> Is someone collecting a list of enhancements ?
<snip>
> I wish there were an option to "toggle all selections". (Similar to
``Select |
> All'', except if something were *already* selected, it would make it not
> selected).
>
> I'm going to be really embarrassed if this stuff is already built in to
Protel,
> because I've hunted and hunted for it.
>
> David Cary
Ian Wilson has recently released his addon Server to toggle the selected
state of all objects within a PCB file (which I have recently downloaded but
not yet tried out). And I certainly agree with your suggestion of being able
to snap to the (central) intersection point of two tracks. (If I am lucky, I
can achieve an equivalent outcome with two succeeding commands, but you need
to keep your wits about you when you resort to such alternative procedures.)
Another idea which could be useful in some circumstances would be the
ability to "uncouple" a given primitive object from its (previous) (parent)
component object. At present, a component object can be "exploded", and
primitive objects can be *deleted* from a parent component object.
"Uncoupling" a primitive object would be similar to deleting this, but would
differ in that the object would *still* be present afterwards, but at which
time it would become a totally conventional "free" primitive object.
I am fairly confident that I could create a Process which would implement
this, and I will do so, in due course, if nobody else does so in the
interim. (I am still working in conjunction with Ian Wilson to implement a
Pcb Inverting Server, and some aspects of this are less than
straightforward, to say the least.)
Off-hand, I am not sure what aspect of Protel I would *most* want to have
fixed/provided. I certainly have a *list* of things in this regard, but some
of these things fall in the category of being nice to have provided, and a
long way from "must have". There are other items which would make Protel a
better product, and which I regard as more desirable to have provided, but
off-hand, no *single* item stands out as being *most* annoying/vexatious.
One thing that I would regard as an improvement though would be the ability
to invoke any Process provided, and in the event that appropriate parameters
(and associated parameter values) are specified with this, then any dialog
box which would *otherwise* be invoked would *not* be invoked. Examples: the
"Confirm" DB that is presently always invoked when one or more polygons are
moved or otherwise manipulated; when printing out from a Schematic or Pcb
file, it should be possible to stipulate the (path and) name of any file
which is "printed" to, e.g. Acrobat or postscript files (or any other type
of "print file" for that matter), so avoiding the invocation of a dialog box
to acquire this information (I am not sure, but in this case, a deeper
interaction with Windows code could be called for, which could mean that
implementing this suggestion would be easier said than done); the DB which
is invoked when the user changes/updates/removes the template in one
schematic file, and *other* schematic files are *also* open at the same time
(the DB asks the user if the same change is also to occur to the other
schematic files as well).
In some cases, it still would be appropriate for a DB to be invoked,
regardless of whatever parameters the users may have specified, but the
examples I provided would make Protel more "user-friendly", and are cases
where the provision of appropriate parameters could eliminate the
requirement for any DB to be invoked.
However, I would not regard that aspect as being the most desirable to
provide; it is more a case that a number of aspects, in composition, make
Protel less agreeable to use than would otherwise be the case. One example
of a definite bug is octagonal pads whose rotational angle is *not* zero
degrees; they are "flashed" as *round* shapes within the Gerber files
produced from the PCB file.
I have provided a Process within my PcbAddon Server which "zeros" the angles
of all pads whose angle is an integral multiple of 90 degrees (for pads
whose angles are 90 degrees or 270 degrees, the X-Size and Y-Size are
transposed as well, to avoid changing the extents of the associated pad),
and I always use this before producing Gerber files. (I also run a Perl
script on the Gerber files to rectify the embedded aperture definitions for
the octagonal apertures, as these do not otherwise comply with the RS274X
specification for polygonal apertures.) In my case, I am aware of the
shortcomings in this regard, and I have devised methods to overcome these.
However, it is both a case of being a hazard for other users, while from my
perspective it is another shortcoming which I would *not* regard as "Public
Enemy No 1" (I can deal with it, and there are other aspects which are more
annoying and/or not so straightforward to rectify/work around).
But I think my "short-list" of the most disagreeable shortcomings would
include the Autorouter Server, aspects of Polygon objects, Design Rules, and
perhaps Pad objects (images of these and associated settings on the Solder
Mask and Paste Mask layers, aspects of the "Padstacks" feature,
Hole(size)/Plated properties). I have mentioned assorted aspects of these in
various previous postings ...
In fairness to Protel, a lot of bugs have been seen to, and a number of
features and enhancements requested by users have been provided. And
assuming a SP7 is released for Protel 99 SE, it is reasonable to assume that
many currently outstanding shortcomings will also be rectified. The big
question is how good the next major version is going to be... Personally, I
can tolerate yet more Servers being provided, as long as the "core"
Schematic, Pcb, and Autorouter Servers continue to evolve, without becoming
too much more bloated (performance-wise), and with a minimum number of new
and "reheated" bugs.
Regards,
Geoff Harland.
-----------------------------
E-Mail Disclaimer
The Information in this e-mail is confidential and may be legally
privileged. It is intended solely for the addressee. Access to this
e-mail by anyone else is unauthorised. If you are not the intended
recipient, any disclosure, copying, distribution or any action taken
or omitted to be taken in reliance on it, is prohibited and may be
unlawful. Any opinions or advice contained in this e-mail are
confidential and not for public display.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* To post a message: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
*
* To leave this list visit:
* http://www.techservinc.com/protelusers/subscrib.html
* - or email -
* mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=leave%20proteledaforum
*
* Contact the list manager:
* mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
*
* Browse or Search previous postings:
* http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
