Copying a block from a schematic to another

Schematic
1

Hello!

I’m trying to copy a part of a schematic from, say, project A to project B.
The 2 projects are opened on the same machine. I try to selct a block, copy it, move to the
other project window and paste it, but it doesn’t seem to work.
First, is this possible?
Othere way to do it?

Thanks,

Pascal

2

This isn’t possible with version 5.1. It’s possible with pre-v6 nightly builds and in the future with v6. Meanwhile you can try opening the other project, copying, opening the project to which you want to paste with the same KiCad instance, pasting. You can also create a hierarchical sheet, enter it, Append an existing schematic, copy from there and paste to the main sheet.

3

Hello!
Thanks for your reply. Sorry for the delay.
I tried to open 2 projects at the same time. but if I open the second one, the first one disappears.
I’m not sure it’s what you were describing, but here is what I did:

  • Open my project.
  • Open the schematic.
  • From the project panel, open recent and choose the project I wanted to copy from

At this point, the first project I had opened has disappeared.
Now what I also tried is to copy in my current project folder the schematic from which I want to import parts.
If I have the 2 schematics opened at the same time, I supopse it’s in the same Kicad instance, then I can select from one sheet and copy one part. But when back into the target file, I don’t have a paste option in the contextual menu (right click).

I think it’s the right moment to download a night build…

Pascal

4

That’s right, the first project disappears when you open another one with the same KiCad instance. But you should be able to open the first project, then copy from there, then open another project and then paste to it. The project changes but the KiCad’s internal clipboard is kept.

Nightly builds are really unstable nowadays, I don’t recommend them unless you actually want to help with development by reporting bugs. The layout file format has been changed and will be changed so that you can’t easily go back to a stable version. I think you can edit just the schematic file with a nightly build and go back to a stable version without problems, but is it worth the hassle if you don’t use nightly builds for anything else?

1 Like
5

Hello Eelik!

Thans for your reply.
Indeed, the latest nightly build is really a pain. No way to use the G command in schematic, no way to copy a component with C, etc. I have to find the version I had installed earlier, which was also a nightly build one week or 2 ago… But at least the latest nighlty build has allowed me to copy what I wanted…

Thanks,

Pascal

6

I have checked (KiCad 5.1.2 Windows 7) the following way:

  • find in KiCad install directory the bin\eeschema.exe and run it.
  • open one schematic and copy a block,
  • open second schematic and I’ve got the paste option in context menu.
7

Hello Piotr!

Thanks for your reply. I have solved the problem with import schematic sheet content (I have first made a new sheet, stripped all what I don’t need, and saved, then imported). But it’s a pain to do, and for future schematics, I think it would be better to have a more straightforward solution.

Now I still have the import file in the current folder, so I can just open the 2 schematics at once. I have both on the same screen, opened in eeschama. Id I copy a block from one file (select, right click, copy) and try to go to the other sheet, there is no paste item,

Pascal

8

I have no big experience with KiCad. I am now designing my first serious PCB (one test PCB I have done an year ago with 4.0.7).
I don’t have 2 schematics in one directory. I don’t know how you have them both opened.
I understand you (not sure if well understand) that you don’t have paste option and are not sure how I have it.
The key in what I have written is to run schematic as standalone program and not from KiCad main window.

9

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