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pcbjam/docs/features/fork-cleanup/09-symbol-libraries.md
Viktor Vaczi bfe4ae8be9 Kicad fork cleanup docs.
2026-06-15 11:32:12 +02:00

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09 — Re-enable the symbol chooser & viewer

The chooser and viewer aren't broken — the browser FS just ships no libraries. The #ifdef __EMSCRIPTEN__ return nullptr gates in eeschema.cpp are asset-availability gates, not code gates. Un-gating is ~10 lines deleted; the real work is a small library- provisioning pipeline in the web/ layer (no upstream footprint).

What's actually gated

eeschema/eeschema.cpp returns nullptr for FRAME_SCH_VIEWER ("symbol viewer is not supported") and FRAME_SYMBOL_CHOOSER (comment: "no bundled libs"). Both frames' sources are compiled (eeschema/CMakeLists.txt). Callers currently hitting the nullptr: dialog_change_symbols.cpp, grid_text_button_helpers.cpp (symbol-browse buttons silently no-op), sch_edit_frame.cpp.

Evidence the frames work

  • features/yjs-bridge/0007-eeschema-essential-ops-findings.md records the in-process symbol chooser dialog already opening and working in wasm ("symbol chooser now center with OK reachable") — it just shows "0 items loaded" because /usr/share/kicad/symbols is absent.
  • Every UI dependency is proven working in wxUniv-wasm (tests/WHATWORKS.md): the wxDataViewCtrl LIB_TREE, the wxHtmlWindow details pane, the GAL preview canvas. The symbol editor — same LIB_TREE + preview machinery — is already a shipped, ported target.
  • pcbnew's footprint browse/choose paths are already un-gated; they start working the moment fp-lib-table has content.

Why the FS is empty today

The boot path (web/standalone/src/wasm/boot.ts, mirrored by the test harness) ships only images.tar.gz (UI bitmaps) and seeds empty sym-lib-table / fp-lib-table / design-block-lib-table, plus kicad_common.json flags that suppress the first-run StartWizard (its modal loop crashes Asyncify — see the async dossier). No symbol libraries, footprint libraries, 3D models, or templates are packaged. So un-gating alone yields an empty tree — correct behavior, just not useful.

Background: designs embed the parts they use, so opening an existing file never needed the libraries (see ../libraries/0001-library-management.md). The chooser/viewer are about placing new parts — that's what needs shipped libraries.

Recipe

  1. Un-gate (≈ −10 lines fork diff): delete the two #ifdef __EMSCRIPTEN__ blocks in eeschema/eeschema.cpp.
  2. Provision a starter library set (web/wasm layer only, no upstream files):
    • Package a curated subset of kicad-symbols (e.g. Device, power, Connector, Switch, …) as an assets tarball, fetched and written into /usr/share/kicad/symbols in preRun (same mechanism as images.tar.gz). Optionally a .pretty footprint subset into /usr/share/kicad/footprints.
    • Write real sym-lib-table / fp-lib-table rows in boot.ts instead of the empty seeds.
    • For the full official set (~200 MB-class), prefer lazy per-library fetch into MEMFS on first reference rather than a giant preload — no engine obstacle, just engineering.

The repo doesn't currently vendor kicad-symbols (only kicad/demos/* and qa/data/libraries/power.kicad_sym), so step 2 introduces a new asset source — decide whether to vendor a curated subset or fetch from a CDN.

Net

Action Layer Diff impact
Delete viewer/chooser gates eeschema.cpp −10 lines
Library asset tarball + lib-table seeding web/standalone/ new web assets only
Lazy per-lib MEMFS fetch (optional, for full set) web//wasm/ new code, no upstream

Effort: gates are minutes; a usable curated-library bundle is ~1–2 days; full lazy-fetch is incremental on top.