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From: Kai-Martin Knaak <kmk AT familieknaak DOT de>
Subject: Re: [geda-user] Footprints - mechanical pads
Date: Wed, 03 Apr 2013 01:41:20 +0200
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Russell Dill wrote:

>> How should i handle pads which can optionally be connected to
>> ground?
> 
> Just name them and you should be fine, no?
> 

If you connect GND to the pin without the pin mentioned in the 
schematic, pcb will complain on the next "optimize rats". If you 
mention the named pin in the schematic and tie it to GND, then pcb 
will insist, you do indeed connect it to GND copper. Either way,the 
connection is not quite optional. 

PCB allows to manually add rat lines in the layout. I thought, this 
might be a way to introduce an "official" connection to GND. But this 
does not work, either. The manual rat adds the GND net to the pin as 
shown in the pop-up on mouse-over. Consequently, the line tool can 
connect the pad to GND with auto-enforce-DRC switches on. However, 
"optimize-rats" still thinks, this is a short. Seems like the optimize 
action refers to a different netlist -- a netlist without the manually 
added rat. (Is this a bug or a deliberate feature?)

You could exploit a loop hole in the connection check of pcb:
Letters in copper are completely ignored. Use an underscore or a 
hyphen to connect the pads to GND.
Unless I obverlooked something, this seems to do the trick.

---<)kaimartin(>---
-- 
Kai-Martin Knaak