Re: gEDA-user: personal component library frustration-HELP/suggestions please?
Hi John, I think you'll find it easiest if you ignore M4 at the start - you don't need it. One great resource is gedasymbols: http://www.gedasymbols.org/ There are are lots of symbols and footprints there that have been contributed by the community. You can search for them by name or browse through the contributions of the various contributors. You may well find that one of the contributors has similar interests to your own, and has already created many of the symbols and footprints that you need. In that case download them and start modifying and adding to them as needed. Contribute you mods back to the community when you're done, if you wish. Stephen Ecob Silicon On Inspiration Sydney Australia www.sioi.com.au ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: personal component library frustration-HELP/suggestions please?
> I create (or use) one m4 template (either symbol or footprint), that is Just footprints. > I still don't get it...so for a neophite to this tool, should I use them or > not? Probably not. Easier to just create the specific footprints you want, either manually or via a script, and save them in *.fp files. ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: personal component library frustration-HELP/suggestions please?
So, let me paraphrase what I think you said: I create (or use) one m4 template (either symbol or footprint), that is 'generic' and when I want to instantiate that template in gschem I can add/specify additional properties, i.e. #pins, signal direction, etc. ?? Sort of like the schematic contains a reference to the generic component, and the gschem contains the additional properties associated with the component and when gschem 'combines them' it produces the desired graphic on the screen. T/F?? If that is the case, I can see how (as one person stated) if I try to invoke gschem to see a schematic in which the base objects are referenced (and not contained in the file), and it cant find the referenced library, the whole thing falls apart.(unless once the schematic is generated, it does contain all the drawing information but in a form that cannot be edited, unless the reference to the generic component can be made). I still don't get it...so for a neophite to this tool, should I use them or not? I guess I could make that decision if I knew the pros and cons of the approach. Is this layed out somewhere in a single document? Thanks again for your guidance & patience. -John On Mon, Aug 15, 2011 at 6:50 PM, DJ Delorie <[1]d...@delorie.com> wrote: > This brings up another issue I am havingAs a neophyte to this tool set > (but not to EDA tools in general), what is the deal with m4 files? They're dynamically generated (M4 is a parser). So, you create one M4 "template" for a, say, DIP part, and then you can ask for any DIP footprint and it generates one with the right number of pins. In theory. In practice, we list all the pin counts we use, but it does mean that all the DIP footprints are one pattern, all the SOJ are one, all TQFP are one, etc. ___ geda-user mailing list [2]geda-user@moria.seul.org [3]http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user References 1. mailto:d...@delorie.com 2. mailto:geda-user@moria.seul.org 3. http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: Bug in 'FreeRotateBuffer()'? (WAS: Re: Line Thickness in Imported DXF Files; Rotating by Arbitrary Angle; UTF-8)
On Mon, Aug 15, 2011 at 12:17:07PM -0700, Colin D Bennett wrote: > On Mon, 15 Aug 2011 19:24:34 -0700 > Andrew Poelstra wrote: > > > On Mon, Aug 15, 2011 at 11:29:59AM -0700, Colin D Bennett wrote: > > > Because of this bug (it is completely a bug from the user's point of > > > view), as you suggested I always make my nominally-square pads > > > slightly non-square. Usually by +/- 0.01 mil or +/- 0.02 mil, but > > > that might not be enough for good rotation... hopefully nanometer > > > conversion will improve that significantly with no extra effort for > > > us footprint designers. > > > > The problem is that the file-format still saves in cmils. (You can > > use a text-editor to put the new units in, but then you have problems > > with backward-compatibility.) > > Perhaps after the nanometer conversion has been thoroughly run through > its paces in mainline pcb for a while, and we feel it is rock-solid, we > can add a Preferences option to save .pcb files with coordinates and > lengths in nm rather than cmil. > My thinking on this is to just not break the file-format anymore until we switch to an extensible one. At that point we'll write an importer and exporter to the old format -- and this exporter's output could work with pcb versions back to 2007 (or earlier) just as pcb does now. Perhaps the new file format is too far away. (I for one won't have time to do such a thing until next summer.) But it would be nice if our current .pcb parser had no more cruft to deal with. -- Andrew Poelstra Email: asp11 at sfu.ca OR apoelstra at wpsoftware.net Web: http://www.wpsoftware.net/andrew/ ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: trcing with pcb design
Currently, it's just one background image, but you could change it to load two and switch between them depending on which side of the board you're looking at. ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: personal component library frustration-HELP/suggestions please?
> This brings up another issue I am havingAs a neophyte to this tool set > (but not to EDA tools in general), what is the deal with m4 files? They're dynamically generated (M4 is a parser). So, you create one M4 "template" for a, say, DIP part, and then you can ask for any DIP footprint and it generates one with the right number of pins. In theory. In practice, we list all the pin counts we use, but it does mean that all the DIP footprints are one pattern, all the SOJ are one, all TQFP are one, etc. ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: personal component library frustration-HELP/suggestions please?
Hi John, On Tue, Aug 16, 2011 at 7:24 AM, John Hudak wrote: > "I always add the options "skip-m4" and "use-files" because I don't > want any of the M4 generated footprints, ever. But this may be due > to personal prejudice." > This brings up another issue I am havingAs a neophyte to this tool > set (but not to EDA tools in general), what is the deal with m4 > files? I've read through a lot of stuff in this area, dating from > 2003 through now, and I still don't know if m4 files are good/bad? to > be used/avoided? I'd guess the majority of the community don't use it, but there are certainly some who rely on it. > I am attempting to put a EDA workbench together in a reasonably > integrated way. Part of this is to create a (local) big symbol library > so that it can be used and managed. What I don't want to do is grab > component and footprint libraries that are old, brittle, or cause > gschem or PCB to die. > From my perspective, all of the inconsistent information is very > confusing. Quite simply, where is the 'best' symbol and footprint > library and the best way to create compatible symbols and footprints? Sorry, there is no agreed 'best' way. Various members of the community use the tools in widely varying ways. The tools are flexible enough to work well for for applications ranging from AC power wiring looms to ASIC layout. > (After going through 3 different methods of generating symbols, it > seems that creating one graphically within gschem is the one least > laden with holes...true?) I sometimes use that method, but my current work is with FPGAs and I find the best way for making the symbols I need is DJboxsym: http://vivara.net/cgi-bin/djboxsym.cgi This tool is very convenient for my FPGA work, but when I'm working with BJTs, FETs, diodes and triacs I use the graphical route. Stephen Ecob Silicon On Inspiration Sydney Australia www.sioi.com.au ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: trcing with pcb design
I'm in the process of upping myself to the latest git version and without having had the possibility to play with the newest dev version, I would like to ask if it is possible to have a separate background image for each layer. I am repairing a pcb with top and bottom layer with fitted components and no schematic. I am tracking traces underneath components with an ohm-meter and qualified guesses, but gimp is failing to give me an easy way to correct wrong guesses, save using the erase tool and redo. Besides, gimp does not give me a netlist. Kind regards, -- Svenn ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: personal component library frustration-HELP/suggestions please?
"I always add the options "skip-m4" and "use-files" because I don't want any of the M4 generated footprints, ever. But this may be due to personal prejudice." This brings up another issue I am havingAs a neophyte to this tool set (but not to EDA tools in general), what is the deal with m4 files? I've read through a lot of stuff in this area, dating from 2003 through now, and I still don't know if m4 files are good/bad? to be used/avoided? I am attempting to put a EDA workbench together in a reasonably integrated way. Part of this is to create a (local) big symbol library so that it can be used and managed. What I don't want to do is grab component and footprint libraries that are old, brittle, or cause gschem or PCB to die. From my perspective, all of the inconsistent information is very confusing. Quite simply, where is the 'best' symbol and footprint library and the best way to create compatible symbols and footprints? (After going through 3 different methods of generating symbols, it seems that creating one graphically within gschem is the one least laden with holes...true?) Thanks to all who replied to my previous questions. J On Mon, Aug 15, 2011 at 4:02 PM, Kai-Martin Knaak <[1]k...@familieknaak.de> wrote: John Hudak wrote: > I've created two directories in my home directory to store symbol files that > I create, and another directory to store footprints I create: > /home/jjh/project/component_symbols > /home/jjh/project/component_footprints > > How do I modify gschem to look in my home directory for symbols AS WELL AS > THE DEFAULT symbol directory? This is easier than not using the default lib at all. For gschem and gsch2pcb put the following lines in your user gafrc: /--- $HOME/.gEDA/gafrc ;(reset-component-library) ; don't use system symbols ;(reset-source-library) ; don't use system location for subcircuits ; Allow to source symbols from the current working directory (define current-working-directory ".") (component-library current-working-directory "symbols in project dir") (source-library current-working-directory) ; Allow to source symbols from the local copy of geda-symbols (define symbols "FULL-PATH-TO-YOUR-SYMBOL-DIR") (component-library symbols) ; In case you have symbols in subdirs you can build additional paths on ; the fly. This example is for symbols/analog/diode (component-library (build-path symbols "analog" "diode")) ; This statement makes gschem automatically enter subdirs: (component-library-search symbols) \-- To make gsch2pcb find your footprints, add the following to your project file: /-- YOUR-PROJECT.g2p --- schematics YOUR-PROJECT.sch output-name YOUR-PROJECT elements-dir FULL-PATH-TO-THE-DIR-BELOW-THE_DIRS-THAT-CONTAIN-YOUR-FOOTPRINTS \--- I always add the options "skip-m4" and "use-files" because I don't want any of the M4 generated footprints, ever. But this may be due to personal prejudice. To get your footprints in the PCB chooser edit the library line in $HOME.pcb/preferences while there is no instnce of PCB running: library-newlib = FULL-PATH-TO-THE-DIR-ETC:./footprints:. Note, that unlike with gschem/gnetlist, you have to provide the Dir below the dir that actually contains the footprints. > If you have a suggestion on how to organise this in a better way, please let > me know, and also tell me how to implement it. IMHO, your set-up is perfectly fine :-) Hope, this helps. ---<)kaiamrtin(>--- -- Kai-Martin Knaak Email: [2]k...@familieknaak.de [3]http://pool.sks-keyservers.net:11371/pks/lookup?search=0x6C0B9F53 not happy with moderation of geda-user ___ geda-user mailing list [4]geda-user@moria.seul.org [5]http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user References 1. mailto:k...@familieknaak.de 2. mailto:k...@familieknaak.de 3. http://pool.sks-keyservers.net:11371/pks/lookup?search=0x6C0B9F53 4. mailto:geda-user@moria.seul.org 5. http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: personal component library frustration-HELP/suggestions please?
On Mon, 15 Aug 2011 22:24:24 +0200 Kai-Martin Knaak wrote: > Colin D Bennett wrote: > > > No big deal, just copy the symbols from the component > > library into your new design project's Symbols directory as you need > > them. This small effort is, for me, completely worth it for the > > robustness provided by avoiding dependency on external symbol > > libraries. It allows me to feel bold about making improvements to > > my symbol library without requiring extreme measures to ensure > > compatibility with existing schematics. > > gschem almost allows a much more convenient way: > > 1) Draw the schematics with symbols from a central lib. > > 2) embed all the symbols in the schematics. This puts a copy of the > symbol in the *.sch file rather than just a reference. Thanks for pointing this out. However, I guess you can easily forget to embed one or two symbols. I prefer a strict and robust process, even if it requires manual intervention (e.g., to copy a file) once in a while. > That way, changes in the lib do not affect the schematic at all. > Unfortunately, does exactly the opposite. That is, it removes the > local copy of the symbol in favor of a rererence to a sym-file in > the library. The nasty side effect is that you may get an incompatible > version of the symbol. How do you update the symbols in a schematic when you actually wish to do so when they are embedded? Hopefully you don't have to delete and re-add them... that would require re-adding all customized attribute values too. > In addition, there is no way to export the > embedded symbol to some local directory. (Of course you can use a > text editor and copy/paste) Could you do "Hs" hierarchy down-symbol and then save it from there? Regards, Colin ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: Bug in 'FreeRotateBuffer()'? (WAS: Re: Line Thickness in Imported DXF Files; Rotating by Arbitrary Angle; UTF-8)
Hi Gus and all, > -Original Message- > From: geda-user-boun...@moria.seul.org > [mailto:geda-user-boun...@moria.seul.org] On Behalf Of Gus Fantanas > Sent: Monday, August 15, 2011 5:57 AM > To: DJ Delorie > Cc: geda-user@moria.seul.org > Subject: gEDA-user: Bug in 'FreeRotateBuffer()'? (WAS: Re: > Line Thickness in Imported DXF Files; Rotating by Arbitrary > Angle; UTF-8) > > On 08/14/2011 03:16 PM, DJ Delorie wrote: > >> OK, so is there any option in pcb to rotate by an angle > other than 90 > >> degrees? > > Cut > > > > :FreeRotateBuffer(45) > > > > Paste > > > Thank you so much for your response. > > Using PCB, I created a footprint for the PDS760 Schottky diode > (PowerDI®5 package). I have pasted its ASCII file below. > When I apply 'FreeRotateBuffer()' to that footprint, the big > pad (pin 1) and the silkscreen rotate fine, but the two small > square pads (2 and 3) do not. > Their centers rotate, but the pads themselves do not. Is it > a bug or did I do something wrong when I created the > footprint? I have verified the problem with 45° and 60° rotations. > > Here is the footprint file. The guardband is probably overly > liberal, but for now it can do the job for me: > > > Element["" "" "D?" "" 27500 15000 -6500 9500 0 100 ""] > ( > Pad[-14383 124 -8478 124 13228 2000 14228 "" "1" "square"] > Pad[4239 3745 4239 3745 5512 2000 6512 "" "2" "square,edge2"] > Pad[4239 -3499 4239 -3499 5512 2000 6512 "" "3" "square,edge2"] > ElementLine [-23000 -8500 -23000 8500 500] > ElementLine [9000 -8500 -23000 -8500 500] > ElementLine [9000 8500 9000 -8500 500] > ElementLine [-23000 8500 9000 8500 500] > > ) > Congrats with the footprint, some minor caveats though: I googled for a datasheet and found one from Diodes, page 4 gives 1.39 mm by 1.40 mm for the "left" and "right" pads, so this "FreeRotateBuffer()" Heisenbug should go away by itself. Oh, and the marker is not in the Centre Of Gravity, so no easy pick-and-place part from a 5000 units / tape & reel ;-) @KMK: there are no "half bugs", bugs are boolean by nature, so either "0" or "1" should do ;-) Kind regards, Bert Timmerman. ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: This patch is breaking compile
On Sat, 13 Aug 2011, Markus Hitter wrote: Am 13.08.2011 um 00:45 schrieb Markus Hitter: For a new patchset, I can't promise a point in time. I had luck! No surprises, just rebasing commit for commit was sufficient. New patchset available: https://bugs.launchpad.net/pcb/+bug/699497/comments/44 Markus Everything compiled OK I was especially interested in the drillmill function but I have not been able to get that to work I check the box and only get plain drilling I am undoubtedly doing something wrong Thanks Richard ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: personal component library frustration-HELP/suggestions please?
Colin D Bennett wrote: > No big deal, just copy the symbols from the component > library into your new design project's Symbols directory as you need > them. This small effort is, for me, completely worth it for the > robustness provided by avoiding dependency on external symbol > libraries. It allows me to feel bold about making improvements to my > symbol library without requiring extreme measures to ensure > compatibility with existing schematics. gschem almost allows a much more convenient way: 1) Draw the schematics with symbols from a central lib. 2) embed all the symbols in the schematics. This puts a copy of the symbol in the *.sch file rather than just a reference. That way, changes in the lib do not affect the schematic at all. Unfortunately, does exactly the opposite. That is, it removes the local copy of the symbol in favor of a rererence to a sym-file in the library. The nasty side effect is that you may get an incompatible version of the symbol. In addition, there is no way to export the embedded symbol to some local directory. (Of course you can use a text editor and copy/paste) The export-symbols action is one of my most favorite feature requests for gschem. Maybe, I am going to write a third party helper script to extract all embedded symbols with awk... ---<)kaimartin(>--- -- Kai-Martin Knaak Email: k...@familieknaak.de http://pool.sks-keyservers.net:11371/pks/lookup?search=0x6C0B9F53 not happy with moderation of geda-user ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: Nanometer conversion pushed to git head
On Mon, Aug 15, 2011 at 09:47:18PM +0200, Felix Ruoff wrote: >Congratulations! Really an impressive work! >I found an 'incomplete function' (or bug) with the new coord-entry in >the gtk gui: >The spinning-arrows just work with mil unit set. Even, when changed to >mm and back to mil, they don't work at my short test. >And: the line >/* FIXME: need to write a coord-entry widget for this */ >in gtk/gui-dialog-print.c seems to be 'outdated' ;). >I am now going to rebase my (Kai-Martin's) patches for the >documentation... Both fixed in git HEAD. Thanks for reporting it. -- Andrew Poelstra Email: asp11 at sfu.ca OR apoelstra at wpsoftware.net Web: http://www.wpsoftware.net/andrew/ ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: PCB opengl?
Peter Clifton wrote: > It was broken in my repository, not git HEAD - perhaps you are using > that? Yes, indeed. And I realized this a few minutes after I wrote the post you answered to. But due to moderation lag the post took some time until it hit the list. ---<)kaimartin(>-- -- Kai-Martin Knaak Email: k...@familieknaak.de http://pool.sks-keyservers.net:11371/pks/lookup?search=0x6C0B9F53 not happy with moderation of geda-user ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: personal component library frustration-HELP/suggestions please?
On Mon, 15 Aug 2011 22:02:07 +0200
Kai-Martin Knaak wrote:
> /-- YOUR-PROJECT.g2p ---
> schematics YOUR-PROJECT.sch
> output-name YOUR-PROJECT
> elements-dir
> FULL-PATH-TO-THE-DIR-BELOW-THE_DIRS-THAT-CONTAIN-YOUR-FOOTPRINTS
> \--- I always add the
> options "skip-m4" and "use-files" because I don't want any of the M4
> generated footprints, ever. But this may be due to personal prejudice.
I can't see any reason NOT to use the skip-m4 option. Every footprint
in the default pcb library is available as a newlib-format footprint,
right?
Advantages of using skip-m4:
+ Avoids that nasty bug that occurs when a footprint name contains a
hyphen character ("-").
Disadvantages of using skip-m4:
- Can't use your own custom m4 footprints directly?
Regards,
Colin
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Re: gEDA-user: personal component library frustration-HELP/suggestions please?
John Hudak wrote: > I've created two directories in my home directory to store symbol files that > I create, and another directory to store footprints I create: > /home/jjh/project/component_symbols > /home/jjh/project/component_footprints > > How do I modify gschem to look in my home directory for symbols AS WELL AS > THE DEFAULT symbol directory? This is easier than not using the default lib at all. For gschem and gsch2pcb put the following lines in your user gafrc: /--- $HOME/.gEDA/gafrc ;(reset-component-library) ; don't use system symbols ;(reset-source-library) ; don't use system location for subcircuits ; Allow to source symbols from the current working directory (define current-working-directory ".") (component-library current-working-directory "symbols in project dir") (source-library current-working-directory) ; Allow to source symbols from the local copy of geda-symbols (define symbols "FULL-PATH-TO-YOUR-SYMBOL-DIR") (component-library symbols) ; In case you have symbols in subdirs you can build additional paths on ; the fly. This example is for symbols/analog/diode (component-library (build-path symbols "analog" "diode")) ; This statement makes gschem automatically enter subdirs: (component-library-search symbols) \-- To make gsch2pcb find your footprints, add the following to your project file: /-- YOUR-PROJECT.g2p --- schematics YOUR-PROJECT.sch output-name YOUR-PROJECT elements-dir FULL-PATH-TO-THE-DIR-BELOW-THE_DIRS-THAT-CONTAIN-YOUR-FOOTPRINTS \--- I always add the options "skip-m4" and "use-files" because I don't want any of the M4 generated footprints, ever. But this may be due to personal prejudice. To get your footprints in the PCB chooser edit the library line in $HOME.pcb/preferences while there is no instnce of PCB running: library-newlib = FULL-PATH-TO-THE-DIR-ETC:./footprints:. Note, that unlike with gschem/gnetlist, you have to provide the Dir below the dir that actually contains the footprints. > If you have a suggestion on how to organise this in a better way, please let > me know, and also tell me how to implement it. IMHO, your set-up is perfectly fine :-) Hope, this helps. ---<)kaiamrtin(>--- -- Kai-Martin Knaak Email: k...@familieknaak.de http://pool.sks-keyservers.net:11371/pks/lookup?search=0x6C0B9F53 not happy with moderation of geda-user ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: Nanometer conversion pushed to git head
On Mon, Aug 15, 2011 at 09:47:18PM +0200, Felix Ruoff wrote: >Congratulations! Really an impressive work! >I found an 'incomplete function' (or bug) with the new coord-entry in >the gtk gui: >The spinning-arrows just work with mil unit set. Even, when changed to >mm and back to mil, they don't work at my short test. Thanks, I didn't see this. The increments stop working when the units are changed. (If you close the dialog, change pcb's units, and re-open it, this will change the spinbox units without breaking it.) >And: the line >/* FIXME: need to write a coord-entry widget for this */ >in gtk/gui-dialog-print.c seems to be 'outdated' ;). Indeed it is: the very next line calls gtk_pcb_coord_entry_new(). >I am now going to rebase my (Kai-Martin's) patches for the >documentation... >Kind regards, >Felix >Am 16.08.2011 03:34, schrieb Andrew Poelstra: > -- Andrew Poelstra Email: asp11 at sfu.ca OR apoelstra at wpsoftware.net Web: http://www.wpsoftware.net/andrew/ ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: Bug in 'FreeRotateBuffer()'? (WAS: Re: Line Thickness in Imported DXF Files; Rotating by Arbitrary Angle; UTF-8)
On Mon, 15 Aug 2011 19:24:34 -0700 Andrew Poelstra wrote: > On Mon, Aug 15, 2011 at 11:29:59AM -0700, Colin D Bennett wrote: > > Because of this bug (it is completely a bug from the user's point of > > view), as you suggested I always make my nominally-square pads > > slightly non-square. Usually by +/- 0.01 mil or +/- 0.02 mil, but > > that might not be enough for good rotation... hopefully nanometer > > conversion will improve that significantly with no extra effort for > > us footprint designers. > > The problem is that the file-format still saves in cmils. (You can > use a text-editor to put the new units in, but then you have problems > with backward-compatibility.) Perhaps after the nanometer conversion has been thoroughly run through its paces in mainline pcb for a while, and we feel it is rock-solid, we can add a Preferences option to save .pcb files with coordinates and lengths in nm rather than cmil. Regards, Colin ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: personal component library frustration-HELP/suggestions please?
On Mon, 15 Aug 2011 14:23:15 -0400 John Hudak wrote: > I've created two directories in my home directory to store symbol > files that I create, and another directory to store footprints I > create: /home/jjh/project/component_symbols > /home/jjh/project/component_footprints > > How do I modify gschem to look in my home directory for symbols AS > WELL AS THE DEFAULT symbol directory? e.g I want my symbol directory > in my user directory to appear in the Select Component component > selection window. > > If you have a suggestion on how to organise this in a better way, > please let me know, and also tell me how to implement it. > gschem v 1.6.1.20100214 I can't tell you if it's a “better” way for you, but I will tell you what I do, and why I do it: I do not let gschem know about the location of my own symbol library. Instead, I always store copies of the custom symbols I use in a project (and that is virtually all symbols, now) in the project itself. This way, I can take any snapshot of that project, some time in the future, and open it in gschem without any surprises such as “major symbol changes detected!”. Because gschem normally only stores references to symbols in the schematic, your schematics are FRAGILE to symbol file changes. For instance, I recently wanted to shorten the pin on my “signal ground” symbol in my personal library. Instead of 200 units, I made the pin 100 units in length. (Now it's consistent with the Vcc power rail symbol I use, so it looks much better in common situations like decoupling caps, etc.) If I had schematics that included references to this Signal_ground.sym file that I modified, those schematics would be BROKEN! Because the existing net lines would no longer terminate on the end of the Signal_ground.sym pin. When I do want to make use of new symbols in an existing project, it's a simple matter of copying the new symbols from my symbol-library project into the circuit design project's “Symbols” subdirectory. (I maintain my symbol/footprint library independently from any specific schematic design projects, and it is separately version-controlled). Of course, the downside is that you don't immediately have a list of all your symbols in gschem's component library window when you start a new project. No big deal, just copy the symbols from the component library into your new design project's Symbols directory as you need them. This small effort is, for me, completely worth it for the robustness provided by avoiding dependency on external symbol libraries. It allows me to feel bold about making improvements to my symbol library without requiring extreme measures to ensure compatibility with existing schematics. Regards, Colin ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: Nanometer conversion pushed to git head
Congratulations! Really an impressive work! I found an 'incomplete function' (or bug) with the new coord-entry in the gtk gui: The spinning-arrows just work with mil unit set. Even, when changed to mm and back to mil, they don't work at my short test. And: the line /* FIXME: need to write a coord-entry widget for this */ in gtk/gui-dialog-print.c seems to be 'outdated' ;). I am now going to rebase my (Kai-Martin's) patches for the documentation... Kind regards, Felix Am 16.08.2011 03:34, schrieb Andrew Poelstra: Exciting news everyone! I have just pushed the nanometer conversion patches to git HEAD. Please test and let me know how things are working. I have compiled all 56 commits (by script) to confirm that they can compile so "git bisect" will work. I have done a few save/load tests. There does not appear to be any breaks in the file format. Thank you all for your support and testing as I have worked on this over the last month or two. ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: Bug in 'FreeRotateBuffer()'? (WAS: Re: Line Thickness in Imported DXF Files; Rotating by Arbitrary Angle; UTF-8)
On Mon, Aug 15, 2011 at 11:29:59AM -0700, Colin D Bennett wrote: > On Mon, 15 Aug 2011 15:50:23 +0200 > Kai-Martin Knaak wrote: > > > Gus Fantanas wrote: > > > > > Is it a bug or > > > did I do something wrong when I created the footprint? > > > > It is half a bug. Exactly square pads are defined by two points that > > coincide. There is no orientation attached to this. So PCB assumes > > the square shape should be aligened along the axis of the grid. After > > the rotation transform was applied to the two points, they still > > coincide. Consequently PCB insists to render them like before. > > > > The work-around is to make the pads slightly non-square. Then > > There are rounding glitches, though. If the two points differ by too > > little distance, the resulting shape renders not quite in the > > expected angle. > > Because of this bug (it is completely a bug from the user's point of > view), as you suggested I always make my nominally-square pads slightly > non-square. Usually by +/- 0.01 mil or +/- 0.02 mil, but that might not > be enough for good rotation... hopefully nanometer conversion will > improve that significantly with no extra effort for us footprint > designers. > The problem is that the file-format still saves in cmils. (You can use a text-editor to put the new units in, but then you have problems with backward-compatibility.) But I second "this is a bug". It is just a bug with no non-breaking solution. -- Andrew Poelstra Email: asp11 at sfu.ca OR apoelstra at wpsoftware.net Web: http://www.wpsoftware.net/andrew/ ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: Nanometer conversion pushed to git head
On Mon, Aug 15, 2011 at 6:34 PM, Andrew Poelstra wrote: > > Exciting news everyone! > > I have just pushed the nanometer conversion patches to git HEAD. > > > Please test and let me know how things are working. I have > compiled all 56 commits (by script) to confirm that they can > compile so "git bisect" will work. > > I have done a few save/load tests. There does not appear to > be any breaks in the file format. > > > Thank you all for your support and testing as I have worked > on this over the last month or two. > Congrats, I just saw that it hit HEAD! ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
gEDA-user: personal component library frustration-HELP/suggestions please?
I've created two directories in my home directory to store symbol files that I create, and another directory to store footprints I create: /home/jjh/project/component_symbols /home/jjh/project/component_footprints How do I modify gschem to look in my home directory for symbols AS WELL AS THE DEFAULT symbol directory? e.g I want my symbol directory in my user directory to appear in the Select Component component selection window. If you have a suggestion on how to organise this in a better way, please let me know, and also tell me how to implement it. gschem v 1.6.1.20100214 Thanks much John ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: Line Thickness in Imported DXF Files; Rotating by Arbitrary Angle; UTF-8
On Sun, 14 Aug 2011 01:48:42 -0400 Gus Fantanas wrote: > Third, can pcb handle UTF-8 characters? On the silkscreen I want the > Ω character to appear (for Ohms, as in "50Ω"). The text entry window > accepts the Ω just fine, but then the text on the silkscreen displays > /two/ blocks for it. gschem seems to display Ω in text and μ in > values fine, but it may have trouble printing these characters. My workaround for better text support is to draw the text in Inkscape using whatever TrueType/OpenType fonts I want (full Unicode, of course) and even adding graphics in some cases (board logos, etc.). Then export to EPS, use pstoedit to convert to pcb format. (There are some problems with bad polygon shapes in pstoedit's output, however. I think DJ has a script that will fix the output from pstoedit so it works better in pcb.) Using Inkscape to make the text allows much more beautiful text than the default pcb font. I have tested it on real boards' silk screen and found that using Inkscape with fonts like Droid Sans provides much greater readability and superior appearance to the default pcb font at similar character sizes. Not to mention you can use the full Unicode character set and include graphics as well. The main downsides are (1) if you want to change the text, you have to edit your .svg in Inkscape and re-import into pcb, then re-position the polygons composing the text; and (2) if you have a lot of text and/or graphics on the board imported from Inkscape, then it can be tricky to select, move, or delete individual strings because the little polygons composing the text or graphics are not grouped in any way, so you need to carefully make sure you select all the polygons for the text you want to move without selecting any bits of other text. Regards, Colin ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: Bug in 'FreeRotateBuffer()'? (WAS: Re: Line Thickness in Imported DXF Files; Rotating by Arbitrary Angle; UTF-8)
On Mon, 15 Aug 2011 15:50:23 +0200 Kai-Martin Knaak wrote: > Gus Fantanas wrote: > > > Is it a bug or > > did I do something wrong when I created the footprint? > > It is half a bug. Exactly square pads are defined by two points that > coincide. There is no orientation attached to this. So PCB assumes > the square shape should be aligened along the axis of the grid. After > the rotation transform was applied to the two points, they still > coincide. Consequently PCB insists to render them like before. > > The work-around is to make the pads slightly non-square. Then > There are rounding glitches, though. If the two points differ by too > little distance, the resulting shape renders not quite in the > expected angle. Because of this bug (it is completely a bug from the user's point of view), as you suggested I always make my nominally-square pads slightly non-square. Usually by +/- 0.01 mil or +/- 0.02 mil, but that might not be enough for good rotation... hopefully nanometer conversion will improve that significantly with no extra effort for us footprint designers. Regards, Colin ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
gEDA-user: Nanometer conversion pushed to git head
Exciting news everyone! I have just pushed the nanometer conversion patches to git HEAD. Please test and let me know how things are working. I have compiled all 56 commits (by script) to confirm that they can compile so "git bisect" will work. I have done a few save/load tests. There does not appear to be any breaks in the file format. Thank you all for your support and testing as I have worked on this over the last month or two. -- Andrew Poelstra Email: asp11 at sfu.ca OR apoelstra at wpsoftware.net Web: http://www.wpsoftware.net/andrew/ ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: Bug in 'FreeRotateBuffer()'? (WAS: Re: Line Thickness in Imported DXF Files; Rotating by Arbitrary Angle; UTF-8)
Gus Fantanas wrote: > Is it a bug or > did I do something wrong when I created the footprint? It is half a bug. Exactly square pads are defined by two points that coincide. There is no orientation attached to this. So PCB assumes the square shape should be aligened along the axis of the grid. After the rotation transform was applied to the two points, they still coincide. Consequently PCB insists to render them like before. The work-around is to make the pads slightly non-square. Then There are rounding glitches, though. If the two points differ by too little distance, the resulting shape renders not quite in the expected angle. For the attached screenshot I have modified your footprint by 1/100 th of a mil, 5/100th and 10/100th. The larger the difference, the more the square shape rotates like it should. I guess, this issue will be three orders of magnitude less severe, once coordinates are stored as nonometers. I attached the modified footprint, too. ---<)kaimartin(>--- -- Kai-Martin Knaak tel: +49-511-762-2895 Universität Hannover, Inst. für Quantenoptik fax: +49-511-762-2211 Welfengarten 1, 30167 Hannover http://www.iqo.uni-hannover.de -> not happy with moderation of geda-user mailinglist rottest.fp Description: application/pcb-footprint <> ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: PCB opengl?
Peter Clifton wrote: > I'm not so fussed about Ubuntu releases at the moment, but in those > cases, having a deadline to work to helped focus the development effort. I'd really like to see a current version of PCB in Debian testing/wheezy. The freeze is expected to be some time between halloween 2011 and new years eve 2012. The release is most likely in summer 2012. Debian has a release cycle of about 18++ months. So, if PCB+OpenGL does not make it into wheezy/testing before the freeze, it would be winter 2014 before regular Debian users would enjoy transparency. ---<)kaimartin(>--- -- Kai-Martin Knaak tel: +49-511-762-2895 Universität Hannover, Inst. für Quantenoptik fax: +49-511-762-2211 Welfengarten 1, 30167 Hannover http://www.iqo.uni-hannover.de -> not happy with moderation of geda-user mailinglist ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: PCB opengl?
Many thanks Peter it works perfectly now! Michael W. ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
gEDA-user: Bug in 'FreeRotateBuffer()'? (WAS: Re: Line Thickness in Imported DXF Files; Rotating by Arbitrary Angle; UTF-8)
On 08/14/2011 03:16 PM, DJ Delorie wrote: OK, so is there any option in pcb to rotate by an angle other than 90 degrees? Cut :FreeRotateBuffer(45) Paste Thank you so much for your response. Using PCB, I created a footprint for the PDS760 Schottky diode (PowerDI®5 package). I have pasted its ASCII file below. When I apply 'FreeRotateBuffer()' to that footprint, the big pad (pin 1) and the silkscreen rotate fine, but the two small square pads (2 and 3) do not. Their centers rotate, but the pads themselves do not. Is it a bug or did I do something wrong when I created the footprint? I have verified the problem with 45° and 60° rotations. Here is the footprint file. The guardband is probably overly liberal, but for now it can do the job for me: Element["" "" "D?" "" 27500 15000 -6500 9500 0 100 ""] ( Pad[-14383 124 -8478 124 13228 2000 14228 "" "1" "square"] Pad[4239 3745 4239 3745 5512 2000 6512 "" "2" "square,edge2"] Pad[4239 -3499 4239 -3499 5512 2000 6512 "" "3" "square,edge2"] ElementLine [-23000 -8500 -23000 8500 500] ElementLine [9000 -8500 -23000 -8500 500] ElementLine [9000 8500 9000 -8500 500] ElementLine [-23000 8500 9000 8500 500] ) ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: PCB opengl?
On Mon, 2011-08-15 at 00:06 +0200, Kai-Martin Knaak wrote: > Peter Clifton wrote: > > >> If the problem only applies to me then could You please give me some tips > >> what to check? > > > > I can reproduce it. > > For some reason I can't. > I get silk on the far side displayed in grey as expected. > Last time I updated PCB to git was august 6th. It was broken in my repository, not git HEAD - perhaps you are using that? -- Peter Clifton Electrical Engineering Division, Engineering Department, University of Cambridge, 9, JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0FA Tel: +44 (0)7729 980173 - (No signal in the lab!) Tel: +44 (0)1223 748328 - (Shared lab phone, ask for me) signature.asc Description: This is a digitally signed message part ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
