Vias not showing DRC boundary gap

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1

When I add vias to a board, I do not see any DRC boundaries round them like I do on other pads.

Is this normal - or does it mean that for some reason DRC clearances are not applied to vias?

2

Via’s are not pads.
They are considered part of the tracks.
Set your own preference with:

Pcbnew / Preferences / Preferences / Pcbnew / Display Options / Clearance Outlines

image

3

Thanks. Only seem to show up with ‘show always’. Odd really.

4

That’s mostly because we have to shorten the strings to fit in the dialog. Their “actual” meanings:

  • Do no show
  • Show when creating tracks in the router
  • Show with via clearance at end when creating tracks in the router
  • Show with via clearance at end when creating tracks in the router or when dragging tracks
  • Show always
5

My first response was “Read the tool tips”.

image

But it does not seem very useful.
The screenshot is from a current V5.99, but I’m guessing the tooltip is from KiCad V4 or earlier.

I’m almost tempted to create an issue for this, but a single tooltip is too small a dust speck.

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7

I can see the logic from a software development point of view of the via DRC border being switched on and off with tracks - a via being part of the track.

However looking at it as a user, it makes more sense to me for it to be switched on and off with the component pad DRC borders - because at the end of the day, a pad is a pad, however it got there.

8

A via is not a pad.
You even spell it differently.

9

I am afraid you miss my point.

10

It’s not a software development point of view, it’s EDA point of view, because pad is a land pattern for component connection, while via is for a track going through the board.

11

We all have our own opinions. Mine is simply that from a user perspective I personally would find it more useful to see borders around vias as for component pads without cluttering the view up with borders around tracks. However, if I were designing the software architecture, I might see it differently.

12

I don’t think people are disagreeing with your sentiment that more fine controls of what elements show borders can be useful. It’s thtis statement

with the implication that via is also a pad that is just incorrect both from user and developer point of view.

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