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 Sat, 31 Jan 2015 06:40:25 -0800 (PST)
Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2015 09:40:25 -0500
Message-ID: <CAOFvGD4OxiFm3f9w1hp5BuKQJBQgyf6s14G3ESUWo20_ivdSPg@mail.gmail.com>
Subject: [geda-user] Re: Ground Plane Behavior?
From: Jason White <whitewaterssoftwareinfo AT gmail DOT com>
To: geda-user AT delorie DOT com
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Reply-To: geda-user AT delorie DOT com

Taken from the thread "(no subject)"

On Sat, Jan 31, 2015 at 4:20 AM, Bernhard Kraft <kraftb AT think-open DOT at> wrote:
>
> <snip>
>
> This would be the correct phrase: I boxed out the ground plane.
>
> So there is no way of getting it to flood the boxed out areas again?
>
> When I place a via into a poly it gets isolated at first. I have to add
> thermals to the via. This is quite unusal as plated vias don't need
> thermals.
>
> When I put the via into a normal track it doesn't get isolated. I know I can
> use the shift key when placing the thermal to alter its style and the last
> thermal variant is simply a full connect ...
>
>
> I know PCB is quite old and there are a lot of issues. I just wanted to know
> if this behaviour: "Outboxed planes don't flood again if re-connected" is
> documented as bug?
>
> I am also willing to invest some time in bug hunting and maybe provide
> patches ...


Well, that is an interesting idea.

To clarify, the behavior you are proposing is:
1. An existing copper pour gets "boxed out" so that their is a "hole"
where the plane no longer extends due to traces on the PCB.
2. Placing a via in the "hole" and electrically connecting it to the
"boxed out" copper pour would result in the hole being refilled with
copper.

That might be convenient, but I think it could be a bit of a "trap" so
to speak. If you have large currents flowing from the re-flooded
"hole" in the copper pour, you may not realize that their is an
electrically poor connection (a single via) to the actual plane.

If this behavior was added, I would think that this behavior should be
explicitly called up with a tool or menu item in PCB as opposed to
being an automatic behavior.


Does anyone else have any input on Bernhard's idea?

-- 
Jason White