How to move values?

Layout
1

Finishing PCB after may be half year break. I want to position all footprint values so they don’t be one on another. It was always simple task without problems but now it is horrible.
KiCad 7.0.10.
I have values at F.Courtyard (I always had them there as there is no other good layer for them).
I selected F.Courtyard as active layer and display option to Hide. In such setting as I remember I always (since V4) just pointed a value and m - moved it. But now each time the footprint is grabbed instead. When in Selection filter I switch Footprints off then the value also can’t be moved by m.
When (with everything on in Selection filter) I click and wait I can select value and then with m can move it but waiting, selecting and then m is the big step backward compared to simple m.
Fortunately this is small PCB but I’m afraid how much time I will waste on this when the PCB gets bigger.
Is there a way to not allow to grab footprints but allow grab values?
When I will finish with values I will do the same with references (also at Courtyard).

2

Try using selection filters like this:
image

Just hover on value or refdes and press ‘m’ without do the click selection, is much faster.
(8.0.0-rc2)

3

I tried exact such setting previously and failed.
This time I tried once more. It doesn’t work as I expected (m while cursor at text) but (partly by accident) I found that in two steps (click and then m) it works.
Thanks.
Knowing that I have checked that if I have all on in selection filter and only Footprints switched off this two step (click and m) also works.
I am too strong used to start everything from hotkey :frowning:
I have never clicked “Route tracs” icon - I click x.
I have never clicked arrow icon on the top (I even didn’t know it is “Select Item(s)”) - to finish current state I always click ESC and so on.
For me it is the first time that I had use left click before hotkey.

It looks that in V7 it needs click before, or may be some settings in Preferences need to be find.

4

You are right. Under 7.0.10 works exactly as you described. You have to click-select the value before you can move it. not sure if there is an option to choose or the verision is simply different.

5

Actually, the “Hover and hotkey-m” does not work for me in 7 nor 8rc2.
@Claudio.Lorini It must be some other option you’re using.

6

Or OS? i’m under linux.

Application: KiCad PCB Editor x86_64 on x86_64

Version: 8.0.0~rc2-d50e0811fb~176~ubuntu22.04.1, release build

Libraries:
	wxWidgets 3.2.1
	FreeType 2.11.1
	HarfBuzz 2.7.4
	FontConfig 2.13.1
	libcurl/7.81.0 OpenSSL/3.0.2 zlib/1.2.11 brotli/1.0.9 zstd/1.4.8 libidn2/2.3.2 libpsl/0.21.0 (+libidn2/2.3.2) libssh/0.9.6/openssl/zlib nghttp2/1.43.0 librtmp/2.3 OpenLDAP/2.5.16

Platform: Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS, 64 bit, Little endian, wxGTK, X11, mate, x11

Build Info:
	Date: Jan 24 2024 15:06:00
	wxWidgets: 3.2.1 (wchar_t,wx containers) GTK+ 3.24
	Boost: 1.74.0
	OCC: 7.5.2
	Curl: 7.81.0
	ngspice: 40
	Compiler: GCC 11.4.0 with C++ ABI 1016

Build settings:
7

I’m using Win.
Just made some more tests.
It works the same way in 7 and 8:

  • if the text is placed over the footprint, you must Click then “m”
  • if the text is placed outside the footprint, hotkey “m” only is enough.
    So the fact the text is placed over a footprint, is a culprit here.
    To me it’s a bug, as when the footprints are de-selected in the filter, they should be ignored and behavior of both text-over-footprint and text in free space, should be identical.
2 Likes
8

I think that you have nailed it, i also think is a bug (let’s call it an unwanted feature :grin:, it sounds little better)

9

I will report it.
It takes me some time as I write from Win7 PC and KiCad I have at Win10 PC not connected to net so have to copy Version Info by pendrive :frowning:

3 Likes
10

Done:

11

Please try the latest testing version, there was a similar issue some days/weeks ago. It could be that there was already a change.
Downloads | KiCad EDA (download the lite-version)

12

I have downloaded and installed 7.0.10-119 (today version).
Behaves like previous version.

13

Can you add a demo project there (can be just one footprint in a board). It increases the chance that someone will look at it quickly when they have a minute :wink:

1 Like
14

Will try.
22:48 here and I am still at work - the highest time to go home.

15

Steps to reproduce:

configure selection filters like:

image

hover over text items and press ‘m’ to move

if the the text is inside the component shape the command fails.

delme.zip (7.1 KB)

2 Likes
16

Seeing the same issue on Linux. Can’t hover and move text inside a component. I can however click on it to select and them ‘m’ to move.

Application: KiCad PCB Editor x86_64 on x86_64

Version: 7.0.10-unknown-202401172150~0f715223e9~ubuntu23.10.1, release build

Libraries:
	wxWidgets 3.2.2
	FreeType 2.13.1
	HarfBuzz 8.0.1
	FontConfig 2.14.2
	libcurl/8.2.1 OpenSSL/3.0.10 zlib/1.2.13 brotli/1.0.9 zstd/1.5.5 libidn2/2.3.4 libpsl/0.21.2 (+libidn2/2.3.3) libssh/0.10.5/openssl/zlib nghttp2/1.55.1 librtmp/2.3 OpenLDAP/2.6.6

Platform: Ubuntu 23.10, 64 bit, Little endian, wxGTK, ubuntu, x11

Build Info:
	Date: Jan 17 2024 21:50:05
	wxWidgets: 3.2.2 (wchar_t,wx containers) GTK+ 3.24
	Boost: 1.74.0
	OCC: 7.6.3
	Curl: 8.2.1
	ngspice: 40
	Compiler: GCC 13.2.0 with C++ ABI 1018

Build settings:
	KICAD_SPICE=ON
17

I have added simple project there.
I didn’t supposed the discussion here will be so… big.
Finishing project you always have to clean up it and it is the task that should not take unneeded extra time. When for each text you have to think if you should do extra click it just slows you down.

18

You stumbled upon a bug in KiCad, and there are lots of people wanting to help with diagnosing & fixing that :slight_smile: Your description was also not very clear (especially on gitlab) and it takes some posts to clear that up. I did not understand the issue at first, an it only got clear after reading the posts from fred4u and Claudio.Lorini.
I also added a comment on gitlab and a (simpler) test project. From your test project (USB connector and bunch of other parts) It’s not clear how to reproduce it. With my single DIP-8 and all texts placed inside the courtyard (all on standard layers too) the issue is easier to reproduce.

Also, for the next time, do not call your project “test”. I have tens of “test” projects, and this gets confusing sometimes.

19

In past (V5) I had also problems with moving these texts until I not had one layer active by Dimming all others. So I was fixed that it is important and also that it is important that my texts are at Courtyard layer. I also was doing everything in very harry because one of my New Years resolution is to come home from work no later then at 20:00 and it was about that time and I had some things to do while I found this problem and decided to write about it.
Being fixed and harry switched off a broader look at the problem so I was writing not important information clouding the picture of the problem.

I just cut half of schematic and all tracks, vias from current design. I wanted to by the way let to see that except having many texts you need also to see what is behind. I didn’t expected a problem with reproduce. I wanted to help get feeling that it really influences a productivity.

20

I guess the lesson to learn here is don’t write bug reports in a hurry.
It’s better to wait a few days and then write a clear bug report than to do it quickly and confuse others.

KiCad developers is a scarce resource for the KiCad project. There are not very many of them, while there are a great many KiCad users (At this moment just this forum has 12827 registered users). When I write a bug report I try to put in some extra effort to make it concise. If I put in 20 minutes extra, and that saves 5 minutes of developer time, I consider it a win.

1 Like