OpenGL vs Legacy differences in Nightly

Thank you very much!
Changing the colour and from lines to dots it’s been like coming home :wink:

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In OpenGL works slightly different: you select only items on visible layers.

And how am I supposed to select only tracks without zones using layers?

It isn’t possible. I said slightly different.

Well, it wasn’t possible. With the last nightly I have installed, the right click pop up menu offers a new item, select->item selection, that opens the well known legacy selection window.

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Thank you, that’s good news :slight_smile:

Has anybody mentioned that the “E” hotkey has very different behaviors in the two canvases?

Is there a “Break Track” feature in the latest OpenGL nightlies?

Dale

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No, untill now. At least, OpenGL behaviour lets us change the width of the track.

I have not found it. Delete the whole track/segment and start again :slight_smile:

The main reason I toggle back to Legacy

What do you mean with “break track”?

You can break a track segment into two segments at one point.

Good catch! Did not know this feature was frequently used, I know that the new router automatically merges segments if they are in a straight line. But I can see the use case.

Could you give me a few example of how you guys usually use this?

I use it to break one track segment into two, three, four or even five. :wink:

Although it is a feature I could manage without.

If you place a track on top (or better as a replacement) of the old track the segments that are not needed anymore are deleted automatically. (Does not always work. Sometimes i still need to delete the old track manually. There the feature that the delete key only deletes single segments is needed.)
So instead of breaking the track and dragging the newly created corners just redraw that part of the track using the interactive router.

If you have interactive drag enabled (and move a track) kicad breaks the track automatically if it encounters an unmovable obstacle. (I like this more than the push option of the interactive router.)

Are these the usecases where you need break track or did i misunderstand its usefulness?

That’s one approach. Or, switch to Legacy, add the breakpoints, and switch back to OpenGL to do the routing. (Can’t do the routing in Legacy because Legacy complains about colinear segments after you add a breakpoint.)

I do this from time to time to modify the routing of a previously placed segment. Sometimes, after placing a trace - especially a trace following a complicated route - I see a section where the routing could be improved. Or, I’d like to increase the spacing near some object or feature. By placing some breakpoints at roughly the positions where I want the trace to bend, I can easily drag a segment to the desired new location.

Dale

I think you understand my applications for breaktrack. I’ll have to check my Options settings, because I recall experimenting in Open GL but being unable to get the behavior you describe.

Dale

Just make sure “auto delete old track” is activated. (Marked magenta in my screenshot.)

The interactive drag has to be activated in the settings for the interactive router. (marked blue in my screenshot)
Either Preferences -> Interactive Routing or press e while interactive router is active. If you use the later option you need to close and reopen the interactive router.

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In OpenGL, when working with a Fill Zone or Keepout, there doesn’t seem to be a menu item for “Move Corner”. It’s easy enough to do - just select the zone outline, click on the corner, and move it - but that’s not obvious if you are accustomed to using the “Move Corner” menu item in Legacy. You don’t have to create a new menu item, but the change is probably worth mentioning in tutorials, cheat-sheets, migration guides, etc.

Dale

Hi guys,
I read this thread, and then I kept it in mind while routing a board and made notes as I went along. Here are the things I picked up that I use in legacy (default) view, and are missing in OpenGL:

FOOT PRINT EDITOR:

  • Right click on a pad -> Global Pad Settings (for editing lots pad sizes quickly).
  • Some pads and graphic lines I cant select in OpenGL, have to switch to old to select then and delete them.
  • Cannot edit a graphics track layer by selecting it and pressing E (e.g. to change the layer is is on, like from silkscreen to user drawing etc).

PCBNEW

  • Legacy backspace deletes a track path (connected segements).
  • backspace undoes last track segment while u are routing (use this all the time!)
  • While routing, you can press w to change width in legacy, and it changes instantly, in OpenGL you have to move the mouse to see the change.
  • “d” to Drag chamfers, i use this all the time again!!!
  • Sometime I will connect duplicate tracks on the top layer and bottom layer for higher current carrying capability. OpenGL deletes the “duplicate” existing tracks when I place the new ones (even though I have unchecked delete duplicate tracks in the preferences).

Overall comparison
I way prefer the look of the OpenGL, but prefer routing in legacy. I like to control exactly how each trace is placed, and I find OpenGL likes to presume too much, jump ahead, and make a mess, and I can’t undo a segement at a time while routing with backspace. Whereas legacy is slow and steady, and very controllable.

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I fully agree with @mangelozzi
You’d have the most impact if you search those issues here, Most of them are already documented

Logging in and hitting “it affects me” would bump up the priority of the issue. Thats the main communication channel between us and the developers.

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I still use Legacy a lot, but…

Right click on a pad in OpenGL shows a menu with an entry call “pads” where this function has been implemented.

This feature has been also implemented in OpenGL

Application: kicad
Version: no-vcs-found-c290e8a~59~ubuntu14.04.1, release build
Libraries: wxWidgets 3.0.2
libcurl/7.35.0 OpenSSL/1.0.1f zlib/1.2.8 libidn/1.28 librtmp/2.3
Platform: Linux 3.16.0-77-generic x86_64, 64 bit, Little endian, wxGTK

  • Build Info -
    wxWidgets: 3.0.2 (wchar_t,wx containers,compatible with 2.8)
    Boost: 1.54.0
    Curl: 7.35.0
    KiCad - Compiler: GCC 4.8.4 with C++ ABI 1002
    Settings: USE_WX_GRAPHICS_CONTEXT=OFF
    USE_WX_OVERLAY=OFF
    KICAD_SCRIPTING=ON
    KICAD_SCRIPTING_MODULES=ON
    KICAD_SCRIPTING_WXPYTHON=ON
    KICAD_SCRIPTING_ACTION_MENU=ON
    BUILD_GITHUB_PLUGIN=ON
    KICAD_USE_OCE=ON

Works in kicad 4.0.2 (If i understand the description correctly. What is meant by graphics track layer?)
Pressing E over any graphical element (line,arc, …) opens the following dialog in open gl: