PcbNew: Items are selectable even if all layers they exist on are turned off (lp:#1751960)

Original report created by Jon Evans (craftyjon)

Reported by Andy Peters

I imported a DXF file into the Cmts.User layer (nothing else is on it) and
I need to move it into a specific location. Since there is no “group all of
this stuff into one thing” feature (which I admittedly hadn’t thought about
until just now), my imported thing is a bunch of lines and arcs.

To move it, I turned off all of the layers except Cmts.User and used the
mouse to draw a selection box around the imported lines. But! The selection
includes all sorts of other stuff which was invisible. Checking the “Items”
visibility I see that most things are selected — Footprints, References,
Pads, Tracks, Vias, Holes. But since their layers are turned off, they’re
not visible. (which is the expected result.)

Shouldn’t the block-select logic select only stuff which is actually
visible? That is, if the layer is not visible and I don’t see a thing, I
should not be able to select that thing, period.

(Aside: is there any way to combine things like a mechanical outline DXF
imported into an auxiliary layer? I designed a small board that goes behind
a front panel and I went to check whether it would actually fit, and
realized that while I can import the panel outline, moving it as one unit,
with an anchor point like any regular footprint, doesn’t work.)

Thanks, and I have to say that Kicad is really working out here. The two
boards I want to fab this week are my 9th and 10th Kicad designs.


Application: kicad
Version: (5.0.0-rc2-dev-16-g319b7cf), release build
Libraries:
    wxWidgets 3.0.4
    libcurl/7.54.0 LibreSSL/2.0.20 zlib/1.2.11 nghttp2/1.24.0
Platform: Mac OS X (Darwin 17.4.0 x86_64), 64 bit, Little endian, wxMac
Build Info:
    wxWidgets: 3.0.4 (UTF-8,STL containers,compatible with 2.8)
    Boost: 1.61.0
    Curl: 7.43.0
    Compiler: Clang 7.3.0 with C++ ABI 1002

Build settings:
    USE_WX_GRAPHICS_CONTEXT=ON
    USE_WX_OVERLAY=ON
    KICAD_SCRIPTING=ON
    KICAD_SCRIPTING_MODULES=ON
    KICAD_SCRIPTING_WXPYTHON=ON
    KICAD_SCRIPTING_ACTION_MENU=ON
    BUILD_GITHUB_PLUGIN=ON
    KICAD_USE_OCE=ON
    KICAD_SPICE=ON