kicad-developers team mailing list archive

[Brian Sidebotham <brian.sidebotham@xxxxxxxxx>]

On 15 May 2012 17:56, Wayne Stambaugh <stambaughw@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> On 5/14/2012 6:17 PM, Brian Sidebotham wrote:
>>
>> Hi Guys,
>>
>> I was recently thinking it would be cool to implement a templating
>> system for KiCad projects. This means including more than just a
>> project file as the basis of a new project.
>>
>> Particularly for people doing Arduino projects and the like, it would
>> be very handy to be able to select a template when starting a new
>> project as a kickstart. The template would be able to consist of any
>> file type, so could include various schematic files, and a board file.
>> To make it universal, I think it would be good to include several
>> templates with the KiCad install, but also have a search path (or
>> environmental variable pointing to a path) for user templates.
>>
>> I see a template as a simple directory of files. It need not be any
>> more complicated than that. It would be easy to implement, and if the
>> default project (which now only consists of a project file) were to
>> also include a schematic and board file, then any issue of a modal nag
>> box would be eradicated anyway.
>>
>> It should be a simple directory wildcard copy and rename. All we would
>> need to do is define a template structure which could consist of a
>> simple text file to provide a description of the template, perhaps
>> possibly with a few images. These description and image files would
>> not need to be copied to the new project directory so there would need
>> to be a defined structure and/or naming convention for the template
>> files.
>>
>> Does this sound like a valid proposal? I'd like to add this to the
>> project, so if it feels like a good direction to move in, we can
>> hammer out the details for a templating system.
>>
>> Best Regards,
>>
>> Brian.
>>
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>
> I have no objections and think templates are a good idea.  Are you planning
> on providing a way for users to create their own custom templates?  I want
> to avoid making the KiCad source repo a place for everyone's favorite
> template that's why I'm asking.  Maybe there could be a templates section on
> the new KiCad website similar to what the LibreOffice website provides.
>
> Wayne

Hi Wayne,

Yes I want people to be able to point KiCad to a local profile folder
or something in order for them to have their own templates available
and to be able to easily copy and modify them. I am fleshing out a
plan, and I'll email it as soon as it's ready and we can have a
brainstorm about the best solution.

It might be nice to have some online link that's searchable from
within KiCad to select templates, but for now a file-based one which
can be easily expanded to include online functionality would probably
be the best approach.

It would be easy for us to host templates on a web server for people
to download and install - without them needing to install those
templates in the KiCad installation directory.

Best Regards,

Brian.