I prefer kayboard than menu. And I also do a mistakes but different. When I position footprints I use M and R hotkeys and mouse wheel. And sometimes I forget that my finger is still at R end when I want to move the next footprint I press R instead of M.
I am not focused on speed. I have always the problem how to fit everything into a limited space so in my case combination is more important than speed.
I didn’t wrote that it is good to have this hotkey. I was trying only to find the answer to the question: why there is a hotkey for it.
Since I read your first post I’m terrified there’s such a hot-key.
I think that not all.
Even I don’t change schematic grid it happens (I think since V6) that I got things off grid. It happens when I move selection. When I select a big part of schematic to move it than everything is OK. But sometimes if I select small part including some off grid texts (not values or references, but txt objects) then it is simply not possible to have it in grid after moving. If offset is very small you can not notice it at first.
But I switched to V6 very late (I had only Win7 PCs) and when I noticed that problem V7 was coming soon so I decided to check it with V7 before I will report it. But with V7 there were some problems said here so I decided to wait. I installed V7 month or two ago but except opening and saving all my projects I didn’t do anything more. I am just designing my first PCB with V7. I didn’t noticed that problem, but this is next version of PCB and needed very little work at schematic.
Yesterday I noticed some other problems. When updating from V6 to V7 my symbol libraries must have got some randomly looking modifications (flags deciding that except filed value is shown (like R1) also the field name is shown) and when I add new symbol to schematic it happens I have to correct it in library, but I’m sure it was correct.
I find N and Shift + N too convenient for the PCB to remove. I’m aware that N is common, so some time ago I set up a hotkey Alt + N for Grid Properties to show me at a glance if I’m on 50mil in the Schematic.
The whole job was only about a minute which included thinking about the hotkey I would assign; not a great amount of time in the design of a Schematic and PCB, or a post on this forum.
Edit: I usually have my fast switching grids set up as 50mil & 1mil. I prefer to locate all the texts with a 1 mil setting rather than use the Ctrl. key, so it has become a habit to check the grid whenever I start using the Schematic.
I agree with this for all the same reasons. Its placement right next to ´M´ is unfortunate.
I’ve changed it but it should be somewhere else by default.
There is also another related annoying thing. The Symbol editor does not have this n shortcut where it is important so you can draw extra details of the part.
As a KiCAD newbie but someone very familiar with certain popular CAD/CAM, video and audio editing software, my preference has always been towards shortcut keys that make sense, are predictable, reliable across the application and don’t require a steep learning curve to understand and use them.
Cycling the grid-size-that-should-never-be-touched settings on the schematics is not a shortcut but a bug or a virus. It is not close of being a productive action. Especially since it is a SILENT action, it has a cyclic behavior, it is not a toggle, and sits RIGHT next to the most used hotkey m.
Seriously, this thing should be disabled or moved to another key or key combination as the default of the Eeschema.
This single key virus does not help anything in the schematic creation but it slows down the schematic creation.
I am not talking about 500+ other important shortcuts.
Also, it is super funny that the Symbol Editor Does Not Have this shortcut available and there is a place where this action would be most used.
Hi again @AlecTron
Sorry, I could have posted my last comment with a little more clarity.
That comment should really have read:
If you are new to Kicad, but not these drawing programs, there are over 500 re-assignable hotkeys that may make adaptation to this program, from another, a little easier.
I don’t have enough fingers or brain cells to count up to 30.
But seriously I don’t go searching for hotkeys. Aside from the usual ones, I just use the menu and then look at the associated hotkey and try to remember it. After about 10 tries, or maybe I’ve overflowed fingers by then, I remember.
I really cannot understand what all the fuss is about with respect to this hotkey.
If you don’t like it, change it.
The same goes for pretty much everything else in this CAD, such as:
Junction dots, Wire widths, Symbols, Footprints, Fonts, Colors, Page Sizes, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.
I confirmed it works on Ubuntu. @RaptorUK confirms Windows.
Anyone else reading this thread wish to try and then confirm?
I’ll repeat my above comment: “N” is a common hotkey, which means it is used on, at least, PCB, Footprint, Symbol & Schematic Editors.
Did you disable this hotkey???
The problem is that people don’t know about it, hit it by accident and mess up the schematic without understanding why it happens. Bad usability, not a bad user.
This is starting to stray from the original post but first let me say my sympathies are with the sufferers of such accidents.
But what would be nice is if KiCad had a hierarchy of hotkey files. First the system hotkeys are read, then the group hotkeys, then user hotkeys. Last setting wins. This would allow groups to have common settings without having to edit every user’s hotkeys. Other apps have such a scheme.
Especially since KiCad comes with symbol libraries that conform to KLC and KLC requires 50 mil pin spacing.
What would help is it KiCad’s configuration by default would be that the schematics would allow only for 50 mil and 100 mil grids, while in symbol editor finer grids would be possible. If user would need finer grids in schematics then the user should be able to add the finer grids.
I think the underlying code to enable this is already there but there must be a bug as grid setting work in pcbeditor, but does not work in schematics editor or symbol editor
For example: editing the pcbnew.json in the KiCad configuration folder results the configured grids to be shown in pcbeditor and default properly selected.
