How to prevent "virtual" components from appearing in BOM?

cioma · December 8, 2015, 11:17pm

Ok, thanks to this post we know how to have a component that appears in schematic and BOM, but not in layout.
Now I’d like to know if there is a way to have a component in schematic, layout but not in BOM.
As I understand that would be possible if BOM exporter would take into account module (footprint) attributes (namely “Virtual”). Does anyone know if such BOM generator exists?

Joan_Sparky · December 9, 2015, 1:31am

Hm… from that linked post, this part will be relevant:

[quote=“Andy_P, post:4, topic:1218”]
For devbisme’s multi-header case (sounds like Arduino shields), perhaps vary the concept slightly. Assume that the thing needs four headers. Create the footprint which includes all headers in the desired position. Create a symbol, maybe call it SHIELD. Don’t create a Part Number field for that symbol. Make sure this symbol has connections for ALL of the constituent headers. Next, create BOM-only symbols for each different physical header. Include valid Part Numbers for each. If your thing has only 16-pin headers, then you need to create only one symbol which gets instantiated four number of times, with refdes BH1, BH2, BH3, BH4 (BOM Header 1, 2, 3, 4).[/quote]

The SHIELD part will be ‘virtual’ in the BOM, as it appears in eeschema (with pins&nets) and in pcbnew (with pads&tracks), but not in the BOM as it misses a part number.
Would that work for your case?

If not you could only add another field to the symbols in the (your custom) library for being virtual.
And once the BOM is exported you’d be ignoring parts that are ‘virtual’.

A script to add/modify fields for all symbols in all libraries in a folder is located here:

github.com

JoanTheSpark/KiCAD/blob/master/KiCAD_Library2CSVandBACK.py

# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
#-------------------------------------------------
#-- KiCAD local library export to csv and back
#--
#-- reads local library and pulls out symbols
#-- and their field values, then writes them into
#-- a csv file.
#-- If a flag in the code is changed it also
#-- is able to write field value data from that csv
#-- back into the local libs. Do not change lib, name
#-- or reference fields for the import to work!
#--
#-- BACKUP YOUR LIBRARIES BEFORE RUNNING THIS!
#--
#-- Joan The Spark 2015
#--
#-- GNU General Public License 3+ (GPL3+)
#-------------------------------------------------

import os, sys, shutil, fileinput

This file has been truncated. show original

I only wrote this script to get the ‘manf#’ field added to my local libraries as I want to use KiCost… but it’s no big deal to also/instead get a field called ‘virtual’ added to the symbols.
Just export the csv file, add the columns you want to it and import it into the libs.

Shack · March 13, 2017, 6:36pm

resurrecting this thread since Im wondering if there are any news regarding this
I would like to export a BOM and be able to avoid VIA’s amongst other things showing up there.
any good way to avoid this?

maui · March 13, 2017, 6:40pm

you may have a look at

it really full configurable…