PCBNew Edit text and graphics duplicates designators

[der.ule]

I tried looking in Gitlab for this topic, without luck (I have the feeling that the search wasn’t really working)

Using the dialog “Edit text and graphics” duplicates the component designators

Simple board:

Using the dialog (Edit->Edit text and graphics properties)

Duplicated designators

A workaround (and maybe the inteded behaviour) was to use the filter:

then it works as before (and as expected)

Has anybody else noticed this behavior ?

Application: Pcbnew
Version: (5.1.5)-3, release build
Libraries:
    wxWidgets 3.0.4
    libcurl/7.66.0 OpenSSL/1.1.1d (Schannel) zlib/1.2.11 brotli/1.0.7 libidn2/2.2.0 libpsl/0.21.0 (+libidn2/2.1.1) nghttp2/1.39.2
Platform: Windows 8 (build 9200), 64-bit edition, 64 bit, Little endian, wxMSW
Build Info:
    wxWidgets: 3.0.4 (wchar_t,wx containers,compatible with 2.8)
    Boost: 1.71.0
    OpenCASCADE Community Edition: 6.9.1
    Curl: 7.66.0
    Compiler: GCC 9.2.0 with C++ ABI 1013

Build settings:
    USE_WX_GRAPHICS_CONTEXT=OFF
    USE_WX_OVERLAY=OFF
    KICAD_SCRIPTING=ON
    KICAD_SCRIPTING_MODULES=ON
    KICAD_SCRIPTING_PYTHON3=OFF
    KICAD_SCRIPTING_WXPYTHON=ON
    KICAD_SCRIPTING_WXPYTHON_PHOENIX=OFF
    KICAD_SCRIPTING_ACTION_MENU=ON
    BUILD_GITHUB_PLUGIN=ON
    KICAD_USE_OCE=ON
    KICAD_USE_OCC=OFF
    KICAD_SPICE=ON

[Optoisolated]

This is because there is a hidden designator on each footprint which is normally on the x.Fab layer that then gets set to x.SilkS. The correct way (as I understand it) is to use the filter to select the designators only on the x.SilkS layers. This will prevent the x.Fab designator from being set to x.SilkS layer.

[eelik]

In other words,

[der.ule]

Ok, I checked and if you don’t select the layer, you don’t get duplicates

Result:

Altough the stuff in the Fab layer does get modified

In general although I understand how the dialog works (now) I don’t find it very intuitive; i believe it will be specially problematic with the not so computer literated people.

[eelik]

I was a bit confused at first, with “Scope” and “Filters” because they seemed to do the same thing. But then I accepted that they give you the power. But still I don’t know at all why filter by parent options are needed or how they are used.

But if you understand that Scope and Filters tell what is affected, Action tells how it is affected, you know what you need to know. I don’t know how “Set to specified values - Layer” could be any more clearer or easier to indicate that it changes the layer.

[der.ule]

As I said, now I understand it but it is one of those things that would be ideal on a expandable dialog, but the standard case should be “I want to change X to Y”, doing “From ALL LETTERS select the X and change them through MODIFIER to Y” I agree that it is extremely powerful and I like it but I doesn’t solve the normal case easily.

[eelik]

My normal case is that I want to change all footprint refdes and values in the fab layer to a certain value, to create a readable assembly instruction. So, I use Scope: references, value. Filters: F.Fab. Action: specified values - text width/height/thickness.

Then I want to change the refdes in silkscreen to certain size. Scope: references. Filters: F.Silk.