kicad-developers team mailing list archive

[Dick Hollenbeck <dick@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Sorry.

> BTW, in revision 4362 I added the ability to right mouse popup "Paste" a (fp_lib_table)
> s-expression text element into the DIALOG_FP_LIB_TABLE:
> 
> bzr log text:
> 
> "DIALOG_FP_LIB_TABLE does not use wxSplitterWindow, it would not obey.
> Paste popup menu in this dialog now allows pasting a (fp_lib_table)
> s-expression element holding (lib) elements.  This provides an
> opportunity for GITHUB library publishers to put the table description
> into their README.md file as a (fp_lib_table) element where it can
> be quickly copied to clipboard and pasted into the fp lib table dialog.
> This is a paste operation, and overwrites from the initial cursor position."
> 
> 
> Then couple that with the ability to "index" or "catalog" footprints per pretty library in
> the github README.md syntax:
> 
>   http://stackoverflow.com/questions/8655937/github-readme-and-readme-md
> 
> And you have the basis of a webpage on github that would let you quickly read about each
> footprint in detail from the index (README.md).  And paste into your table editor quickly
> the row you need to use it immediately.
> 
> While preparing the pretty library for publishing to any github repo, no doubt the
> REAME.md text preparation could be automated (with a script?).  The result is a one page
> summary of all footprints in the library in one place where it can be searched in a
> webbrowser.  Where the webbrowser is used to "Copy" the (fp_lib_table) entry onto the
> clipboard for pasting into the kicad DIALOG_FP_LIB_TABLE.
> 
> Pretty footprints can be sent through the mail, they should be able to come across the
> clipboard, they should be copyable onto the clipboard from a webpage, they should be
> expected from numerous external generators not part of KiCad, they should be pasteable
> from clipboard into the module editor at least.
> 
> We have sort of reserved, in the pretty format, the top comment area for external
> generators to use (coffeescript, python, etc.).  So we should not infringe on that comment
> area without discussion with a number of footprint generating folks.
> 
> Short term our best options are to encourage preparation of a publishing guideline.  That
> document would talk about what constitutes a good library, and how to prepare the
> README.md file, and maybe even offer a wxPython script to prepare it automatically.
> The REAME.md file should have the (fp_lib_table) near the top, which is the s-expression
> text to add that library rapidly to the kicad table dialog using copy and paste,
> webbrowser to KiCad.  For such (fp_lib_table) s-expression to be immediately be useful, it
> should 

not

> use environment variables.  The paste operation should be all that is needed to
> make the footprint library *immediately* useable.
> 
> If you don't want to read about me wearing a blue shirt or eating pizza in the footprint
> name, then probably that won't change until we have a true
> 
>   *footprint leadership person*
> .
> 
> Leadership primarily entails setting baseline minimum expectations.  (It does not extend
> to exclusion of bad libraries because anyone can always publish their own bad library
> anywhere on GITHUB.)  Competition may breed success, or it may breed needles in haystacks.
> 
> 
> Dick
> 
>