I have some unwanted net names in my list and also a few typos. I would like to know where kicad stores the list of net names for a project? Can I edit this list with a text editor? It would be much easier than the current method of hand entering a new net name and it would allow me to delete unwanted net names.
You can see the list of nets in the Appearance panel Nets tab in the layout editor.
From there you can use the right mouse button to get the context menu and choose to highlight the net, for example. Every net has a name. If you didn’t assign one with a label, and it’s not connected to a power symbol which is a kind of global label, it will receive an automatically assigned one, as you can see from the screenshot.
Not sure why you need to edit net names as they are usually set by attaching labels or power symbols. If you attached a mistyped label, you can use the net inspector to find the misconnected symbols.
KiCad does not really have a “list of net names”, at least not in the files on disk. Nets are generated dynamically based on coordinates of pins and wires in the schematic.
Have you tried: Schematic Editor / Edit / Find and Replace [Ctrl + Alt + F]
Hmmm, I’m a bit surprised this dialog does not have a checkbox for (limiting the search to) labels (In KiCad V8.0.9).
In KiCad, the schematic is the reference and source for everything, and back annotation is limited (but slowly improving), but often it’s easier to fix things in the schematic, and then update the PCB to forward the changes.
Not strictly true @paulvdh the pcb editor does maintain a list of nets (which is usually sourced from the schematic as you say). Nets can be added to / deleted from the list to support alternative workflows.
@jpawlan If you open the Net Inspector in the pcb editor (View → Panels → Net Inspector), and turn on ‘Show Zero Pad Nets’ and ‘Show Unconnected Nets’ (from the configuration menu found by clicking the spanner in the top right of the Net Inspector panel), you can then select nets, and right click to delete them.
Just use labels for the necessary circuits, this will greatly simplify the work with the circuit and board, and also make it easier to set up rules for circuits (for example uC-* for microcontroller net/pins, X-* for out board net ). The netlist file does not exist in its original form, but you can export the netlist separately. Or use the circuit inspector.
I had the schematic editor in mind when I wrote my comment, because that is the normally the origin of net names, and where net names are assigned to nets with labels. It is possible to generate a nestlist from the schematic and write it to a file (this may be useful for spelling checking or whatever with external tools), and this netlist can also be read into the PCB editor. The PCB editor does indeed have a list of nets, with both net names, and all their connections.