kicad-developers team mailing list archive

[Jason Whiteman <whitemanjason@xxxxxxxxx>]

"And what would the problem be? It would replace the package with the
same value..."

I do not have a "package" property - I use footprint as my package
property.  Footprint = the logical name of the library part (not package).
 When I use CvPCB to generate a cmp file - my 0402 is changed to SMD_C_0402
(or similar - depends on library) and perhaps another part changes from
what I elected to fill in the schematic as the package (but used the
footprint property) and for that particular part the replaced value would
be more obscure.  Also string lengths change so text runs into overlap
issues even for those parts that still happen to convey package in the
logical footprint name when these get replaced.

As I mentioned - I incorrectly use "footprint" in my schematic as the
package and then use CvPCB to pick my library parts which, in the cmp file,
fixes my incorrect usage in a forward fashion.  To a large extent - this
problem is self-imposed but born out of a possibly common misuse case due
to queues from the software that could be enhanced.

"I take more time *thinking* of the
best swap to do, the mechanical clicky time is more or less irrelevant"

If course, as with everything, it depends.  I would tend to agree on pin
swaps of "large" parts.  What I was thinking of in my post was a case where
I had to pin swap many resistors and caps (2 terminal standard SMD).  This
was to leverage an XY file from a previous project (done in PADS).  There
were many ways to skin this cat -- use rotation in PCBnew, modify pcb or
sch with a command-line script, modify the schematic, and so on.  I saw
using the "x" and "y" shortcuts (depending on the orientation of the part)
was the "easiest" way to pin swap each of these parts as I identified
backwards parts in the layout.  It also allowed for me to not worry about
improperly centered (origin) PCB modules (footprints).   This was a case
where I was wanting to reduce the click count for the repetitive task in
this scenario.  As this is only one illustration - and the software usage
certainly experiences a wider spectrum -- reducing click count in tools is
always a good thing while maintaining the longer click-methods to help
maintain
backwards-I've-already-learned-a-way-that-works-fine-for-me-ability.  This
is also a case where macros or scripting may come into play - but this
doesn't diminish the notion of efficient tools as a core goal.  In many
other respects, the core of Kicad already excels at achieving this goal.

Regards,
Jason




On Mon, Jul 7, 2014 at 1:44 AM, Lorenzo Marcantonio <
l.marcantonio@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> On Mon, Jul 07, 2014 at 01:32:02AM -0700, Jason Whiteman wrote:
> > Maybe my workflow in using Kicad is does not match the expectations of
> use
> > - but I avoid back-annotation from CvPCB because I generally populate
> > "footprint" with what should be regarded as "package" (0402, etc) and
> keep
> > this "wrong" usage throughout.  Back annotation from CvPCB (manual -
> > previous method) would overwrite my package designations on the
> schematic.
>
> And what would the problem be? It would replace the package with the
> same value...
>
> > At any rate - back/forward annotation (primarily between PCBnew and
> > EESchema) are on my TODO list to reduce the click count -- something
> you're
> > accomplishing for CvPCB.  These are cases where I think enabling more
> > automation is a good thing as long as there's a lever to turn the
> > automation off.
>
> When you don't have gate/pin swap that's desiderable... ever had to find
> the 'best' permutation for a quad resistor pack or even worse a 7400?
> However for that cvpcb is not necessary, just need to do the netlist
> turnaround. And given that usually I take more time *thinking* of the
> best swap to do, the mechanical clicky time is more or less irrelevant
> :D
>
> --
> Lorenzo Marcantonio
> Logos Srl
>
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