WYSIWYG editing for pads (lp:#1775545)
Original report created by eelik (eelik)
I would like to have WYSIWYG size editing for pads, at least for the
footprint editor.
For example, I want to resize a pad so that the right size is more to the
right but left size is kept where it was. Now I have to open the properties
dialog and set both new x-size and new location, either after doing some
calculation or by entering a formula which I have to remember. Even before
that I have to think about the coordinates or size and remember it while I
edit the properties.
On the contrary, zones don't have such properties but are edited with
WYSIWYG principle. With a square zone I can just select the zone, grab the
white ball (resize handle) and drag. Maybe something similar could be done
with pads?
I don't think identical to zones would be the best option. If the resize
handles appear every time a pad is selected it would look messy and would
lead to accidental resizings and difficulties in moving pads (which is
probably more common situation than editing their size). Maybe it would be
better to have a context menu item "Resize" which would select the pad,
show the handles and allow resizing.
The behavior should of course be a bit different from zones - it would
allow dragging only along the axis of the pad (like Control+drag with
zones). Dragging from a corner wouldn't be necessary in my opinion, two
consecutive drags in two directions would do that if needed.
This possibility would make KiCad feature set more consistent with itself:
1. Zones can be edited in this way, pads not, even though pads are also
geometrically polygons.
2. Pads can be moved WYSIWYG, so X/Y coordinates can be edited WYSIWYG but
X/Y size can't.
Original tags: pcbnew