I am new to schematic capture/board layout programs so my 2 cents worth is probably only worth 1 cent. KiCad is the only package I have considered so far, mainly because it is open source/freeware.
In working with KiCad, I have become frustrated with the user interface as well. Perhaps the way KiCad works is the norm for such packages, maybe not. If KiCad had an interface that more closely mimicked the generally-accepted norms for mouse gestures it would be less frustrating to learn. Then again, maybe KiCad works the way most schematic capture programs work and I just need to learn that. Maybe it's just a matter of setting up default actions that match the most commonly used. I expected the default move to move and keep connections with it (or is that drag?). It's annoying to move a 100-pin chip with all its connections only to find everything was disconnected, manually reconnect them all and then find out the drag (or was that move) would have kept the connections intact. Then how do I straighten out the other ends of the lines connected to busses? I guess I need to read the manuals more thoroughly for this package. If the user interface were just a little more intuitive (i.e. more like accepted standards that most graphics packages follow) it would be a lot less of a learning curve. Then again, maybe it just works like all the other packages and thus is quicker to learn for those experienced in such things? Have a blessed day, Greg ________________________________ From: Robert <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Monday, May 4, 2009 10:13:36 AM Subject: Re: [kicad-users] KiCad regrettably still is history free and not parametric! > It seems to be the standard ever since the Mac brought the Xerox interface > to the mainstream... > It is the case on pretty much every program that supports dragging of > objects even word for windows... Most applications, including Word, have no concept of wires or tracks, so I don't understand your argument. Kicad both allows you to move a component with wire/tracks attached, and without, but obviously it's up to you to chose which you want, either from the context menu or by using the keyboard modifiers.. It's worth saying that one of the problems with schematic capture and board layout is the sheer number of things a mouse operation might mean, and the user would, of course, like the application to guess correctly the meaning of every one. The kicad interface deals with that complexity pretty well IMHO. > Maybe you don't now, but wouldn't you use it when laying out a board? No, I hardly ever use drag for anything in kicad because kicad isn't a push-and-shove router. For that kind of functionality kicad does provide an interface to Freerouter. Have you tried it? > Right click of course does that I know, but read my description of the > standard again, it should also be able to do it on multiple items selected - > but selecting multiple items isn't even supported yet! You can select multiple items and right-click for a context menu. It does not, I grant you, allow you to edit a common set of properties; I can imagine that coming up with a set of rules to determine what any combination of kicad objects have in common would be interesting. One handy feature of kicad is that the files are text files, so you can (as I did recently) implement bulk edits with nothing more exotic than a text editor. Kicad is not perfect, but if the interface is not as you personally would like it there are options open to you, ranging from asking on this list ways of doing things all the way through to modifying the code yourself. And for this you pay not one single penny. Compare that with the spectacularly expensive commercial offerings that have seriously flawed and seriously weird stone-age interfaces. Regards, Robert. ------------------------------------ Please read the Kicad FAQ in the group files section before posting your question. Please post your bug reports here. They will be picked up by the creator of Kicad. Please visit http://www.kicadlib.org for details of how to contribute your symbols/modules to the kicad library. For building Kicad from source and other development questions visit the kicad-devel group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-develYahoo! Groups Links
