kicad-developers team mailing list archive

["Patrick" <pmaupin@...>]

--- In kicad-devel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Mateusz" <komorkiewicz@...> wrote:
> It is also true, that in some cases (eg. ATMEGA8) the pinout of same devices is totally different depending on the package (DIP vs TSSOP).
> 
> So we have to modify the component naming policy, the problem is, this would lead us to very long and distracting names (like atmega8-tssop32, atmega8-dip20).
>

I believe this could be handled with the part "variants" in the current library scheme. I think JP's original use for this was De Morgan gate equivalents, but pins can appear and disappear according to the variant, so you could have all the different variants in the same library entry, with the function mapped to a certain pin location, and the actual pin number physically present at that location changing depending on the chosen variant.

In this case, you would simply need a way to associate allowed packages with allowed variants, in order to keep the pin numbers correct on the board.

This doesn't solve the problem per se, but I think it does push it down closer to where it belongs -- I ought to be able to change the package in the schematic without pulling in an entirely new component.

Regards,
Pat