FreeRoute Error Message - Multiple components have identical reference IDs of "1

I'm routing my first circuit and thought I would use FreeRoute.

When I tried to export my design to a DSN file I got the following error:

IO_ERROR: Multiple components have identical reference IDs of "1PIN".
 from /builddir/build/BUILD/kicad-2012.01.19/pcbnew/specctra.cpp : ThrowIOError() : line 119
Unable to export, please fix and try again.

I've run the schematic and the PCB new design checkers and there were no problems listed.

I'm not sure what this message is telling me.  I have a number of components and corresponding modules with a
pin number one,  but, each component and module has a different name.

???

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Re: FreeRoute Error Message - Multiple components have identical reference IDs of "1

I figured this out.  I had four holes for mounting with the same name.  I've changed the names to unique names
and numbers and can now export a DSN file.  However after I run autorouter and export a ses file and then try to
import it into PCBNew I get an error:

IO_ERROR: Session file has 'reference' to non-existent component "Hole1"
 from /builddir/build/BUILD/kicad-2012.01.19/pcbnew/specctra.cpp : ThrowIOError() : line 119
BOARD may be corrupted, do not save it.
Fix problem and try again.

I can see this is still related to my hole modules.  I see it says component. Do I have to create a component in
eeschema for the holes even if they are not connected to anything?

--- In kicad-users@..., "tmortus" <tom_mort <at> ...> wrote:
>
> I'm routing my first circuit and thought I would use FreeRoute.
> 
> When I tried to export my design to a DSN file I got the following error:
> 
> IO_ERROR: Multiple components have identical reference IDs of "1PIN".
>  from /builddir/build/BUILD/kicad-2012.01.19/pcbnew/specctra.cpp : ThrowIOError() : line 119
> Unable to export, please fix and try again.

> 
> I've run the schematic and the PCB new design checkers and there were no problems listed.
> 
> I'm not sure what this message is telling me.  I have a number of components and corresponding modules with a
pin number one,  but, each component and module has a different name.
> 
> ???

Re: Problem with kicad specctra export with round corners on board

--- In kicad-users@..., Robert <birmingham_spider <at> ...> wrote:
>
> Yes, I've seen this, and it's a pain.   You might find it easiest to 
> simply draw the board edge as a rectangle for Freerouting, or as Aaron 
> suggests chamfer the corners.   However, what I found was that it was 
> important how I drew the board edge.   I had to draw each element in 
> turn in the correct order.   If the board has four corners A, B, C, and 
> D, I had to draw A to B, B to C, C to D, D to A.   Anything else 
> resulted in the error message you have reported.   Arcs proved to be 
> impossible to use.
> 
> I suspect the bug is caused by kicad looking at the start and end of 
> each *line* and *as defined in the .brd file*, and checking they match. 
>    If you understand why that approach is flawed, you'll understand how 
> to workaround the problem.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Robert.

I could be wrong, but I am of the opinion currently that there is no bug here.  The segments are pulled out of
list, so the order is not significant, because the list is sequentially searched as the endpoints are
matched up onto a second list of segments (the one being built up during this verification phase).  This
algorithm has no conceptual problems.  I have also done a board using arcs on the perimeter.  The key thing to
remember is that the endpoints must match up EXACTLY.  They cannot be off by even one internal unit.

What is needed is an error report file, so that you get an extract of the PCB_EDGES and a detailed reporting of
the problem.  The UI does not do an adequate job of reporting the error, with sufficient detail to actually
allow you to fix the problem edge(s).  Please also be aware that even if you have accurate end to end edges

Re: Re: Problem with kicad specctra export with round corners on board

> I could be wrong, but I am of the opinion currently that there is no
> bug here.  The segments are pulled out of list, so the order is not
> significant, because the list is sequentially searched as the
> endpoints are matched up onto a second list of segments (the one
> being built up during this verification phase).  This algorithm has
> no conceptual problems.  I have also done a board using arcs on the
> perimeter.  The key thing to remember is that the endpoints must
> match up EXACTLY.  They cannot be off by even one internal unit.

I realised the matching had to be accurate, which is possibly why things 
went awry with arcs for me.   The board concerned had several arcs with 
angles other than 90 degrees.   I just decided it was not worth having 
the battle and selected the lesser hassle of drawing myself a temporary 
board outline with straight lines.

Could the reason for the need for me to draw the lines in a specific 
order be related to accuracy?   I have noticed some weirdness in kicad 
when drawing copper tracks such that one ends up with segments that are 
one or two kicad units long.   It's possible that the same mechanism has 
resulted in PCB edge lines being disconnected by one or two kicad units 
even though they were drawn snapping to grid.   This might be caused by 
moving the entire board, or it might be caused by switching between 
"metric" grids that ought to be compatible (eg 0.2mm and 0.1mm) but 
which in reality are not compatible due to kicad's use of US units 
internally, or it might be something else.   Maybe you've had no 
problems because being American you use US units (and then everything 
just works).   I freely admit this is all supposition and background 
thoughts whilst I'm working; I've not looked into this at all.

So I can believe you if you said there is no bug in the Spectra export; 

Re: Problem with kicad specctra export with round corners on board

--- In kicad-users@..., Robert <birmingham_spider <at> ...> wrote:
>
> > I could be wrong, but I am of the opinion currently that there is no
> > bug here.  The segments are pulled out of list, so the order is not
> > significant, because the list is sequentially searched as the
> > endpoints are matched up onto a second list of segments (the one
> > being built up during this verification phase).  This algorithm has
> > no conceptual problems.  I have also done a board using arcs on the
> > perimeter.  The key thing to remember is that the endpoints must
> > match up EXACTLY.  They cannot be off by even one internal unit.
> 
> I realised the matching had to be accurate, which is possibly why things 
> went awry with arcs for me.   The board concerned had several arcs with 
> angles other than 90 degrees.   I just decided it was not worth having 
> the battle and selected the lesser hassle of drawing myself a temporary 
> board outline with straight lines.
> 
> Could the reason for the need for me to draw the lines in a specific 
> order be related to accuracy?   I have noticed some weirdness in kicad 
> when drawing copper tracks such that one ends up with segments that are 
> one or two kicad units long.   It's possible that the same mechanism has 
> resulted in PCB edge lines being disconnected by one or two kicad units 
> even though they were drawn snapping to grid.   This might be caused by 
> moving the entire board, or it might be caused by switching between 
> "metric" grids that ought to be compatible (eg 0.2mm and 0.1mm) but 
> which in reality are not compatible due to kicad's use of US units 
> internally, or it might be something else.   Maybe you've had no 
> problems because being American you use US units (and then everything 
> just works).   I freely admit this is all supposition and background 

Multi-Part Components

There was a recent discussion about putting things on the schematic so 
they get exported in the BOM but don't get placed on the PCB.   A 
related problem is multi-part components.   For example, a jack plug for 
a header might consist of a receptacle and a number of crimp terminals 
snapped off from a strip, the receptacle and the strip each having their 
own part number and ordering information.

Has anyone come up with a slick way to generate multiple parts in the 
BOM file for a single component on the schematic?

Regards,

Robert.

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Re: Multi-Part Components

You give each part a unique ident, then you can export the BOM and feed
the result into an external stock control / parts database system. In
that you can associate the part with whatever source you are using. So if
you have 50 pins that come off a strip, your external system will add up
all the pins of that type, and total up the number of pin strips needed. 

It really is far too much hard work to try to get the Kicad BOM to do
things like this, it's simply the wrong tool.

IIRC there was a posting many months ago regarding a shareware stock /
parts system that provided quite a lot of functions and was easy to use.

Maybe someone can remember the name.

Andy

On Mon, 02 Jul 2012 17:41:11 +0100
Robert <birmingham_spider@...> wrote:

> There was a recent discussion about putting things on the schematic so 
> they get exported in the BOM but don't get placed on the PCB.   A 
> related problem is multi-part components.   For example, a jack plug for 
> a header might consist of a receptacle and a number of crimp terminals 
> snapped off from a strip, the receptacle and the strip each having their 
> own part number and ordering information.
> 
> Has anyone come up with a slick way to generate multiple parts in the 
> BOM file for a single component on the schematic?
> 
> Regards,

Re: Multi-Part Components

> IIRC there was a posting many months ago regarding a shareware stock /
> parts system that provided quite a lot of functions and was easy to use.
>
> Maybe someone can remember the name.

Funny you should mention that.   I've been working on my own open-source 
database for kicad (files in the kicad user group, update following 
soon), and that's what got me thinking about this.   I think you have 
the answer though.   I just export the receptacle in the BOM and the 
database adds the correct crimp terminal strip to the parts list.

Thanks,

Robert.

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Please post your bug reports here. They will be picked up by the creator of Kicad.
Please visit http://www.kicadlib.org for details of how to contribute your symbols/modules to the kicad library.
For building Kicad from source and other development questions visit the kicad-devel group at
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Re: Multi-Part Components

Re: Multi-Part Components

The database I'm working on uses Firebird as the back end, which is FOS. 
   For the front end I'm using MS Access, but only because 
Libre/OpenOffice has a known show-stopper of a bug.   The front-end 
database has a few macros, queries and reports that allow it to produce 
a formatted parts list.   It also ensures that the parts list is frozen 
in a project database, so changes to the the data in the back-end don't 
get *silently* transferred to the parts list.

Creating the database has certainly proved to be a lot of work, so I 
have no plans to replace the front end with an application.   I could 
probably do it fairly quickly with MFC/DAO, but that would be Win only. 
   It really needs to be done by someone with serious cross-platform 
programming experience.   I have provided some code to show how to talk 
to the back-end database using ODBC.

Whilst the parts list generator would be independent of the existing 
kicad software, my thinking is that EESchema could be linked with the 
database engine via ODBC, eliminating the need for BOM export and 
providing a means of selecting components from the database into 
EESchema, but again I leave that to someone else.

Regards,

Robert.

On 02/07/2012 19:14, Jeff Kaskey wrote:
> FWIW, that's the way I do it. I am using Parts&Vendors (neither open
> source nor free, and win-only, but reasonably inexpensive) and I dump
> my KiCad BOM into it and output my purchase lists, kits, etc. Let
> each tool do what it does best, do not expect KiCad to become an MRP
> system.
>
> Would love to see an open-source P&V-type database tool, but it is no
> small amount of work. Besides the database design itself, the UI is
> important in making the tool usable at all. You deal with a lot of
> parts in a BOM, you need a UI that lets you do things quickly.
>
> -j
>
>
> ________________________________ From:
> Robert<birmingham_spider@...> To: kicad-users@...
> Sent: Monday, July 2, 2012 10:04 AM Subject: Re: [kicad-users]
> Multi-Part Components
>
>
>
>> IIRC there was a posting many months ago regarding a shareware
>> stock / parts system that provided quite a lot of functions and was
>> easy to use.
>>
>> Maybe someone can remember the name.
>
> Funny you should mention that.   I've been working on my own
> open-source database for kicad (files in the kicad user group, update
> following soon), and that's what got me thinking about this.   I
> think you have the answer though.   I just export the receptacle in
> the BOM and the database adds the correct crimp terminal strip to the
> parts list.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Robert.
>

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