No, the only change is that each footprint or model file needs a hash somewhere.
The categories etc are taken from the existing Keywords field.
The database is sqlite on your own PC.
The drive to single file per symbol/footprint/model has too much inertia to fight. I am trying to figure out how to make that work in a real world of erratic Internet, finite hosting bandwidth and slow hard disk file access
Ah ok, so you’re simply suggesting a single (flattened) directory - I see (I misread your comment initially).
Yes, but maybe split A-Z due to possible hosting limits on number of files
Hi,
I prefer having it in one download. It works fine. If you split it the whole exercise becomes complex.
If it a’int broke don’t fix it.
This is about nightly test versions, not the regular stable production version of the program.
There is a new version every night… the bandwidth costs to KiCAD and people downloading it to test it are not helpful and usually the libraries do not change as much, which is why testers do not want to download it every time they are going to test the new version.
This is still broken and it still needs fixing.
3 Likes
Indeed. Even copying the 3d models from the installer to the hard drive (SSD) takes several minutes, so I don’t want to install the libraries at all with nightly builds. I have nothing against self-contained installer for the stable release.
Another annoying thing with the installer is that it blindly overwrites previous version and don’t let you handle them as separate. Especially we who test and play with versions should be able to install side by side, for example “KiCad 5” and “KiCad nightly” so that there would be no need for complex instructions for how to do it manually (which I have written to the FAQ).
These changes shouldn’t be problematic or difficult at all (relatively speaking), they would just need some volunteer to do them.
2 Likes
I personally open the installer file with 7-zip and replace only the bin and lib directories of my installed version.
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Most of the size is due to 3d files
If installer can be split in two i.e. main application package with symbol & footprints and separate installer download only packaged 3d files
The 3D part should be optional download… and I’m not talking about only nightly. This should be implemented for regular release too.
There are still plenty of users who are beginners who don’t need 3D view from the start; or some people like me, who design PCBs to be mounted in a panel with plenty of space - in this case I do not need to provide 3d drawing of the panel
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Bwahaha. I should do this from next time. Can’t believe I missed this simple option.
How does that help with the download size?
I can pretty easily uncheck the library options in the installer, so I don’t know if using a zip manager makes installing any quicker.
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It doesn’t. My quote was referring to the copy time of the 3d models you mentioned. And I don’t want to use the installer because I have 3 different versions (stable, 5.1-dev and 6-dev) and I don’t want to risk to alter my installations. YMMV.
I can understand that. It’s easy to forget to change the installation directory when using the installer daily (for nightly builds). But having the version appended automatically to the installation folder (and to the Start Menu shortcuts), as I suggested above, would help - there would be no need for any workaround.
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I gotchu
That was quick 
I hope it will be taken as default, at least for nightlies. Unfortunately it needs some setting up, so if nobody is willing to do that work, too, it will be useless. After all normal users almost never build the installer.
The same may be the case with the installation directory and the shortcuts. It’s easy to set them but it would need some setup so that it would be automatic with nightly builds. And the config folder should be set up while building KiCad itself, the installer doesn’t help with that.
One problem at a time. My PR solves the “too big” issue.
I was just speculating
If you really are willing to take the second problem, too, I suggest you first make sure it will actually be used when creating the official installers. Maybe @nickoe has something to say about that.
We already have ongoing exchange on github in PR comments. Kicad folks are quite responsive
Also the way I set it up the new light installer will become the default even if nothing changes in release pipeline. Some tweaks will be necessary to keep the old full installer.
the only issue I see is that there is no offline full installer …
in some user case this could be an issue.
There is, I kept the old installer, just renamed it. Whoever manages the release pipeline will just have one more exe to upload.
perfect then … I know that in some user case people prefer to download the full installer and install on offline computer the package.