I would like the ability to generate a wirelist within Kicad eeschema, i.e, add the ability to place wire identifiers on each wire run and associate each wire identifier with its point to point connection(s).
I design Control Panels. I am required to label each wire with a unique number and its point to point connection. I use the CADstar netlist and manually generate a wirelist in a text editor. Generating the wirelist manually from a netlist is labor intensive and prone to error.
add the ability to place wire identifiers on each wire run and associate each wire identifier with its point to point connection(s)
There are just labels. And there is a net highlight tool. With python scripting it could be done to get yourself a list of all your wires.
Despite i work mostly in software. I do sometimes do all kind of electrical engineering work. Whatever is needed to get a machine in a working state. So I do some PLC stuff, connect some wires.
I design Control Panels.
We have been using/abusing Eagle CAD to create such wiring schematics. We don’t have fancy click links and I don’t like our schematics that much.
I have been thinking to use Kicad in a similar matter using it’s hierarchial label and bus system. I think you can come a far end with it but in all honesty. Kicad simply isn’t the tool for this job.
2 weeks ago I had my first experience with Eplan with a one day acquaintance course. I learned that Eplan has to be the best tool for this job. Being ‘industrial’ the software is IMO overcomplicated, unintuitive and very difficult to master. But it has soo many features. You can draw electrical, fluid, pneumatic schematics all in one project. You can draw your cabinets complete with full 3D stuff. And you can plan and highlight all wiring. You won’t just see from where to where a wire goes, but you can see to which cable trays they should go.
And the automatic generated click links between labels is magnificent.
And whatever parts database software you are usig, Eplan is most likely able to integrate with it. More and more companies are using Eplan. And our customers also like to get Eplan schematics from us. It seems to becomming a standard. We even hired an Eplan guy to redo our schematics.
Kind regards,
Bas
I am not sure how to interpret a “wire list”.
Does this mean that a single net (With for example nodes A, B and C) has multiple names (“Wire from A to B”, and “Wire from B to C”)?
This would also imply that the software knows there is no direct wire from A to C. KiCad does not have a method to handle information like that. It just knows A, B and C are the same net, and on the PCB the connection order may very well be different as in the schematic.
The closest you can get in KiCad (at the moment) is to work with net ties. Net ties split a single net into sub sections in the schematic (and each section can have it’s own label), but they are a physical short on the PCB. And therefore they enforce a defined connection order. For example high current tracks to a shunt resistor, and feedback lines form a kelvin connection to that shunt resistor.