On 15 May 2012 17:56, Wayne Stambaugh <stambau...@verizon.net> wrote: > On 5/14/2012 6:17 PM, Brian Sidebotham wrote: >> >> Hi Guys, >> >> I was recently thinking it would be cool to implement a templating >> system for KiCad projects. This means including more than just a >> project file as the basis of a new project. >> >> Particularly for people doing Arduino projects and the like, it would >> be very handy to be able to select a template when starting a new >> project as a kickstart. The template would be able to consist of any >> file type, so could include various schematic files, and a board file. >> To make it universal, I think it would be good to include several >> templates with the KiCad install, but also have a search path (or >> environmental variable pointing to a path) for user templates. >> >> I see a template as a simple directory of files. It need not be any >> more complicated than that. It would be easy to implement, and if the >> default project (which now only consists of a project file) were to >> also include a schematic and board file, then any issue of a modal nag >> box would be eradicated anyway. >> >> It should be a simple directory wildcard copy and rename. All we would >> need to do is define a template structure which could consist of a >> simple text file to provide a description of the template, perhaps >> possibly with a few images. These description and image files would >> not need to be copied to the new project directory so there would need >> to be a defined structure and/or naming convention for the template >> files. >> >> Does this sound like a valid proposal? I'd like to add this to the >> project, so if it feels like a good direction to move in, we can >> hammer out the details for a templating system. >> >> Best Regards, >> >> Brian. >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~kicad-developers >> Post to : kicad-developers@lists.launchpad.net >> Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~kicad-developers >> More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp >> > > I have no objections and think templates are a good idea. Are you planning > on providing a way for users to create their own custom templates? I want > to avoid making the KiCad source repo a place for everyone's favorite > template that's why I'm asking. Maybe there could be a templates section on > the new KiCad website similar to what the LibreOffice website provides. > > Wayne
Hi Wayne, Yes I want people to be able to point KiCad to a local profile folder or something in order for them to have their own templates available and to be able to easily copy and modify them. I am fleshing out a plan, and I'll email it as soon as it's ready and we can have a brainstorm about the best solution. It might be nice to have some online link that's searchable from within KiCad to select templates, but for now a file-based one which can be easily expanded to include online functionality would probably be the best approach. It would be easy for us to host templates on a web server for people to download and install - without them needing to install those templates in the KiCad installation directory. Best Regards, Brian. _______________________________________________ Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~kicad-developers Post to : kicad-developers@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~kicad-developers More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp