The third-button pop-up menu (at least in the Xaw version, I haven't checked the GTK lately) has an entry to break the element under the cursor directly, which is very much like what you were asking for.
As for keeping the square pads, if you type "q" with the cursor over some portion of the element outline instead of a pad, it will square all pads at once. Thus it is in fact not so complicated. I really need to write a good book describing each of the multitude of ways to accomplish tasks in PCB. Most people do things the hard way because they like to drop through deep menus and byzanitne dialogs instead of memorizing a few key strokes. h. > One has to > - select element > - copy into buffer > - break buffer into pieces > - paste buffer > - do change > - select everything > - copy into buffer > - convert buffer into element > - paste buffer > - go over every pad and press q > > Why must it be so complicated? Couldn't it be > > - select element > - break selection into pieces > - do change > - select everything > - compose selection into element > > CL<
