kicad-developers team mailing list archive

[Wayne Stambaugh <stambaughw@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 9/24/2010 10:04 AM, Lorenzo Marcantonio wrote:
> On Fri, 24 Sep 2010, Wayne Stambaugh wrote:
> 
>> I'm not particularly thrilled by the idea of using a database.  There are the
> 
> Neither me, I couldn't open it in vi :D it's the 'library' idea which is
> flawed IMHO. If it isn't for some of these crappy filesystems we have
> around (you know their names) I would make a file for each part. And
> maybe libraries would be directories them :P

I don't know that this effects the structure of the library.  It is more of a
personal preference issue.  I don't believe there is anything preventing you
from doing this with the current library file structure.

> 
> Copy the component? Copy a file :P an index file would be obviously
> useful for performance reasons (*if* you wouldn't slurp everything in
> core as it does now, otherwise it would be only a readdir loop)
> 
> On IMAP servers mailing lists this would be the mbox vs maildir holy war :D
> 
> The problem with libraries is how you classify stuff... by manufacturer,
> purpose or what? what about *really* mixed signals devices? an MCP2200
> would be in the microchip lib, in the interface lib or some kind of usb
> lib?
> 
> OH and, I finally found *one* use case for 'project only' symbols: when
> you have about 5 different uses for a pin it could be useful to put on
> the schematic the 'actual' use of these pins; for example a typical
> PIC18F pin has name: RB5/AN13/CCP3/P3A/T1G/T3CKI, depending on fuses an
> configuration registries... since I'm hooking only a pushbutton on that,
> I would like to call him simply 'RB5' but *only* in this project.
> I survive without the feature without problem, but at least now we have
> a use case for that.

It may be better to handle this by changing the schematic editor UI than
anything required by the library structure itself.  This could be a useful
place for Dick's suggestion of a project library.  This way you add your PIC18F
component from the component library.  In the schematic editor, right click on
the RB5 pin and change the name to AN13 if that is how you are going to set
your fuses.  The changes to the modified PIC18F would be saved to the local
project library (or even embedded in the schematic file) and used in the
schematic instead of referencing the original library that it was imported from.

>