Is it possible to make this plugin offer a GUI interface

[elekgeek]

This would be awesome if done with GUI.

[yaqwsx]

There is already GUI available. You just have to register the plugin so it appears inside GUI (see documentation). I plan to add support for PCM in v6, however, to do so, we first have to fully support it.

[elekgeek]

I followed the documentation, but apparently on windows I'm missing sth:

pip install KiKit
kikit-plugin enable --all

I can't see any kikit icons in kicad pcbnew.exe

Also I get this error:

kikit-info lib
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "c:\python38\lib\runpy.py", line 194, in _run_module_as_main
    return _run_code(code, main_globals, None,
  File "c:\python38\lib\runpy.py", line 87, in _run_code
    exec(code, run_globals)
  File "C:\Python38\Scripts\kikit-info.exe\__main__.py", line 4, in <module>
  File "c:\python38\lib\site-packages\kikit\info.py", line 1, in <module>
    from kikit import pcbnew_compatibility
  File "c:\python38\lib\site-packages\kikit\pcbnew_compatibility.py", line 1, in <module>
    import pcbnew
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'pcbnew'

[yaqwsx]

From the installation guide:

Note that, the procedure above works on Linux and does not work on Windows or MacOS. Please, follow the alternative installation and usage guides below.
The reason for that is packaging of KiCAD on these platforms. There are some plans for overcoming this issue, but they cannot be applied until KiCAD 6 is released.

KiKit does not work on Windows with KiCAD v5; it will work on Windows with v6 (see progress: #238)

[elekgeek]

I ran python.exe -m kikit.ui panelize but it is still a CLI, no GUI.

[yaqwsx]

What operating system, KiKit and KiCAD version do you use? Without this information, I cannot help you.

Do you use Windows and KiCAD 5? If so, then until #238 is merged you are out of luck on the native installation, unfortunately. You can only run KiKit on Windows in Docker container. If you provide X server for the container then you can open KiCAD from the container and use the GUI. There is no other way due to the way KiCAD is packed on Windows.

If you are running the code from #238 with KiCAD 6, then you have tun run python.exe -m kikit.plugin register --all and restart KiCAD. Then you will find the GUI option under menu -> External plugins.

[elekgeek]

I am on windows 10, KiCAD 6.0 RC1, this is what I am getting at the moment:

C:\Program Files\KiCad\6.0\bin>python.exe -m kikit.plugin register --all
C:\Program Files\KiCad\6.0\bin\python.exe: No module named kikit.plugin.__main__; 'kikit.plugin' is a package and cannot be directly executed

[yaqwsx]

That is definitely not the right location. As you can see in #238 Windows installation is is unresolved. Thank you for testing.

[yaqwsx]

Please, feel free to make a video tutorial. It would be a welcomed contribution!

[elekgeek]

I have't found a clue yet on how to use it anyway, if I did I would make one for sure :D

video tutorial plz 👍

[yaqwsx]

As I outlined above; making a video tutorial is currently out of my options and low on my priority list. However, if you really want a video tutorial, you can always consider hiring me to do so.

Nevertheless; the GUI is just a tool to build the KiKit command without the hassle of finding the right path to the files or writing. Every option is IMHO nicely explained and illustrated in the examples section of documentation. Also, if you hover over the option in GUI, a tooltip is shown.

[elekgeek]

I will follow those examples, will also try to make a video once KiCAD 6.0 is released, I am not a beginner after all.

When users are using the plugin and reporting errors/bugs, suggesting improvements/solutions, I assume it's one of the ways of keeping the wheel running and paying off for your efforts as well Jan, your work is appreciated.
If you are to be hired by someone, this would be for a worthy electronics project ;-)

[elekgeek]

BTW, I receive this message while installing:

WARNING: Built wheel for KiKit is invalid: Metadata 1.2 mandates PEP 440 version, but '0.99-pre1.0-58.g4f954e0' is not

[yaqwsx]

This is insignificant.