kicad-developers team mailing list archive

[Werner Almesberger <werner@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Wolfgang Spraul wrote:
>   -p, --plot=<str>                             	plots the board [hpgl|gerber|ps|ps_a4|dxf]
>   -l, --layers=<str>                           	comma separated list of layer names (default: all enabled layers)

I'm getting a bit of strangeness with the automatic layer selection and
pcbnew --plot=gerber:

When I plot my atben project [1] "manually" from pcbnew, the Gerber
files are named

  atben-Back.gbl         atben-Comments.gbr     atben-Front.gtl
  atben-Mask_Back.gbs    atben-Mask_Front.gts   atben-PCB_Edges.gbr
  atben-SilkS_Front.gto  atben-SoldP_Front.gtp

I never investigated what the last letter in the extension meant, but
the second one seem to consistently indicate front ("top") or back.

Now, with  pcbnew --plot=gerber --fill-all-zones -l  I get these strange
extensions:

  atben-Back.gbr         atben-Comments.gbr     atben-Front.gba
  atben-Mask_Back.gts    atben-Mask_Front.gbr   atben-PCB_Edges.gbr
  atben-SilkS_Front.gbs  atben-SoldP_Front.gbo

If I specify the layers explicitly with -l, I get the "normal" result
again: pcbnew --plot=gerber \
-l `pcbnew --list-layers atben.brd | tr '\012' ,` \
--fill-all-zones atben.brd

  atben-Back.gbl         atben-Comments.gbr     atben-Front.gtl
  atben-Mask_Back.gbs    atben-Mask_Front.gts   atben-PCB_Edges.gbr
  atben-SilkS_Front.gto  atben-SoldP_Front.gtp

If the default worked too, this already wonderful defense against
unpleasant surprises would be even less surprising :)

[1] http://projects.qi-hardware.com/index.php/p/ben-wpan/source/tree/master/atben

Thanks,
- Werner