Symbol Editor Save on OSX Nightlies

I’m running the following the Mac nightly per below. For some reason, I do not see a way to select the current working library in the symbol editor anymore. For instance, I want to open a symbol from one library to edit (this works fine), then select a different local active library to save the edited symbol into. I know there has been a ton of symbol library work in the nightlies, so I suspect I am just missing something in the new editor.

‘Save Current Library’ is grayed out, and I not longer the the ‘Select Library’ icon to change the active library to save to.

Thanks!

Application: kicad
Version: (2018-01-11 revision 6f2beeb)-master, release build
Libraries:
wxWidgets 3.0.2
libcurl/7.54.0 SecureTransport zlib/1.2.8
Platform: Mac OS X (Darwin 16.7.0 x86_64), 64 bit, Little endian, wxMac
Build Info:
wxWidgets: 3.0.2 (UTF-8,STL containers,compatible with 2.8)
Boost: 1.61.0
Curl: 7.43.0
Compiler: Clang 7.3.0 with C++ ABI 1002

Build settings:
USE_WX_GRAPHICS_CONTEXT=ON
USE_WX_OVERLAY=ON
KICAD_SCRIPTING=ON
KICAD_SCRIPTING_MODULES=ON
KICAD_SCRIPTING_WXPYTHON=ON
KICAD_SCRIPTING_ACTION_MENU=ON
BUILD_GITHUB_PLUGIN=ON
KICAD_USE_OCE=ON
KICAD_SPICE=ON

Bug reports should really be made over at the bugtracker. https://bugs.launchpad.net/kicad

I think this is likely to be a v5 FAQ. The old non-intuitive interface has been changed and improved to create a new non-intuitive interface. :slight_smile: It seems the devs like secret hidden menus… well, software should be fun, and puzzles are fun, right? [Answer: no!]

The “select library” paradigm has gone. There is a new secret menu only accessible if you right click on the part in the tree view. This gives access to copy/paste/duplicate options.

So I suggest workflow for your case (copy and edit a symbol in different library) is:

  1. Select the source symbol in tree view
  2. Right click to get menu
  3. Select Copy Symbol
  4. Select destination library
  5. Right click and do Paste symbol

I’m not sure what to do if you need to copy a symbol and rename it at the same time, ideas anyone?

1 Like

Not possible in one action. But you can copy it to your target lib and rename it by changing the value field.
But here is the tricky part. you can not change the value field in the field properties dialog. You can only change it on the canvas. (press e while on top of the field or right-click edit)

There was already some discussion about this on the mailing list. I don’t think that part of the interface will get much better before the v5 release.

What if the target lib has a symbol with the same name? I guess you would need to rename it first to a name unique to the two libraries, then copy and rename it again.

I thought it had been decided to use “symbol” everywhere? The symbol editor refers to parts in many places.

I am currently not on my pc with nightly build installed. If i remember correctly copying a symbol into a lib that already has such a symbol will add some suffix to the inserted symbol. But i could be wrong.

Duplicate does it for sure. So one could duplicate the symbol, copy the duplicate and rename it either before or after duplication.

For anyone uncertain, i agree that the user interface of the symbol editor is kind of lacking.

This is exactly what I was looking for, thanks. I didn’t think it was a bug, just that I must not understand the new workflow.

Also, while I agree with the “hidden menu” sentiment (I couldn’t find it!), I do like the where the right click copy-and-paste workflow is going now that I have used it. I does seem quicker than before. I would pop up the symbol ‘Name’ dialog when pasting to the new Lib in order to have the opportunity to change the name. The old workflow did pop up the name dialog when you hit ‘Save’.

I am looking for further library editor improvements ideas. So far I noticed:

  • Library editor should use ‘symbol’ instead of ‘part’
    Agreed, I am going to fix it today.

  • Hidden right-click context menu
    How would you expose it, so it is easier to notice by the user?

  • Ask for a new symbol name while pasting/duplicating
    I am sure some people will find it annoying if they get a pop-up every time. A possible compromise would be to ask for a new name when there is a conflict. Thoughts?

  • Symbol renaming
    I agree it is strange that one cannot rename a symbol via symbol properties dialog, I guess it should be fixed. I know that someone also asked for a right-click context menu entry to rename a symbol.

If you rely on so much on the left click menu, you might also want to add an option to rename symbols from it.

I don’t think the left click menu is that hidden. Long time kicad users are just used to a different work flow.

Maybe a plog post that highlights the differences in workflow? Or a short introductionary video? We can then link it from the FAQ section.

Also place the menu options on the main Edit menu.

[quote]Ask for a new symbol name while pasting/duplicating
I am sure some people will find it annoying if they get a pop-up every time. A possible compromise would be to ask for a new name when there is a conflict. Thoughts?[/quote]

Agreed, there is only a need for a dialog if there is a conflict.

[quote]Symbol renaming
I agree it is strange that one cannot rename a symbol via symbol properties dialog, I guess it should be fixed. I know that someone also asked for a right-click context menu entry to rename a symbol.
[/quote]

A rename option in the menu is how everyone else does it, even if there is a “rename in tree” method like in file explorers.

Another oddity, but not a biggie, if I press the “menu” key on Windows keyboard, I get a different menu to the one if I right click when a symbol is selected in the tree. I never use that key, but possibly some people do.

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