eeSchema Symbol Properties enhancement request/discussion

Schematic
1

I love the way the datasheet field works. Select the schematic symbol, press ‘D’, and the PDF data sheet pops up. I use this constantly through the project lifecycle.

I wish there was a URL field which worked similarly. And wish the Enhanced PDF data sheet would work with my datasheet value. Let me explain why.

On all my projects, I download the PDF datasheet because this contains the design information used in my design. I typically point URL’s to the manufacturer’s site, so I can determine if and what might have changed before I wrap up my design for production and order parts. Sometimes, some performance information critical to my design changes (or disappears) at/from the manufacturer’s website. Sometimes having the latest and greatest isn’t always a plus. I need to document what I designed against when I compare the two. It’s nearly impossible to design to a moving target. What changes? Setup and hold timing, parasitics, temperature limits, power draw/dissipation, noise rejection, voltage limits, input protection, etc., anything critical to my design.

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It would be handy if I could press ‘U’ and have the URL used, just like pressing ‘D’ brings up the copy of the datasheet. I discovered the Datasheet URL depicted above works well if I leave the ${KIPRJMOD}/ out of the relative path as long as the PDF stays in my “kicad” directory.

For others who don’t have or use KiCad, but have to look at my design, it would be handy if the KiCad generated Enhanced PDF worked similarly. Right now I can click on the Enhanced PDF URL and what I want happens. The datasheet entry doesn’t work as I’d like from within the project Enhanced PDF (usually checked out from GitLab). I tried the “file://” form and that didn’t work either. Typically, anybody who has to work with my design will check out the whole design, so relative paths to project information will stay consistent even if the project is at a different location on someone else’s machine. It might also be useful to have multiple URL paths for different purposes, Mfg, Second Source, Purchasing, etc.

If it helps, I’ll share the directory structure I use for projects. Maybe there is a better way to do what I want, both in KiCad and the Enhanced PDF (the solution has to work for both)?

2

Maybe I read too fast but unclear to me whether you want 2 datasheet fields or for the 1 datasheet field to work for file URLs. The latter is easy, just set the field appropriately and the PDF viewer will do the rest. Here’s a nixie from my collection and the symbol properties.

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As you can see there is a variable called KICAD_USER_DATASHEET_DIR and it’s set to the directory containing my cache of datasheets. I’ve set it to a file:// URL but often the viewer can accept plain paths.

3

The datasheet field does not have to be a PDF file. For KiCad, it is just a string of text that it throws over to your OS, and your OS decides what to do with it, depending on it’s mime type.

I once had a small KiCad project, that got embedded into another KiCad project (So I made a schematic symbol for it) and the datasheet link in that custom schematic symbol linked to that other KiCad project. When I pressed the d key for it’s datasheet, my OS just started another KiCad instance with that sub project.

4

I was afraid of that. I probably rambled too much.

What I’d like is to mix FILE paths and URL’s as needed for my reference and documentation. Both FILE and URL need to work in KiCad and the Plotted Enhanced PDF (introduced in v7). Some of these may be associated with a hotkey like ‘D’ for data sheet, or maybe assignable like CTRL-1…9,0, or just clickable from a drop down list.

So, yes, I’d like multiple entries which can accept FILE or URL references in Symbol properties. Several may be associated with design activity, others for purchasing, manufacturing, and I mentioned second and third sources required in some CFR21 Part 820 or DO-254 design environments.

5

For me the PDF launcher handles both Internet and file URLs in the datasheet field already. You can change the launcher to one that’s smarter. As for multiple fields, that’s an enhancement, maybe you should put in a Gitlab issue.

6

True, for KiCad, not as much of the Enhanced PDF generator… (this is in a PDF viewer, no KiCad involved in the PDF viewer). If you haven’t tried it, it is neat (and useful)!
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7

I didn’t know about the Datasheet line being passed to the OS, like a shell(“$Datasheet”) function. This is useful to know. I need multiple entries to behave like this for multiple different uses.

I use the 3D STEP modeling capabilies to add an embedded system model as a component. This helps me eyeball if my mechanical placement worked or went horribly wrong. Similar general idea to your launching a new KiCad instance to connect other system (subproject) information to your design.

8

This is controlled in Preferences. The default is set to the System default PDF Viewer. In my OS it’s xdg-open which hands it off to Firefox. You can set to another launcher which will do the appropriate thing depending on the string passed to it.