In the Footprint Editor, when I press ‘save’ I get a popup with my component name highlighted and not the library it is in. (Surely one could assume the library it is in should be highlighted …)
But I pressed ‘save’ !! I did not press ‘save as’.
When I press ‘save’ I expect the software to save without any further interactions. When I press ‘save as’ I should get a popup with options to change name and location.
Have I got a bug ?
I can not get kicad to highlight any other library in that dialog then the library from which i opened the part. Care to make a screenshot from the full window while the dialog is shown?
The footprint editor has no separate “save as” button. Every save operation is save as. I should add that the current nightly build already has the footprint editor similar to how the symbol editor handles this sort of thing. (meaning this whole behavior will be different in 5.1)
Hi Rene,
For example, if import a part, then press save I get the behaviour. If I have previously saved the part with its new name both the part name and its library are shown.
Although my example is a little strange, I seem to be regularly having to specify the library and when I don’t, another popup appears and I get bounced out of my editor window.
Cheers,
Steve
Also, when I am editing in the Footprint Editor it says at the top of the window that I have ‘no active library’ and my part name is not written in the title bar.
Perhaps I expect to have the path and the library shown along with the part name somewhere at the top of the screen.
How should kicad know where the footprint comes from if you use the import button? (Import means you can import a footprint file from anywhere on the file system. That footprint file does not need to be in a library.)
Use the load footprint from library button to ensure that kicad knows from which library your footprint comes from. (or file->open footprint, shortcut crtl+o)
This button will present you with the option to use the library browser, search by keyword or list all footprints inside the active library.
The list all button without setting an active library will list all footprints from all libs. It has the benefit that you get a live filter with it but i suggest to only use it with an active library.
Setting the active library is done using the select active library button or via file->set active library.
In the KiCad footprint editor, “Save” is always “Save As”. That’s confusing as heck when you’ve forgotten it and are looking all over the place for how to do a Save As, but it’s a lot better than not having Save As 
This is a temporary solution in 5.0 as removal of the “Active Library” concept was too risky at the end of the development cycle.
5.1 has normal Save and Save As (and a library tree like the symbol editor instead of an “active library”).
Hooray for standard interfaces!
This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.