Where is the "export" for user.hotkeys?

Software
1

Why was the export moved away from the import button?
Why was it assumed that users know where to find the export?
Why are user settings not bundled together in a single export file?

2

I think the idea behind not having export for hotkeys, sym-lib-table, fp-lib-table and may be other configurations is that such export task would be just to copy a file under the different name.

3

JM2C: But this would be the easiest way to transfer settings from one machine/user to another ….

4

Which way changing the file name will help?

5

Not changing the file name… But with export I could directly save it were I want to have the file.
With the actual implementation “Reveal Preferences in Finder” it opens the folder with all settings.
I have then to find the correct file as ex. “user.hotkeys” and copy/paste it to a new location. This seems to be more complex than having an export button/function.

For me this is not a problem because I sync all those file with a Git Repo for different machines :slight_smile:

6

I have never used Git but it is also not a problem for me. I think getting hotkeys in a form of file is rather rare need (I never had it). KiCad UI even without functions to export files that by default are text files is enough complicated. Imports is the other subject as file format can be changed between versions.

1 Like
7
  1. Is there even an export function? Normally KiCad has options to import settings (from a file, or from another project). Export is mostly (only?) for fabrication output.
  2. There is an: Open Preferences Directory button in the preferences, which gives you quick access to all the configuration files.
  3. Everything in KiCad’s configuration directory are “user settings”. Putting that all together in a single file is not practical.

I do agree that the current situation has room for improvement. Especially integrating customized settings after a mayor version update of KiCad is a neglected issue. See for example this thread about library configuration. Using a source code diff and merge program such as meldmerge works quite good. Also because each KiCad version has it’s own configuration directory. You can rename a directory to create a backup. cobble settings together from multiple files and other settings.

Also, making something comparable inside KiCad would be a lot of work with relatively little benefit. There are many much more important sections in KiCad which will benefit from the limited resources that the KiCad developers have.

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