How to get to Design Rules Editor in 5.1.0?

Someone supply me with a crib sheet on where to go and how to implement net classes and setting routing parameters. The Pcbnew documentation/manual doesn’t cover 5.1.0. In Chapter 8 “Setting routing parameters”, Clause 8.1.1 “Accessing the main dialog” says you go to “Setup > Desisgn Rules”. There is no Setup tab in 5.1.0. I did find under the “Edit” tab “Edit Track & Via Properties…” However, I can’t get my head around how this is laid out and entries made.

Under “Action” there are two radio buttons: “Set to specified values:” and “Set to net class values:”. I want to change the “Default” and “Power” net class values for the Via Drill (and Via Size) but double clicking on anything doesn’t take me to any editing mode. So how?

Under “Filters”, how does this work? There used to be two columns and you would set up a net class and then move whatever net from the left column to the right column to be included in the net class. How is this done under this new regime?
–Larry

File->board setup…

Ok, under “Design Rules” it looks like the numbers can be edited, but I haven’t touched them. The only item checked of the four that can be checked is “Prohibit overlapping courtyards”. When does this apply? When I was placing parts and had courtyards overlapping there was no warning. I don’t know if I was to do a DRC at that time if it would haven given an error. I placed the parts by visual means so none were overlapping and the DRC did not indicate any overlap.

Under “Net Classes” I have “Default” and “Power” edited with the criteria I want. Under “Net class filter:” I picked “Power”, went over to the “Net” list and picked a net that I wanted to be “Power” instead of “Default”. I got this net over to “Net name filter:” by copy and paste, and clicked on “Apply Filters”. The “Net name filter” box still has the net as “Default” and in the “Net” list where that net was is blank. Like I said, I need a crib sheet on how this works. Thanks.
–Larry

  1. Select the nets for which you want to assign certain net class. (EDIT: use the normal means used in all systems and programs, Ctrl+click or Shift+click.)
  2. Select the new net class from the “New net class” dropdown menu.
  3. Click “Assign to Selected Nets” button.
  4. Close the dialog with OK.

The filter is only an optional way to reduce the amount of nets in the list from which you can choose. You can also assign the new net class to all visible nets. It’s logical when you think about the UI texts for a while and find out how it works, but on the whole it’s quite complex. Often I forget the step 3, close the dialog and am angry because it doesn’t do what I want, seeing that the new wanted values aren’t used when I continue routing. Then I open the dialog again, do it again and remember that I forgot something. We must be patient.

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I did what you said but it appears it didn’t work. I picked +9V, GNDPWR, C8-1, and J8-1; went to the “Net class filter:” drop down and picked “Power”; clicked on “Assign To Selected Nets”; and then clicked on “OK”. That closed the screen and I immediately went to “File > Board Setup…” to check the results. The GNDPWR net was the only one that the “Net Class” was Power. I had to click on the blank line, above GNDPWR, for the +9V “Net” to be visible and it was Default not Power. C8-1 was Default and J8-1 was Default instead of Power. So what gives?
–Larry

You didn’t follow my instructions. Read carefully and compare to what you wrote, especially step number 2.

You are correct my good man, I hadn’t clicked on “New net class” but on the “Net class filter”, which had the same dropdown menu. Thank you for straightening me out on that point. The “Net” list now has the four nets as “Power”. The next question is, how do I get a list of the nets that are in a particular “Net Class”? That is how do I get a list that shows only the nets that are in the “Net Class” Power? Again, much thanks.
–Larry

Filter is exactly for that, filtering the list of the nets. You can filter by class or by net name or both (intersection of two filters). Select the net class filter and click Apply Filters.

The user interface isn’t the simplest possible. In many other places in KiCad filtering is automatic - if you write something to the filter field the list is filtered. If the field is empty, it’s not filtered. A good issue for a wishlist report.

Bug report requesting a better interface: https://bugs.launchpad.net/kicad/+bug/1822493

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