KiCad DB by SQLite

Hi all,
I’m new to this forum… and I hope in your help…
As many of you, I’m trying to create a database for kicad. Currently I’m running the last sw version (7.0.10).
Here are some open points from my side:

  1. Possibility to customize the columns shown in the symbol chooser windows according to the selected library. Is that currently possible?
    Is it foreseen to add dedicated filters to each column?
  2. How to add in the associated .sqlite database file an optional footprint to the default one ?
  3. someone of you have detected an issue in opening the datasheets (pdf format) at symbol chooser window creating its link through dedicated environmental variables? The same link, instead, works clicking within the symbol properties window once added to the schematic.
    Here is my symbol chooser window:

Many thanks

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Hello and welcome,
i’ve seen that you have done your homework very well, i’s rare so see a first post so detailed and on point!
Those are 3 things that bothers me too.

I’ll try to answer the best of my knowledge, hope someone more in the code could answer in more details.

  1. i think that at the moment is not possible, the column configuration is the same for each lib. I also think that this is a feature that can be useful.

  2. yessish and no, it’s possible to assign different footprints in the library file (the option is not recovered from the DB data). I too think that it should be possible to recover the option from the DB. see here

  3. i opened a issue some time ago, and i think that some work has been done since i see now it’s closed, but as you have discovered it’s not working as we expect yet. Maybe we can open a new one (or reopen the old one, idk) with further details…
    EDIT: In 8.0.0~rc2 it actually works!

C.

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Hi Claudio,
thanks a lot for your feedback! Happy to see we’re in line and that are common topics to the community.
For sure, these are useful hints to SW guys that are working to the 8th release.

Just to be aligned… Is there anyone in the development team who is “bringing up” the implementations of the features listed in points 1 and 2 of this thread? Could you please give us a feedback? Thanks a lot… and good job :slightly_smiling_face:

More of an FYI than and Yes/No…

For another user’s project (re database) I suggested creating a dumb (NULL) Symbol that contains the desired fields.

I found it to be useful enough to me that I added it to the Schematic in my homemade Template (so, all projects created from the template will contain it). Once adding any other symbol to a project/schematic that contains the symbol, the fields are available to All the other symbols and I can then delete the NULL symbol - the fields with Data will be retained in the other symbols.

The Fields/Columns show up in the Symbol selection panel and in Bulk-Edit (screenshots)

ADDED - Right-Click Row header and select the Columns to show…

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Thanks a lot BlackCoffee (I love coffee! :wink:) for your hint … I had obtained similar results while populating my libraries… simply right -clicking the header line and selecting the desired fields step by step once each table was added in the SQL repository (and obviously after align the configuration file).

Here below I attach a screenshot of my current “Symbol chooser” after opening a new project:

As you can easily see, the point is that, for example, capacitance field remains on while choosing resistors and so on. A lot of fields, always on, that are a merge of all the fields of all the electronic components decrease a lot the database efficiency and force the user to use the SQL browser to select the part before to place it in the sheet.
Please, let us keep in touch.
I will be happy to support these developments…
Cheers

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hi,
this is a fake problem
in sql have a simple solution:

table 1 description
table 2 data only, contain reference id of table 1 and data, 2 fields
facebook mouser etc have a “small” db

in this case:
in your kicad insert a use only symbol the inefficiency is a very small
(kicad load all symbol)