kicad-developers team mailing list archive

[Miguel Angel Ajo Pelayo <miguelangel@xxxxxxx>]

2012/4/12 Dick Hollenbeck <dick@xxxxxxxxxxx>

> The changes to PLUGIN should be "additional functions for MODULEs".  I
> like what we have
> for BOARDs now.
>

Ok, I thought about this idea at first, but tried to make it too abstract
;), it's simpler this way.


>
> The new work entails abstracting the *loading* and *saving* of a MODULE
> from/to a "MODULE
> library" (aka MODULE collection).
>
> So I would expect to see MODULE* in most of the new function prototypes.
>
> Along with loading and saving, one may have to know which MODULEs are in a
> library, so in
> comes MODULE *enumerating or listing*.
>

That would be extra functions for enumeration/listing, for example

List(library_name)=>list of[module names]


>
> I'm not saying anything positive or negative about caching, or when or if
> it should
> happen.  I am open to suggestions on that.
>

Not ready to say anything about that, probably is unneeded to change
anything there at this moment. May be in the future with a library manager
/ HTTP_LIB /whatever, could start making sense.


>
> I am not really even saying that this goal is achievable, since I have not
> yet spent
> sufficient time on it myself.  In the near term, if we can jam in this
> PLUGIN interface,
> and re-position PCBNEW on top of it with respect to MODULE access, then we
> would then
> pickup the following types of MODULEs, even without converting them before
> using them:
>
>
> *) legacy KiCad modules
> *) s-expression module in nanometers
> *) Eagle module libraries ?
> *) GEDA libraries ?
>
>
>
I think it's totally achievable.


> Conceptually the work is like cutting an electrical cord, and outfitting
> it with a defined
> set of connectors, so that you can replace the downstream portion without
> change to the
> upstream portion.
>
>
Yes, it's what I understood :)


> Yes, we are talking about a software interface.
>
> We have done this successfully for BOARDs. It works, in 45 minutes I could
> put even the
> specctra round-tripper into a PLUGIN.  Most if not all the import export
> operations also.
>
> The question is now, can we do it for MODULEs from libraries, and do it in
> PLUGIN, or does
> it take a lot more?
>
>
I think it could, I'll finish my proposal and submit the patch to get
opinions.



-- 

Miguel Angel Ajo Pelayo
http://www.nbee.es
+34 636 52 25 69
skype: ajoajoajo