kicad-developers team mailing list archive

[Wayne Stambaugh <wstambaugh@xxxxxxxxx>]

Since the discussion has died down on the library structure.  Here is a recap
of the discussion.

1) The current concept of component will be replaced by symbol which is the
graphical representation of a component.

2) The current concept of aliases will be replaced by component which will
contain it's own fields but can share a symbol with other components to save
memory.

3) Symbols may be shared among all components within a library definition.  In
other words, symbols will not be shared across libraries.

4) Merge the separate document file (.dcm) information into the new library
file format.

5) Drop support for creating components with alternate body styles (DeMorgan).

6) Library files will be S expressions using richio.

7) Proper copy/paste should be added to the library editor to simplify library
creation.

8) Improve component browsing (drag & drop?) for adding components to schematics.


I will volunteer to complete the following:

1) Refactor component library objects to support the new library structure
while maintaining backwards compatibility for reading the current file format.

2) Write the code to read from and write to the new file format.

3) Make writing new file format a build option until it is ready for production.

4) Back up current format library files to user_defined_file_name.lib and
user_defined_file_name.dcm when saving library to new file format.

5) Create a separate library user_defined_file_name.lib when libraries are
found containing alternate body styles (DeMorgan).

6) Merge the footprint list into the FOOTPRINT field and the data sheet
definition string to the DATASHEET field in the new library structure.

7) Update the component editor to reflect the changes to the new library structure.

I will not be adding the copy/paste to the library editor or changing the
component browser as part of this.  My goal is to get this done by Thanksgiving
so I want to keep the task reasonable.

Before I submit the new file format document for comment, would you prefer a
more readable but larger file format:

( arc
  ( start_point 1000 1000 )
  ( end_point 1500 1500 )
  ( start_angle -45.0 )
  ( end_angle 45.0 )
  ( unit 2 )
  ( line_width 1 )
  ( fill_type none )
)

or a less readable but more compact file format:

( arc ( 1000 1000 ) ( 1500 1500 ) -45.0 45.0 2 1 unfilled )

Let me know and I will make the necessary changes to the file format document.

Wayne