Just discovered that the reference identifier cannot contain text variable references.
Why shouldn’t there be a text variable in front of the reference identifier if it is a number?
Example:
An electronic device has 5 assemblies. Each assembly has 4 pages of circuit diagrams.
It makes sense to assign a running number to each assembly.
I can then use this to establish the logical connection to the other module.
I don’t have to give each component the number on the page. If the number of the assembly changes, I can do this in the setup wizard and all components automatically receive the new assembly number.
Best regards
Lutz
When text variables were introduced, it was deemed too error prone to allow them to be used in reference designators because reference designators are handled mostly automatically and KiCad expects certain rules for them. There may be plans to allow more flexibility.
But why do you want to use the standardized Reference field for that? Isn’t it enough to create another text field and use ${COMMENT2}${REFERENCE} there?
OK, how does this work when I define a symbol?
I once wrote a (non official) request of removing KiCad’s dependency of the RefDes and use the UUID’s for “everything” instead. RefDes would then just be used for human readability and for things like re-linking footprints to schematic symbols for when repair is needed. The reaction I got (also non official) was that UUID’s would be “better” in some ways, it was estimated as being too much effort for too little gain.
This is already mostly how KiCad works today. But there are parts that still depend on RefDes, and they assume that it is a fixed string prefix and number suffix. That assumption may be removed sometime in the future.
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