kicad-developers team mailing list archive

[Cirilo Bernardo <cirilo_bernardo@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi folks,

 I have put a new patch into my github patch repository:
https://github.com/cbernardo/kicad-patches.git

The patch "idf_tools.patch" was created against rev 4653;
it adds the following tools for creating IDF component outlines:

1. idfcyl: creates cylindrical outlines in vertical or horizontal
orientation with axial or radial leads

2. idfrect: creates rectangular outlines which may have axial
leads or a chamfer on the top left corner

3. dxf2idf: creates an IDF outline from a DXF drawing

Changes to the code base:

1. idf.cpp,h were refactored, with components shared by the idf2dxf
tool moved to idf_common.cpp,h in the pcbnew/exporters directory.

2. At the top level, a "utils" directory was added. The source for the
tools is in utils/idftools.

Testing:
A number of test shapes were generated to check each tool.
Outlines were created using units of mm and inches and a test board
was created and exported to IDF. The resulting emn and emp files were
loaded in SolidWorks and the appearance, orientation, and dimensions
of the parts were verified.

These tools make it possible for users to easily create high quality
IDF outlines to represent components of a board exported to IDF.
DXF files can be created using LibreCAD which is available on Linux,
OSX, and MSWin.

All that's missing now is the documentation; I have something partially
written but it will take some time for me to get the quality similar to
what is in the official documentation repository.

cheers,
Cirilo