Hello,
When setting up zones, the priority is automatically managed by PCBNew from the lowest to the highest: Would it be possible to reverse this behavior.
Indeed, isn’t it also logical to start with the essential zone whose shape we then impose, then the next one, which will take what it can take… therefore in the opposite order proposed by default.
In the event that it is not possible to reverse the default behavior of zone priority assignments by PCBNew, then we are obliged to “1/predict in advance how many zones will overlap”, AND, at each addition of zone “2/go to modify the priority by hand”… Which is not really practical and a source of error.
Thanks in advance.
PS: This behavior could be installed in Dialog “Ctrl+,”… (in french, on “Préférences:Préférences/Editeur PCB Kicad/Options d’Edition/Divers/” just under “Remplissage automatique des zones”) as “Priority Zone inversion” CheckBox…
Changing this now would be very confusing for existing users.
The meaning of priority is clearly explained in the tooltip
Indeed, isn’t it also logical to start with the essential zone whose shape we then impose, then the next one, which will take what it can take
This might be your workflow and logical for you, but I do it exactly the other way around. First low important zones, then high important zones.
predict in advance how many zones will overlap
No. Just leave enough space between the individual priority values. In your case (starting with most important zone) start with priority == 100 (example).
In general this request looks more like you asking for easier/better management of the zone priorities. I recommend to test this for v8:
- open properties panel on the left of pcb editor
- open search panel panel on the bottom of pcb editor, use “zone” page
- order the zones by name or by priority
- clicking a zone selects this zone → ready for editing the zone priority in the left properties panel
Note:
The zone priority behaviour will probably change with v9, which adds a dedicated zone manager window. If you want to play you could install a v8.99 nightly version and play with this zone manager. Testing (and reporting issues) in this early stage of development is always welcomend.
I see no valid way that would always work. It just user workflow and preference. I also do not see much benefit to put this in the preferences, as it’s a setting that could (will?) be wrong half the time. There is no guarantee that a single user will always have the same workflow. Quite often zones will get added ad-hock halfway a design.
Therefore, I see more feature in some way to create an overview of zone priorities and a quick way to edit them without having to go to the properties of each zone. A spreadsheet like overview window in which zone priorities can be easily changed for all zones (together with a zone refill so the results can be seen) is an option. Another implementation could be a checkbox with for example: PCB Editor / View / Show Zone Priorities This could show zone priorities in big (and editable) numbers inside zones, in a similar way as pad numbers are shown on pads. This may be worth a feature request, but I’m not sure if this has enough benefit to actually implement it.
By dragging each zone into the other position in queue.
This is what the zone manager is for, that is already there in the nightlies.
Heard.
You are probably right.
I have always had the annoying habit of starting with the + important, the highest priority, as when an event occurs within a process (µP), a priority which in value mostly takes the value 0 ( the lowest)… Without doubt, a professional distortion… I will therefore have to prioritize the lowest priority first and increase to the highest.
Thank you for your comments.