Net not in Copper Zone dialog list

I am attempting to add a filled zone (+13V8), but the net I want to assign it to does not show up in the list of nets in the Filled Zone dialog box. The net is definitely there.
There are two similarly named nets, +13V8F and +13V8C which do show up.
I have tried various things with the filters to no effect.

could you show the pad properties dialog of one of the two pads assigned that net?
(press e while your mose pointer is on top of the pad)

I saw something like this on a RF filter board where the entire board is logically the GND net and it was not listed

I found a work around. In the top level of my hierarchical schematic I added an explicit label for the net (even though the module ports for the sub-sheets had the same name. The net then shows up as /+13V8, and I can connect it to my filled zone. I now realize the meaning of the names of the nets in the list. I think they mean:

  • with no prefix, such as +5V, it is a power net
  • with a forward slash, such as /+13V8C, it is a named net
  • with Net- ahead of it, it is one that Kicad has automatically assigned

One scary thing- when I added the explicit label to my top level net and did the “Update PCB from schematic”, it changed the connectivity of my board! (new white lines in the rats nests). I am now adding labels to every net on my top level, and I see a change almost every time I do. Not sure if this rises to the level of a bug, but it is pretty close! It may just be a RTFM thing, I guess.

If I can find time I might try to simplify this down and see if I can make it happen in a simple project.

Strange.
Does this show up in Inspect.List Nets table (before your fix is applied) ?
Where does it appear in the design file ?

There is another net name permutation that you have missed that may be why you couldn’t find it:

  • /sheet_name/+13V8 is a named net on the hierarchical sheet called sheet_name.

In this case, That net label name +13V8 can be on multiple sheets, but because it is local to the sheet (i.e. not a global or hierarchical label) it won’t connect between sheets. You could have used hiearchial labels to connect sheet-to-sheet on the top level block diagram, or you could use global labels. Really, two ways to skin the cat.

Personally, I would use hierarchical labels so the top level block diagram can document how the sheets are connected to each other, which sheets get which powers, etc. But that really comes down to your personal style.

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