Coloring a component in the schematic

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mpaalanen
Posts: 47
Joined: 21 Jul 2010, 10:05

Coloring a component in the schematic

#1 Post by mpaalanen » 27 Jan 2022, 11:15

Would it be a big deal to implement the feature that is so common in the other pcb cad programs, i.e. a selectable component fill color.
I am a very happy user of the pcb editor trace coloring option and consider it a real benefit in helping to visually parse the network.
IMO a similar benefit could be had if the schematic supported more visual aids, the primary one being color. Also configurable line weights and styles would be a real nice addition.
Any chance of seeing those in the future?

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KevinA
Posts: 639
Joined: 18 Dec 2015, 08:35

Re: Coloring a component in the schematic

#2 Post by KevinA » 27 Jan 2022, 11:27

mpaalanen wrote: 27 Jan 2022, 11:15 Would it be a big deal to implement the feature that is so common in the other pcb cad programs, i.e. a selectable component fill color.
I am a very happy user of the pcb editor trace coloring option and consider it a real benefit in helping to visually parse the network.
IMO a similar benefit could be had if the schematic supported more visual aids, the primary one being color. Also configurable line weights and styles would be a real nice addition.
Any chance of seeing those in the future?
Print out and use:
cray.jpg
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Taken care of Alex, keep working on push&shove

mpaalanen
Posts: 47
Joined: 21 Jul 2010, 10:05

Re: Coloring a component in the schematic

#3 Post by mpaalanen » 29 Jan 2022, 10:35

Thanks for your 2 cents.
And what would the Diptrace team think of this?

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KevinA
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Re: Coloring a component in the schematic

#4 Post by KevinA » 29 Jan 2022, 15:39

mpaalanen wrote: 29 Jan 2022, 10:35 Thanks for your 2 cents.
And what would the Diptrace team think of this?
As a person that owns the DipTrace Full package and designs PCBs having Push and Shove completed before I die from old age would be a good thing but watching every new user of DipTrace post their wondrous new features needed knowing that the programmers might try to add that 'wondrous feature' during a break just to end up spending weeks on it and meanwhile Push & Shove creeps along.
by Alex
26 Mar 2012, 05:24
The "push&shove" is option of interactive routing. We plan to implement interactive routing in future, but it is complex feature and cannot be developed quickly.

Tomg
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Joined: 20 Jun 2015, 07:39

Re: Coloring a component in the schematic

#5 Post by Tomg » 29 Jan 2022, 15:51

mpaalanen wrote:
Would it be a big deal to implement the feature that is so common in the other pcb cad programs, i.e. a selectable component fill color.
I am a very happy user of the pcb editor trace coloring option and consider it a real benefit in helping to visually parse the network.
IMO a similar benefit could be had if the schematic supported more visual aids, the primary one being color. Also configurable line weights and styles would be a real nice addition.
Any chance of seeing those in the future?
For what it's worth, I think they are relevant and important suggestions. There have been previous requests for these features, but so far nothing has come of them. Here are two from the past...
* Component colors - viewtopic.php?f=8&t=13175&p=27647
* Line styles - viewtopic.php?f=8&t=3964&p=18401

I'm guessing Novarm/DipTrace have other priorities right now and are presently devoting their limited resources to developing a new "push & shove" tool. They are not one of the larger EDA corporations like Altium/Cadence/Autodesk with seemingly unlimited manpower, but I do hope these ideas can be implemented soon after the new tool is introduced.

p.s. As a temporary workaround for not having colored components in the schematic editor, I often create filled/colored drawing objects of the same shape and size and place them over their respective components.
Tom

mpaalanen
Posts: 47
Joined: 21 Jul 2010, 10:05

Re: Coloring a component in the schematic

#6 Post by mpaalanen » 30 Jan 2022, 07:36

While i agree that push & shove far exceeds nice colors in practical significance, i am also sure that implementation would be a (almost) trivial thing compared to the first one. I also don't see the harm in requesting features, especially as i have no problem taking no for an answer.
As far as DipTrace usage is concerned, i have been a regular user since version 1.2 or 1.3, i forget which. I too have the full package and use it as the tool of choice when designing PCBs in my profession as a private consultant. Only when the customer demands or situation warrants, will i use other tools such as Altium.

Alex
Technical Support
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Joined: 13 Jun 2010, 23:43

Re: Coloring a component in the schematic

#7 Post by Alex » 31 Jan 2022, 20:44

Thank you for the feature request. We will consider selectable component fill color and line styles (solid, dashed, dotted) for future versions.

bird
Posts: 70
Joined: 01 Feb 2016, 14:26
Location: TN, USA

Re: Coloring a component in the schematic

#8 Post by bird » 08 Feb 2023, 04:31

Thank you Alex for the good news... although I realized that your post was only 23 days before Feb. 24... still we'll be waiting for this features whatever it takes... life goes on.
This is not just a "nice" feature but very big help in the development of a complex schematic. As I remember my days of wrestling with Eagle (before I discovered DT) the only advantage of Eagle over DT was the rich visual editing of the schematic components (especially colors) that made the schematic easier to understand ... I regularly use the coloring of the nets in DT to find the problems across the pages and the same feature to fill the component is surely missing...

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