DEM remarks
General
- Assembly documentation
We should check with people responsible for assembling boards what kind of documentation do they expect. Alternatively we can open an EDMS project and see what files are stored in xxx-assy.zip archives.
This probably would require a converter or an export plugin in KiCad.
TODO: Check Tom's assembly drawings generator script.
Eeschema
- Good quality BOM generator
The current user interface is terrible. It requires to choose a file that provides an xsltproc plugin (if you know where to look for one). As far as I know, it can generate only .csv files.
A good candidate to fix the problem is Oliver Walters component table viewer.
Drop XSLT, switch to Python plugins? Be sure they are automatically detected, so all the user has to do is to pick the output format and settings.
- Default fields for new components
Currently there are a few default fields (name, value, footprint), so for each new component others have to be added manually (e.g. datasheet link, mounted, tolerance).
These fields should be used by the BOM generator.
A possible solution is to import .csv files with a list of pins and their properties. There are external tools that already exploit this approach.
- Editable pin table
Schematic library editor currently lists pins in read-only mode. It should be modified to enable changing the properties values.
- Copy/paste
Especially for drawings. One can export a drawing and import it to a schematic sheet, but is very cumbersome.
- Display field names
Now only the values are displayed, so for boolean type fields it is not clear what does it mean (e.g. "No" vs "Mounted: No").
Pcbnew
- STEPs
Import and export. It might be already doable with KiCad, I need to check. Perhaps it requires a few hackish tricks that could be replaced with a nice UI.
- Selecting layers when importing DXF files Right now KiCad imports all DXF layers, which is not always convenient. Adding a listbox to select layers would significantly improve the importer functionality.
- Selecting anchor imported DXF files
Pcbnew place the imported DXF graphics according to the option selected in the import dialog and do not move it. For manual placement mode, there should be another radio button.
The imported graphics should be dragged by the DXF origin. It is especially important when a few DXF files are imported, as there are cases when the final output is not aligned, or the alignment is hard to achieve.
- DRC
KiCad and Altium DRC capabilities are two different worlds at the moment. Unfortunately, it might be a long process to introduce more complex DRC rules in KiCad.
TODO: Make the list of the most important rules to implemented first.
- Enable snapping to characteristic points for the measurement tool
It is hard to accurately measure distance relying solely on vision. Snapping could be enabled for other tools as well (e.g. drawing).
- Object inspector
Modifying a single property for a number of items is a tedious task.
- More sophisticated dimensioning tools
It is a large package that would need a proper specification. Generally speaking, it would be great to have dimension lines associated with certain points, so the dimensions are automatically updated when the associated point coordinate changes.
- High contrast mode for footprint editor
- Reset grid & auxiliary origin
Bugs (to be confirmed and posted on the bug tracker)
- Create array does not work correctly when lowercase letters are used for requested range
- 'Invisible' texts should disappear not only after unchecking 'Hidden text' checkbox in the Render tab, but also after disabling the original layer visibility.
- When saving a footprint with a different name, the 'Value' field is not updated.