kicad-developers team mailing list archive

[Wayne Stambaugh <stambaughw@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 11/25/2013 11:31 AM, Maciej Sumiński wrote:
> Ladies and Gentlemen,
> 
> Finally, there is the ratsnest compatible with the GAL available for
> testing in our branch [1]. Hopefully after some testing time and main
> developers approval, it will get merged to the testing branch.
> The main difference introduced is that the ratsnest now takes into
> account tracks and vias too. It came at some performance cost, but it
> should not be a very big price for the functionality.
> 
> For those that are slightly more interested in implementation details:
> - The board is processed, ie. all items are split to nodes (connection
> points such as pads, vias, track endings) and connections (tracks).
> - Basic grid of connections if computed by Delaunay triangulation
> (ignores the fact if connections exist or not, just prepares the grid).
> It is done using the TTL[2] library, tailored to the needs of the
> algorithm.
> - Minimum spanning tree is computed, taking into account if connections
> exist or not.
> For the items that are modified by the tools, it takes too much time to
> recompute the whole ratsnest, so there is only one line drawn for each
> node. After modifications are finished, all nets that were influenced
> are refreshed.
> 
> Things that I would like to add in the nearest future:
> - pool allocators - I believe this should significantly increase the
> speed, but I was not able at the time being to use it properly to gain
> some boost. I just need some experiments to combine those with shared_ptrs.
> - toggling ratsnest per net - There could be a menu for hiding specific
> nets. I used to hide power nets in my designs, as they were introducing
> lots of missing connections that were littering my screen.
> 
> As usual, both tests and opinions are more than welcome. Myself, I am
> going to further develop the selection tool.
> 
> Kind regards,
> Orson
> 
> [1] lp:~cern-kicad/kicad/ratsnest
> [2] http://www.sintef.no/Projectweb/Geometry-Toolkits/TTL/
> 

Orson,

I take it that the Boost geometry library does not have support for
triangulation.  I hate to keep adding more dependencies unless we
absolutely need to.  I'll try to test is over the Thanksgiving holiday
if I get some time.

Thanks,

Wayne