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Some feature suggestions and a few bugs

Posted: 03 Feb 2016, 02:01
by aliebold
These are some features that, I think, would make life a lot easier and a few bugs that I have noticed. I apologize for any of these that are already on your to-do list.

New Features
  1. When importing graphics, give the option to match one drawn dimension and set the other dimension automatically to match the aspect ratio of the graphic. Then maintain the aspect ratio when resizing.
  2. When in the schematic editor, it would be very convenient if you could right click a part and have an "Edit Component" option, which would open the part in the Component editor.
  3. When routing, it would be very handy to be able to lock traces parallel to each other (vertical, horizontal, and especially diagonal) with a defined off set, and be able to slide them around as a group. This would prevent having to re-route/layout large numbers of traces, when you just have to scoot them over a little.
Bugs
  1. In the 3D viewer, imported graphics the bottom silkscreen do not appear as the selected color. They are typically shown as black.
  2. When using page numbering in the schematic editor (i.e. Page 1:101,102,103; Page 2:201,202,...) a new component gets the lowest index of the schematic, rather than the page. (i.e. A new cap on page 3 gets the refdes C8 instead of C203.) I suppose this is due to the feature being a renumbering function rather than a schematic setting.
  3. When drawing traces in the schematic editor, the editor seems to remember the identity of each line drawn, rather than treating the resulting net as an entity. This becomes annoying when you start sliding the connections. If you draw a line with a right angle to connect two parts and then connect a third part to the bend, the editor remembers that there is a right angle wire and another wire connected to it. Therefore you can't slide the connection point of the connecting wire past the bend in the original wire. I would much prefer the editor to simply maintain the same connection and give me free range of motion.
Overall, DipTrace is a great piece of software and it is incredibly valuable. (Especially for its cost.) I am looking forward to the full release of 2.9.

-- 04 Feb 2016, 11:22 --

Also, I would like to be able to view ALL of the layers in the PCB layout, including mask, paste, etc.

It would also be great if you could copy and paste a table format (e.g. Excel) into the pin manager, when making a component.

-- 15 Feb 2016, 13:20 --

Also, it would be nice to be able to generate an "assembly" BOM, which would sort parts by side (top or bottom).