Hi I have just done a full re-install of Kicad and wiped the whole folder before I started. Also deleted the fpt.
Started PCBnew, Footprint libraries manager all pointed to GitHub as expected.
Used the Wizard to download a local copy to C:\Kicad\Libs_DL\
Deleted all the existing entries in the Libraries manager, closed and restarted Kicad
Ran the Wizard again selecting all the subfolders in the D_L library, watched as they verified. When asked put them all in the global library.
Restarted Kicad again. About 10 entries at the bottom of the Footprint libraries manager (the first ones in the D_L folder) were tagged as âKicadâ, the remainder were still tagged âGitHubâ.
I tried to re-assign the library as the D_L folder and that works, but the path KISYSMOD C:\KiCad\share\kicad\modules\ seems to point to the wrong place, yet the libraries still work. Is it only the fpt that determines where the library files are found?
Copying all the folders into C:\KiCad\share\kicad\modules\ puts them there but the fpt then still points to C:\Kicad\Libs_DL, even after deleting the fpt and restarting. There seems to be no way to get things to be where it appears that they should be.
I do not like the idea of referencing Github for libraries that I have used. If they get changed from one issue to the next of a pcb, it can cause major problems.
How do I get just a local copy of the Github file in the C:\KiCad\share\kicad\modules\ which is where I also want to put my converted legacy .mod files? The converted file is exactly where I expect it to be so why not all the rest of the library?
It is a good idea not to rely on github libraries. Copy them to anywhere in your hard drive.
And do the same with your old legacy footprints and your new done by yourself footprints. So now, you have a folder, with as many subfolders as you want, containing all your footprints.
To use a library in your project, you need to load that library in the project. In the fpt-lib-table you store this library (or the path to this library). Add as many libraries as you need. Thatâs all.
What about KISYSMOD? In my opinion it is only a default path pointing to the folder where you store all your footprints. You can use it or not.
Is it only the fpt that determines where the library files are found?
Yes, for a given project. There is (at least in my case) a fpt-lib-table for each project.
Remember, a library in your computer can be loaded to a project or not. Only loaded libraries are available for the project.
KISYSMOD is a variable, but it only has effect if it is invoked by $(KISYSMOD) in a path specification (e.g. â$(KISYSMOD)/My_lib.prettyâ. Otherwise it has no effect.
And to make matters âworseâ there will be more of those variables in the future, once EEschema works under the hood like PCBnew does.
My KISYSMOD variable points to
E:/Data_KiCAD/_KiCAD_Footprints/
And what shall I tell ya, all my footprint folders are in that location.
The fp-lib-table becomes very easy to maintain (and transport to other computers/etc.) at that point as I just have to change one variable - the folders with the footprints can be copied over and placed in a folder that the local KISYSMOD var points at.
In my mind, this is justification for accessing these system variables, path names, library tables, etc, using a menu item in the top-level KiCAD shell, rather than distributing them among the various individual programs (PCBNew, EESchema, etc).
