[BUG] KiCad 8: Crash with custom component reference name in KiBot 1.6.5

[rainer38]

Describe the bug
When i add a footprint in pcbnew like a mounting hole the reference is named "REF**". It seems that some parser in KiBot only accepts known reference prefixes like U, R, C, ... but not names which has no real component prefix.
When i rename the reference to something like "mh" it also crashes but when i name it U1 it works without problems.

This worked with custom reference names until v1.6.3.

To Reproduce
Just create a pcb and add a mounting hole like "MountingHole_3.2mm_M3_Pad_Via" with reference "REF**" and try to create a POS file.

Expected behavior
The reference name should be irrelevant.

Crashlog
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/bin/kibot", line 33, in
sys.exit(load_entry_point('kibot==1.6.5', 'console_scripts', 'kibot')())
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/kibot/main.py", line 546, in main
generate_outputs(outputs, args.target, args.invert_sel, args.skip_pre, args.cli_order, args.no_priority,
File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/kibot/kiplot.py", line 599, in generate_outputs
_generate_outputs(outputs, targets, invert, skip_pre, cli_order, no_priority, dont_stop)
File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/kibot/kiplot.py", line 589, in _generate_outputs
run_output(out, dont_stop)
File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/kibot/kiplot.py", line 493, in run_output
out.run(get_output_dir(out.dir, out))
File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/kibot/out_base.py", line 214, in run
self.options.run(target)
File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/kibot/out_position.py", line 252, in run
super().run(fname)
File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/kibot/out_base.py", line 1048, in run
get_board_comps_data(comps)
File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/kibot/kiplot.py", line 344, in get_board_comps_data
c = create_component_from_footprint(m, ref)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/kibot/kiplot.py", line 317, in create_component_from_footprint
c.split_ref()
File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/kibot/kicad/v5_sch.py", line 1079, in split_ref
raise SchError('Malformed component reference {}'.format(self.ref))
kibot.kicad.error.SchError: Malformed component reference REF**

Environment (please complete the following information):
I'm running KiBot 1.6.5 in Debian Linux on command line.

Application: KiCad x86_64 on x86_64

Version: 8.0.1-dirty, release build

Libraries:
wxWidgets 3.2.2
FreeType 2.12.1
HarfBuzz 6.0.0
FontConfig 2.14.1
libcurl/8.5.0 GnuTLS/3.7.9 zlib/1.2.13 brotli/1.0.9 zstd/1.5.4 libidn2/2.3.3 libpsl/0.21.2 (+libidn2/2.3.3) libssh2/1.10.0 nghttp2/1.52.0 librtmp/2.3 OpenLDAP/2.5.13

Platform: Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm), 64 bit, Little endian, wxGTK, X11, KDE, x11

Build Info:
Date: Apr 7 2024 09:07:41
wxWidgets: 3.2.2 (wchar_t,wx containers) GTK+ 3.24
Boost: 1.74.0
OCC: 7.6.3
Curl: 8.5.0
ngspice: 42
Compiler: GCC 12.2.0 with C++ ABI 1017

[set-soft]

Hi @rainer38 !

Ok, the bug is that the outputs run wasn't catching the SchError signals. Now fixed.

But I guess you pretend to KiBot accept your REF**, if this is the case then the answer is no. You must annotate your project first, and references must be in the PREFIXNUMBER format, as the IPC normative explain. Things like "A hole" isn't a valid reference. Repeated references aren't a good idea, just imagine you have 5 components with "REF**" and KiBot reports an error with one of them, how can you know which one?

[set-soft]

Hi @rainer38 !

The above patch makes KiBot more tolerant, it won't stop, but the component will be disregarded, and a warning message will be issued.