I suggest to add an option to get from the footprint back to the library in the footprint assignment dialogue.
If you make a mistake in the assignment (like putting in a 2-pin-header instead of a 3-pin-header) it would be helpful to be able to jump back to the library and the place in the library where you got the footprint from.
Usage: right-click on an assigned footprint and choose go back to library. On the right the library where you took the footprint from would open and jump to the part you had chosen.
I would much prefer to have a search box in the Footprint Library Browser, implemented in the same way as the search box in the “Choose Symbol” dialog with a regular expression (like) functionality.
With this you can copy the old footprint name, paste it in the search box to get similar results.
With this you can also select based on pin count and pitch for connectors, which has been possible in CvPcb for a long time, but not in the Footprint Library Browser.
With 150+ libraries and 50.000 (or more?) Footprints it seems that finding an existing footprint in the library sometimes takes more time then designing a new one from scratch.
Alternative:
If you are assigning footprints in Eeschema, you can often guess accurately what the name of a 3 pin header is if you already have the name of the 2 pin header in the “Footprint” field. You can just edit the text string and there is no need to even open the Footprint Browser.
Just check your results regularly with F8 and looking at the PCB if your Footprint is all right.
Double click on the footprint or select it and press “e”.
Button “Change footprint”.
New footprint identifier icon -> it opens the library of the current footprint.
Thanks for the tip - that is from within eeschema and quite useful. Btw I found another button an a meno option where I can do the same.
So basically this function I asked for is everywhere BUT in the footprint assignment dialogue where I needed/looked for it.
OK. If you need it at the footprint assigment (cvpcb) window, the actual implementation is not painful at all. The name of the libray is embedded in the name of the footprint already selected.
So, read the name of the library and double click on the library on the column on the left.
