How to open Python console with Kicad5 on Linux

Software
1

Dear all,
I have installed Kicad5 on Fedora 28 from Rawhide repository.
This was mandatory to get DRC check working (broken on Kicad4.0.7 with FC28).

Now, I would like to use the python scripting and according to the documentation, I should see
“scripting console” in teh “tools” menu.
I don’t have such an entry on my version of kicad.

Do I need to install some dependencies to get it working or it is just that the feature has not been switched ON during compilation step ?

Well, I have the answer in the “info” menu :

Build settings:
USE_WX_GRAPHICS_CONTEXT=OFF
USE_WX_OVERLAY=OFF
KICAD_SCRIPTING=OFF
KICAD_SCRIPTING_MODULES=OFF
KICAD_SCRIPTING_WXPYTHON=OFF
KICAD_SCRIPTING_ACTION_MENU=OFF
BUILD_GITHUB_PLUGIN=ON
KICAD_USE_OCE=ON
KICAD_USE_OCC=OFF
KICAD_SPICE=OFF

So, the new question is :
Could we have a released version with these options switched ON ?

Thanks in advance
Marc

2

In short, no for the current 5.0, yes for the (hopefully near) future 5.1.

1 Like
3

Many thanks.
I will try to recompile with the options ON.
Good exercise anyway.

Best regards
Marc

4

There is a reason the option is off. Your distribution might be one of the (now majority) no longer shipping wxpython compiled against gtk2.

5

OK, thanks.
By the way, it seems that recompile is not a good idea…
Lot of wx warnings at startup of pcbnew and at the end :
“Error : enable to create the Python Console”
It seems that it is above my competences.

I will duplicate my layouts by hand… It will be faster.
I guess that this feature will be available again in a future release.

Thanks again for the great job which allow us to make pretty nice PCBs with open-source software.
Best regards
Marc

6

Yes the reason for the 5.1 release is to get back python support for linux

7

There are two problems at play here:
First of all, the maintainer of the Fedora package refuses to enable Python support, because he does not want to add a dependency on an “ancient Python version that’s going to be removed”…
Secondly, even if Python support was enabled, the Scripting Console requires a GTK2 version of wxPython which is not available in the Fedora repositories anymore (as Rene has already mentioned).

If you are looking for a KiCad nightly with both Python support and the Scripting Console enabled, have a look at my kicad-nightly copr.
You can also get stable 5.0.0 with Python support enabled (but without the Scripting Console) from my kicad-release copr.

8

The question is, why would anyone want to add such a dependency. See https://pythonclock.org/.

1 Like
9

An even better question is has a migration from Python 2.x to 3.x been submitted as a feature request? I did a quick search on the bug tracker and couldn’t find anything. But I don’t know if my search-fu was adequate, nor if I searched closed (rejected?) feature requests.

I know I was baffled when I heard about the new Python scripting and then finding it was Python2 instead of Python3…

2 Likes
10

I’m not sure but I think it’s about wxWidgets, the version used in KiCad isn’t compatible with python 3.

11

Well, I wouldn’t have wanted to generate such a harsh discussion on Python in this thread…
Perhaps there is a clever way to do what I wanted : automatically duplicate the placement (at least) of components contained in a sheet according to the manually placement done on a reference sheet.
I have 5 identical sheets in a hierarchical design.
I have tried a “simple” C code on the kicad_pcb file but it seems that I don’t master all subtleties of the pcb encoding…

Best regards
Marc

12

You can try using Replicate layout: Action plugin
If you look at the code in replicatelayout.py in test_replicate function you will see how is the code run in standalone (offline) mode

13

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