kicad-developers team mailing list archive

[duncan72187 <duncan72187@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi,

I created a perl script (attached) that directly parses the schematic files
to create a bom. It extracts all of the property names that you have used
and you can specify which properties you would like it to display.

I was unaware of the python scripts available as well as the intermediate
output file format so that would probably be a better way to go than
directly parsing the schematic files but I figured I would toss this up
here just in case it could help your efforts. At the very least maybe it
will just give you a few ideas on how to get started.

Hope it helps,
Luke.

On Sat, May 19, 2012 at 12:38 PM, jean-pierre charras <jp.charras@xxxxxxxxxx
> wrote:

> Le 19/05/2012 17:20, Dick Hollenbeck a écrit :
>
>  On 05/19/2012 09:59 AM, Dick Hollenbeck wrote:
>>
>>> On 05/19/2012 07:13 AM, Joseph Baker wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi,
>>>>
>>>> I've been working on a dedicated bill of materials management tool to
>>>> augment Eagle's
>>>> quite basic BOM script (see https://github.com/jbaker0428/**
>>>> Eagle-BOM-Manager/ <https://github.com/jbaker0428/Eagle-BOM-Manager/>).
>>>> That
>>>> being said, I've hit the limits of the free version of Eagle and am
>>>> working on switching
>>>> to Kicad permanently. Kicad appears to have equally limited
>>>> functionality in this area,
>>>> so I want to make my tool compatible with both programs. However, I
>>>> don't think I can
>>>> properly support component attributes given how Kicad currently exports
>>>> them to CSV (the
>>>> same applies to other output formats, but CSV is what I happen to be
>>>> using). The problem
>>>> is this:
>>>>
>>>> The column names in the outputted CSV file are always named Field1 -
>>>> Field8. Each the
>>>> field columns of each component row contain the value of the fields in
>>>> question.
>>>> However, there does not appear to be a way to output the actual names
>>>> of the fields in
>>>> question for each component. I can't do anything useful without those
>>>> field names. In
>>>> addition, there appears to be no way to output the "Chip name"
>>>> component attribute.
>>>>
>>>> Fortunately, I think this can be fixed without fundamentally altering
>>>> how component
>>>> fields work. Here's what I would like to do:
>>>> -Add a checkbox to output "Chip Name" under System Components.
>>>>
>>>> -Either:
>>>> Split the current Field columns into 2 columns per field (name and
>>>> value). The problem I
>>>> see with this solution (and the current implementation) is this: What
>>>> happens if a
>>>> component has more than 8 fields, or is that not possible? As it
>>>> appears that I can in
>>>> fact add more than 8 fields to a component, I have to wonder why the
>>>> current BOM
>>>> implementation can only output the first 8.
>>>> -OR-
>>>> Replace the "FieldX" columns with a column for each attribute name
>>>> present in the
>>>> schematic, with blank entries for components that do not have an
>>>> attribute by that name
>>>> (this is what Eagle does). This could cause erroneous behavior in my
>>>> tool if multiple
>>>> components use a default field name for different things, but that is
>>>> an error condition
>>>> I can handle.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> A few questions:
>>>> I see a similar blueprint
>>>> here: https://blueprints.launchpad.**net/kicad/+spec/bill-of-**
>>>> materials<https://blueprints.launchpad.net/kicad/+spec/bill-of-materials>.
>>>> Should I modify
>>>> this, or post my own?
>>>>
>>>> Should I be working off the stable branch, or testing?
>>>>
>>>> As a longer-term goal, would there be interest in an building an
>>>> adaptation of my BOM
>>>> management tool directly into Kicad (outside of Eeschema)? This would
>>>> allow for much
>>>> more powerful project-level BOM/component sourcing management (kind of
>>>> like
>>>> this: http://wiki.altium.com/**display/ADOH/Live+Links+to+**
>>>> Supplier+Data<http://wiki.altium.com/display/ADOH/Live+Links+to+Supplier+Data>)
>>>> without needing
>>>> to manually update an intermediary CSV file like my current version
>>>> requires.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Regards,
>>>> Joe
>>>>
>>>
>>
>> Like any opinion, not everyone is going to agree with mine.
>>  None-the-less I find that
>> supporting multiple ways of doing things is a nuisance relative to the
>> joy of having one
>> solution work well, so my guidance would be limited to the python path.
>>
>>
>> Good luck Joe.
>>
>>
>> Dick
>>
>
> I agree 200% with Dick.
>
> And because you have been working on a dedicated bill of materials
> management tool written in Python,
> using the generic netlist export format XML is by far the best way.
>
> Have a look to Eeschema doc, chapter 14: Customize the netlist file and
> the BOM file.
>
> Thanks.
>
>
>
>>> The BOM code will never be adequate for everyone.  This is why I have
>>> argued for 3 years
>>> now that we should remove it and simply use Brian's python scripts which
>>> are in the
>>> scripts directory, which run on the generic netlist export format XML.
>>>  This way you can
>>> change what's there in seconds, rather than having to suffer a code
>>> review, grapple with
>>> internal C++ data structures, etc.
>>>
>>>
>>> The best enhancement you can make to the C++ BOM code is to delete it.
>>>  The best thing you
>>> can do for BOM support within KiCad is to learn to use the python
>>> scripts, document them,
>>> and take a maintenance role in that.
>>>
>>>
>>> Thanks
>>>
>>> Dick
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
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>
> --
> Jean-Pierre CHARRAS
>
>
>
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