I have designed a couple of simple footprints. On the silk layer, I have text which says “REF**” which is automatically replaced with the correct designator on the PCB, eg U1, U2, U3 etc.
I would like to do precisely the same thing on the Fab layer too, so I’ve also written “REF**” on the Fab layer. However, this doesn’t seem to be getting replaced by the true designator, so I have “REF**” written all over my Fab layer on the PCB.
What is the correct way to fix this? Thanks in advance.
That seems to work for one component and not another. Seems a little bit strange.
When I put “%R” on the Fab layer of a resistor footprint, it gets replaced with “REF**” in the footprint editor, even though the dialog box says “%R”. On the PCB though, it does get correctly replaced with “R1”.
If I follow the same procedure for an IC, I put “%U” on the Fab layer of an IC footprint, it gets replaced with a “?” in the footprint editor and also appears as “?” on the PCB.
Ahh, that will be my mistake then. I thought it was “R” for resistor. Are there any docs for how these placeholder phrases work? I don’t see anything on this in the PCBnew manual.
Is the routine to open files smart enough to see the %R and change it to ${REFERENCE} to make loading existing designs made under V5 work when loading under 5.99 (eventually V6)?