Hi,
I wanted to make the scheme for the production of multiple PCB variants clearer and at the same time make mine work easier. KiCad now offers the option: “Exclude from bill of materials”. Is it possible to get the status of this checklist similar to the value of a component using ${R16: VALUE}?
If so, what to use instead of value?
Thanks in advance for your answer.
I think it’s not possible. String replacement variables don’t really detect all object properties, there are just a few predefined variable names which are replaced, and this isn’t one of them.
Side note: The intended use for this checkbox is not for regular components which shouldn’t be mounted. The intended use is what used to be called “virtual components”. It can be footprints with test pads, logo in slik screen and such. You get an explanation in a tooltip if you hover above the checkbox.
For components that shouldn’t be mounted there is no standard way of doing this. I believe that most people solve this by adding a new field to the symbol. In our case the field is named DNP and we also set the value to DNP. Then we’ve added to the BOM generation script that components with this field shall be omitted.
V 5.1.7 here (edited next day - mistaken numbers with V4, true is 5.1.12).
For BOM generation I am using the standard bom_csv_grouped_by_value_with_fp script after small modification. When reading the source (I don’t know Python) I found there (probably in something called by that script) some code clearly destined to eliminate some symbols from BOM. As I remember there were few different information that could trigger the elimination. One of them were that if symbol contains field named “Installed” with value “NU”.
So to all my symbols that are not to be in BOM (like holes, fiducials,…) I have added that field with that value and I had to do nothing more to not have that elements in the BOM.
As everything needed I got with KiCad I would call it standard way of doing this (eliminating from BOM elements not to be mounted).
I don’t know if it works with V6.
Out of subject…
Yesterday I noticed that there is V 6.0.5 already and decided to not wait longer and my plan for today is to order 2 USB-RS232 adapters. When I will have them I will be able to move to Win10 PC with everything (I have reasons to avoid moving myself partially).
My intention was to achieve something like this visually:
You can check out KiBoM.
I’ve never used it myself, but it supports PCB Variants, which might be a solution for you.
I believe that KiBoM is also included in KiKit.
We probably didn’t understand each other. My English is not very good. My point is to show in the diagram the condition of the component that is not mounted on the printed circuit board. Do not generate a BOM, either by default KiCad, or by using a plugin such as iBOM …
It is a function similar to the one I described in the following issue, except that the comments would suffice and there was no need to generate additional graphic elements.
That’s currently not possible. Hence the feature request you linked to.
This is currently best done using new fields with a value that suits you.
The capacitor with DNP next to it is not mounted in this project.
The preferences of this capacitor looks like this:
Thanks for the tip, it’s not exactly what we imagined it to be, but with what it’s currently possible it’s probably the most viable option.
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