kicad-developers team mailing list archive

[Vesa Solonen <vsolonen@...>]

On Mon, 12 Oct 2009, Mateusz wrote:

> I believe we should start to create some paper based on this discussion
> (naming policy is almost set, drawing guidelines also) it would be great to
> have it in pdf format with some images!

Definitely. I'll try to find time for making publication quality examples.
Kicad-doc SVN is the place for iterations I guess? Feel free to start on 
naming :)

> For me the idea of introducing a new file type is wrong because:
>
> - common graphic symbol is good for small devices, not at all for ICs( most
> libraries are ICs or connectors libraries)

I'm still pushing the hybrid way. Special purpose stuff as heavy symbols. 
Most of the connectors would work fine on light system too when they just 
use pin number. There are quite a lot of discretes in use too that would 
make a helluva library with all the variants.

> - another level of abstraction would make KiCAD harder to use (think about
> how many files the user will have to take care about)
>
> - in matter of time, it is faster to copy and rename existing module pads
> than to create new Library Component (for 3-6 pad devices).

I see your point and I've done just like that, but it breaks easily. After 
a while there are all those TO-92_xyz variants laying here and there. It 
is faster and possibly also easier, but is it smarter in the long run?

> This is why I also don't support dynamic libraries. Scripts are great, but
> why not to build a great lib,mod generator and allow users to use it!
>
> I was also thinking of dynamic styles and to tell the truth I don't know why
> it is so important for you. I agree that scaling a component on the sheet
> would be great, but is the custom image of components really so important?

I'm aiming for the best possible 'out of the box' experience and audited, 
dependable but flexible library system that would need a minimum of manual 
work to keep up. Minimum used disk space is a plus too.

Dynamic styles are just for the looks. Say one would like to publish a 
book or something as old fashioned ;) The schematic scans from various 
sources I linked at are there as an example of various styles.

> I believe it would be easier to use the existing line width parameter (now
> almost always set to zero) and allowing user to define the scaling
> parameters for device, and custom scaling parameter for each line width (let
> say 0.01 -> line type 1, 0.02 -> line type 2).

This is a really fine idea. That would allow us to start library work 
right now and be compatible backwards. It just needs to keep library 
widths untouched and scale on load time. To get everything out of our new 
stylised libraries we would also need antialiased graphics for schematics 
:)

> I think we should focus on most important things first otherwise we will
> have great ideas without implementation withing next two years. For me the
> most important thing now is the mess in KiCAD core libraries.

I agree. That's the most difficult part in OS projects as there is no-one 
to say what is importan't and everyone wants to get their itch perfectly 
scratched. Perfectionism... ;)

-Vesa