Hello, I tried edit and delete only one component symbols properties. It is OK.
But if I select more components, I can not open properties. Can you help me please, how I can do this.
Similar it is in symbol Fields Table, I can add new field, but I can not find, how I can delete some field.
Schematic Editor / Tools / Edit Symbol Fields is the only method I know to directly edit fields in multiple schematic symbols. You can copy text, and then paste it into multiple other symbols in one go, and you can make use of the Group symbols function.
You can add a column with fields in the Symbol Fields Table, but you can not remove it. You can just hide it. I thought that emptying a field from all schematic symbols would also delete the field itself, but it does not. Even after a restart of KiCad the empty column is persistent.
If you are not content with just hiding a column, you have to delete the fields from all of the schematic symbols that use that field. It’s a bit problematic. If the fields are empty they do not show up in Schematic Editor / Tools / Edit Symbol Fields, and text search functions also do not work.
As a final resort, this leaves working with a text editor.
All of KiCad’s files are human readable text, and you can work with them in a text editor.
This does have inherent dangers, so always start with making a backup before you do so.
If you open the schematic file in a text editor and search for the field name, then you will find all schematic symbols that have that field.
From there you have a few options.
The most dangerous is to delete the offending fields directly with your text editor.
A safe method is to only use the text editor to identify which symbols have that field, and then use Eeschema to edit those symbols.
A method to do it in bulk, is to first make sure the field is not used in a library symbol, and then update the symbols from the library. Eeschema / Tools / Update Symbols from Library has an option to delete fields.
Yet another approach is to do it via some scripting language. Especially if it has a library to work with S-expressions. A script to read a KiCad schematic, then manipulate some specific S-expression and write the modified file back can probably be done in a handful of lines.
Thank you for your the fast answer. But I am confused, I don’t understand, why I can not delete something (may be i made mistake), but I have to hide it. Why I can not simply delete it. Or Why I can not simply edit parameter for more components, this will spend time. I worked before long time with Altium Designer and now I want to start with Kicad. I hope it will be changed in short time.
With best regards
You can’t do it because the software doesn’t support it.
You can delete it, but you must delete it at it’s origin, and that is in one of the schematic symbols.
Eeschema / Tools / Update Symbols from Library started as just an overview to of all the properties of all the schematic symbols, and at some time it was extended to add a new column, so properties could be added to a symbol, by just adding text to one of the grid cells.
Removing a column is more complicated, because it would have to search through all the schematic symbols. The option to “hide” a column is very easy to do programmatically. It does not interact with any of the schematic symbols itself. There are some more of such “illogical” things in KiCad and most of them exist only because KiCad has been gaining a lot of popularity in the last 6 or so years and as an open source project there are a limited number of developers working on it and most of them do it just for fun. Over time such “weird things” are becoming less and less.
Thank you for explanation. Because I am new in KICAD. Before a worked 19 year with Orcad and then 15 years with Altium. Therefore I searched, in KICAD same logic. In Altium there are libraries and schematic independent things, but not totally. That means, if you want work total correctly, the library and schematic component have the same parameter. But there are two manager one vor library and other one for schematic. That means in schematic you can made changes, delete parameter, edit also edit pin direction etc, but not all, some system parameter not (reference etc.
Also it is possible change more components, it is special fitter for search or after selection more more components is possible made global global changes.
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