “Choose Symbol” dialog in the schematic to search for symbols with a specific associated footprint name?
In the attached image is one example:
There is a USB_C symbol, that is associated with the footprint of a specific part number. But when I search for the part number, the search does not give any results.
The text in your screenshot is not readable.
It looks like you are attempting to search for a footprint in the symbol chooser. Footprints and symbols are different things. Don’t try to buy bread in a butcher shop.
Hm ok, I see. What would be the bakery in this case?
Meaning, what would be the correct tool to search the component database for a specific part number in the available footprints?
In this specific example I searched for a component, that has the footprint of the Amphenol part “124019772112A” linked to it. How would I find the corresponding symbol in the database? I only found it by searching “USB_C” and manually sifting through the different results.
PS: I’m just getting into KiCad, coming from another Tool, so I’m probably not used yet to the correct way to deal with the KiCad library. Just to give some excuse for a presumably very beginner question, but I could not really find the answer yet…
Yes, that’s clear, but don’t worry. I was there too once and managed to get over it.
Have you already worked through the getting started in kicad tutorial? That is a good start. KiCad treats symbols and footprints (mostly) separate from each other, and there are at least 4 different ways to assign a footprint to a symbol. KiCad also has separate editors to create and modify symbols and footprints. One quick way to change the footprint of a symbol is to first place it on your schematic (Library symbols can only be directly edited form within the symbol editor), then hover the mouse cursor over the symbol (no need to click) and press f for footprint. Then click on the book case icon to get to the Footprint chooser dialog.
If that footprint PN is in the symbol’s footprint field, the search in the Choose Symbol dialog should filter by it (the symbol chooser filters by all of the fields in the symbol, so if the footprint field is populated, you can search by it)
This is true in v9 at least. I don’t remember previous versions.
The symbol you highlight in the first screenshot appears not to have a footprint listed, so this will not work in that case. Instead it looks like the footprint filters are populated to give a selection of possible footprints, and I don’t think you can search by footprint filters.
Ohh, I get it. So the footprints listed in the dropdown on the right come from footprint filters.
If I want to create a symbol with a hard-coded footprint associated to it I use the field on the left of the symbol, where it also says “Reference”.
That makes sense, thank you.
Also thanks to @paulvdh for your workflow suggestion, very appreciated!
If you want a symbol (semi) permanently linking to a footprint, then you have to add the link in the symbol editor. Or first assign a footprint in the schematic editor, and then export it to a (new) library.
Do note that KiCad’s own libraries are read only and can be overwritten during updates.
