gEDA-user: Re: PCB: Moving the endpoint of a line

["Kai-Martin Knaak" <kmk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Wed, 13 Sep 2006 07:19:41 -0400, Harry Eaton wrote:

> You may be having a hard time getting the crosshair close enough to the 
> end-point.

I am having a hard time to hit the end point, too. Because of this, I find
manipulating existing tracks a real pain and tend to remove them and do a 
manual redraw. 


> This can happen if you have (a) too fine a grid and zoomed in
> closely

When I work with SMD and thru hole packages, it seems necessary to work
with a 5 mil grid. Is this already "too fine"? Can you give details how
the sensitive size of the end point is calculated? 


> - the center can be hard to accurately estimate and when zoomed
> in closely the program requires that you grab it more accurately;
                                           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Why is this so? It sort of nullifies the benefit of zooming in.


> or (b) too coarse a grid and not having the "crosshair snaps to pins
> pads and lines" setting checked.

What is a good grid that avoids both, a) and b) ?


> Of course you can use thin-draw to more easily see the actual end-point

I'll try that hint. 


> Bottom line, the easiest way to do guarantee reaching an end point is
> either zoomed out so that the graphic "slop" will put you close to the
> end point, or with a coarse grid and snap to ends turned on.

I think, the root of the problem is lack of visible feedback. You have to
guess where the sensitive area is. How about a visible handle at the end
of a line under the current position of the mouse pointer? This is how
most other drawing programs do it. The easiest way to implement this might
be a little square with xor-ed color at the end of the current line. Are
there severe drawbacks of this solution?

---<(kaimartin)>---
-- 
Kai-Martin Knaak
http://lilalaser.de/blog



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