Kikit

This release contains bug fixes for KiCAD v9 compatibility. All users are encouraged to upgrade. It is sufficient to just upgrade the backend.

Fixed issues:
- KiCAD changed the API between v9.0.0 and v9.0.1, KiKit can now handle both
- several issues affecting export regarding the new layer numbering in KiCAD 9 was fixed
- a couple of error messages were improved

This release fixes discovered incompatibilities with KiCAD 9. All users are encouraged to upgrade.

Bug fixes
- 795
- 783

New features

- KiCAD 9 support
- A preset for JLC PCB V-cuts was added
- V-Cuts validation was added (f972993dfdda8c17ce18ecde25d674b7c9391dad).
- this feature warns the user if V-cuts cuts through the original PCB body
- Add the option to name the manufacturing files after the project in JLC PCB assembly (f41806626e2e4583b6de7b9dcbe5ec17296cb4e4)

Bug fixes

- Fix KiKit crashing on closed polygons in the substrate (e19408a1ae5e979115fc572deb480a768e291e6b)
- Fix 3D printed stencil for KiCAD 8 (a8d1c051bd7ab15e3a4033cd72c912d3023ef2ba)
- Add a missing DRC exclusion (571be599729c6736c7bf20af4e7ba0c4819bc67f)
- Fix edge detection in files with renamed layers: (309b937551146aabb3d5af3edcc21d94f3969d3a)
- Fix JLCPCB bottom component orientation (8c980f3a245cd0d0f9a445c6c950817587129ed5) and update the gerber settings (5de2b13d65c9604949f552318f14de6805eb521c)
- The GUI was optimized (03edf1fe528dfee8600d9896572ebfec1913abc9)

How to update
- upgrade KiKit backend (see https://yaqwsx.github.io/KiKit/latest/installation/upgrading/)
- upgrade the symbols and footprint library via PCM
- there is no need to update the PCM plugin

New features

- In case of error, KiKit tries to build the panel and places error annotation into a board with the suffix `.failed.kicad_pcb`. In that way, the user can easily spot where and which error happens (d1bbcdfeba1664d8c6defcff98b8725006c6967d)
- The GUI used to be pretty limited in features it supports, e.g., you couldn't set page size due to limitations in KiCAD API. This wasn't very clear for many users. The user must now specify an output file in the GUI where the panel is saved. The PcbNew window is just used for the panel preview (8aca5bf3a1b471775d4d0327435d7dd15cb7a5f2).
- There are new parameters you can customize for V-cuts such as text position, size, etc. (a0c1e445b201e602a1355ba55e4b7b1ec6ffec1a, 2e25a3d595683c32ac4e2007ba85baabc734faed)

Bug fixes

- the KiKit library symbols have now proper attributes (599be77f339a52cd5e3c5ef51aefece5e334a1e3)
- layer selection in GUI was fixed on Windows (551e670c8ca2d14113f407d9efd366614c36d186)
- compatibility with KiCAD 8.0.4 on Windows was ensured.
- text on bottom layer not being mirrored on Windows was fixed (0de661c7033c4d6bba450c1f60dd02f26f1426df)
- outdated dependencies were updated (e0c312ae105c8d2a4626b83ac86324b1a1be75ba, eac56affe51dc7c99e426bc7b02e88b5e1d8b115)
- accommodate for some numerical instabilities (69bcf0bb045e9503eaf58ea705a44de4d07cde6b, 28409eb527ad9efed1f3854ffcd973b3eadbfd3b, acbd02139019f22d97de78cc494898566ca036e9, a7873c203fd7b1e274d4739c12809f652da4ac89)
- error reporting was improved (3636a3e75b21acdeed25cafcf5b6199076aa0b7f, 32187adc453f9c9ed7100ea9c5e3dbe301f7d3c1)

How to update

- upgrade KiKit backend (see https://yaqwsx.github.io/KiKit/latest/installation/upgrading/)
- upgrade the symbols and footprint library via PCM

This release contains no new features, just bug fixes, and improves compatibility with KiCAD 8.

- if KiCAD didn't create `kicad_dru` file for a board, KiKit crashed. This is fixed (3cb3720106e0b598ccb44a6b684f5dbbf9a76f38)
- we fixed arc welder, thus the option `--post 'reconstructarcs: true'` now works correctly (18b590ebe2d6fcaefb510f7782aa06f730ee61e1)
- KiKit no longer crashes when the resulting copperfill is empty (28689dfad1b95ecc23b520ed1e6a5f7ffe1327c3)
- DRC rule `footprint_type_mismatch` is not correctly handled (96a964693265d3330ca10c8ce07d10520cde626b)
- References are now correctly oriented in v8 (495e55c051bb5cb97a580f73d0a5422af7349a74)
- KiKit GUI is now compatible with v8 (077c8abc105febb7d9e872d6aa4868a6c90f3f3b)
- When running on v8, the pcbnewTransition module should no longer break compatibility with other plugins (21c74e1ae737422bdfd9a30b2bbc3bf8caa43ad3)
- the odd-even column placement was fixed (thanks errno) (49363ea96f1c1e2947aa3b0125487e35c7311a6b)
- overall documentation improvements (b4188f280f7c09c46100d5714d2370b5a94b2198, 7a3ae3451850ad219072514894983ccb1cb83aaa)

How to upgrade

Simply [update the Python package](https://yaqwsx.github.io/KiKit/v1.5/installation/upgrading/). There is no need to update the PCM package.

This release ships mainly with KiCAD 8 support, bug fixes, and a couple of new features. Note that this release drops support for KiCAD v6.

New features
- KiCAD 8 support
- Shapely 2 support to support new Linux distributions (3427a8d6ce31eea6fb3647e550d6b4ddc0e90842)
- project variables in text fields (1a7bcaebf60aef52ab2a474fad6f06f3053e3ada, d7b219874fa09c4acd06f726e5899b0678de2a13)
- new internal organization of panel features that uncouples panel from features. It should improve plugin support and make the code more extendable.
- the copper fill was already migrated to this new interface
- hex copper fill (c3a8dd0be2754a15fc864f88ec9aab5479f8efda)
- splitting the copper fill into small islands to prevent panel warping during reflow
- you can specify layers by their number, not only by name (b0c1db8716b0e7af5fa0d8c95fcbc750d5fb1c75)
- OpenPnP fab command was added (db1861574d7f43a055271b895a826c4234007b2b)
- Most error messages now give hints to the user about what might be the root cause

Bug fixes
- the partition line generator was fixed when there was no space between boards (102e4cde39fb78d79efb2dad7b9e910efc7806cd)
- the naming of text justification parameters was fixed (4fcea6a967cfa50ef45c10b63c699648c71c3abd)
- added support for missing DRC exclusions (78d3d0ca41f4e679f354dc3e84f22bfba09e9328)
- added support for comments in custom DRC (c6511823912bbdfd3722d33ba211d251f1c1a8ae)
- fab command didn't work when references included numbers (dd6f5056417f4525c3007f3c425747abe1bb9d8e)
- tooling holes and fiducials have proper attributes now (8a5497629f70eb23f5d41255ae13572303f03970, 74be0db04a0dfdb0653b73eb09654ad22341fa6d)
- layer names are properly inherited (41f62d4a386f295cf3f8c94d688730165a74ba67)
- do not populate attribute is now properly handled (bb8746237f777571d9ec30c89eb25be9a23fb748)
- do not generate zero-length segments (eafe49dfdc09bf44a865796a86f8d568d228f7ad)

How to upgrade
Simply [update the Python package](https://yaqwsx.github.io/KiKit/v1.4/installation/upgrading/). There is no need to update the PCM package. Note that if you are using the official Linux debian packages, you have to use the testing repository at the moment, [as the initial release missed scripting support.](https://gitlab.com/kicad/packaging/kicad-ubuntu-builder/kicad-daily-package/-/issues/52)

Final remarks

I would like to thank all my [GitHub Sponsors](https://github.com/sponsors/yaqwsx) for their financial support. I would also like to thank all contributors who submitted a PR and everyone who tested KiKit and provided me with steps to reproduce.