Is there a way to lock a board outline on the “edge cuts” layer? I could not find a way.
I suppose I could make it into a footprint… but wouldn’t that force a disambiguation for every action anywhere on the board?
I could just turn the layer off except for special occasions; but this is a very poor work around.
I don’t think so, as usually one doesn’t interact with just the mousepointer with elements (which is the moment anything can interact), but has tools selected first.
What is the actual problem or what do you want to achieve?
Yes, this was the case for one of my designs and it quickly became a time-sink that I was not willing to spend. While working on the project I “unassigned” the Footprint that was causing the disambiguation for every action on the board in PcbNew. Is the issue fixed now?; I don’t think that is possible to make a fix for this hack.
However, I am curious,
Do you mean when you have to verify which footprint to perform an action on, when using the context menu? In that case it’s a feature, not an issue and will probably not be fixed. It’s the back side of using outline in a footprint.
I cannot see why he needs to have a problem to want to lock the outline so he don’t accidentally move it while routing. I suppose this is his reason.
Edit: Sorry for my rude answer, I didn’t catch the “or what do you want to achieve”.
Thanks everyone for your input. To clarify: I have a complex board outline that must keep its exact shape maintain a fixed relationship to my connectors. I wanted a way to “lock” the board outline so that it could not accidentally be moved or changed. I can lock the connectors down but if the board outline can move, that is of little use.
For now, I plan to make a copy of the board outline on a “sacrificial” layer. I will use the sacrificial outline during layout and keep the “edge cuts” layer turned off. Hopefully with a little discipline I can avoid messing up my outline.
Is the source of the complex outline an MCAD tool?
The way I did keep sanity checks, was to have that source also contain markers (circles to be exact) for the connector footprint centers. This way I could always re-import the outline and align it with the footprints down the road and not had to worry to much about the outline.
After alignment I would delete those marker circles or change their layer.
Another way I do it (for repeated, not so complex, non MCAD outlines) is to put the outline into a footprint onto one of the User defined layers - Eco for example and also have the connector centers marked on that layer. Then once all is said and done the outline can be followed on the edge.cuts layer and even be modified, to suit the current use. Works very well for hats or shields and the like…
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