kicad-developers team mailing list archive

[Dick Hollenbeck <dick@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 05/01/2013 03:29 PM, Dick Hollenbeck wrote:
> On 05/01/2013 03:26 PM, Dick Hollenbeck wrote:
>> On 05/01/2013 12:18 PM, Lorenzo Marcantonio wrote:
>>> I was testing stuff and well... in the kicad_brd file the sheet date is
>>> not saved. I found this pearl in TITLE_BLOCK::Format:
>>>
>>>     /* version control users were complaining, see mailing list.
>>>     if( !m_date.IsEmpty() )
>>>         aFormatter->Print( aNestLevel+1, "(date %s)\n",
>>>                             aFormatter->Quotew( m_date ).c_str() );
>>>     */
>>>
>>> What is a field useful for if it's not saved? It always come up empty, in this
>>> way.
>>>
>>> In many companies the date on a drawing is actually more important than the
>>> drawing version number (in fact ISO/EN 7200:2004 requires the date of issue,
>>> which is legally binding for a number of things). Other dates (approval,
>>> modifications and so on) are optional but the "document date" is mandatory.
>>>
>>> I think the best solution would be putting the date as an editable field (with
>>> the title, company and so on): this would eliminate the localization issue and
>>> in the mean time allow a 'significant' date to be set (not necessarily that's
>>> the last modified date, for a number of reasons). Also the vcs users wouldn't
>>> have to complain (I don't see the problem if a date changes in a versioned
>>> file... maybe they don't like it).
>>
>>
>> OK, I remember now.
>>
>>
>> Your suggestion of having it editable is OK for me.  But is not OK for others.  There are
>> 4 schools of thought, and funny thing is you and I are in the same camp after all.
>>
>>
>> 1) Make it editable, and fixed, not dynamically updated.  If I put in a date, it stays
>> that way forever on disk too.
>>
>>
>> 2) Make it dynamic (i.e. automatically updated), reflective of the last time of board
>> *modification*, not last time of save.
>>
>>
>> 3) Make it dynamic (i.e. automatically updated), reflective of the last time of board *save*.
>>
>>
>> 4) Remove it, keep it out of the file, until the dispute is settled.
>>
>>
>> We were at 4).  If we uncomment the code, we get 2), and then I get yelled at again by the
>> VCS users.
>>
>>
>> I don't want to keep getting yelled at.  :)   It gets hard to remember being yelled at.
>>
>> Jean-Pierre is in camp 2).
>>
>> I am in camp 1) or 4), just because the VCS users will eventually win, I recognize that,
>> and I want the problem to go away.  I use VCS too, and reporting a new date for every
>> change is not especially helpful to me, with my VCS user hat on, and advocating for those
>> I know will complain later.  Been there, and had that conversation already.
>>
>>
>> Help wanted.  :)
>>
>>
>> Dick
> 
> 
> Newsflash...
> 
> OK, JP is now OK with 1) also.
> 
> We have a solution if you can code it.


You will have to find the code where the date is automatically updated, and comment it or
remove it.

I just know that there are *many* VCS users, and they can yell even louder than you Lorenzo.

Sorry for the confusion.  There are so many issues pending, and my memory is bad under
stress, that I can now hide my own Easter eggs and not ruin the thrill of the hunt.

Dick