| [onpoint] | on-point by Robert Drehmel
I have plans on my TODO list - these have lower priority
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+ pcb-rnd - the [onpoint] patches
+
+Robert Drehmel writes:
+
+When (e.g.) routing 5mm power traces on a small grid, it's not always easy to hit the
+point where the trace ended (which is the center of the semicircle at the end of the
+line) to start the next line. If you have selected the line tool, finding the end of
+the line can become guesswork as the cursor doesn't change shape like it does with the
+select tool.
+I want my traces to consist of lines and arcs that are perfectly connected and I want
+to work as fast as possible.
+
+Attached is a small patch that
+
+ - makes it possible to deactivate snapping to "some sensible point along a line".
+ (that's what a comment in the code says). This snapping algorithm gets in the way
+ sometimes so you have to slowly go over a line to find out where it really ends,
+ bouncing back and forth between the points of the small grid, the end of the line
+ and these "sensible points", which is wasting time. The command is
+ "Display(ToggleSnapOffGridLine)". It is still activated by default to avoid
+ violating POLA.
+
+ - more importantly, introduces a new command called "Display(ToggleHighlightOnPoint)"
+ that highlights all lines and arcs which have (end)points exactly on the position
+ where the cross hair is currently snapped to. It therefore helps finding the end
+ points of lines and arcs, but sometimes also shows redundant traces, traces that
+ aren't perfectly connected to each other, traces that don't end directly on the
+ center of a via but should, etc. It works with thin draw too and I tested it with
+ gtk and lesstif.
+
+I use the second option mostly in conjunction with deactivating the first. Both commands
+have been added to the menu by means of (g)pcb-menu.res.in and are available as command
+line options as well.
+Caveats:
+ - The HID API expects all HIDs to make a copy of the color string when setting a color.
+ - The function that lightens up a color could be improved.
+ - I used it for a while, but after porting it from my local fork, it probably needs
+ more testing.
+
+
+ save/load and compatibility
+Not affected.
+
+ plans
+The feature is complete.
+
+
+
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