kicad-developers team mailing list archive

[Mark Roszko <mark.roszko@xxxxxxxxx>]

Well I submitted the merge proposal for the renames
seeing how Wayne and others are for it in the majority.

On Wed, Oct 8, 2014 at 2:49 PM, Carl Poirier <carl.poirier.2@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I totally agree with Andy Peters.
>
> Symbol for the schematic parts and footprint for the PCB parts. If KiCad
> ever gets to the point of having predefined symbol-footprint-3D-SPICE-etc.,
> then it would be great to be able to describe these as components, without
> disturbing the nomenclature of something else.
>
> Whatever the final decision is, I'll make sure consistency extends to the
> libraries.
>
> On Wed, Oct 8, 2014 at 1:40 PM, Andy Peters <devel@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>
>> On Oct 8, 2014, at 5:08 AM, Mark Roszko <mark.roszko@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> >> I use footprint myself.  Though footprint seems to imply what a PCB
>> >> must have in order to accommodate a part, eg, pads, silk.  Are the 3d
>> >> models part of this?  If they are, then footprint might not be the
>> >> best term.
>> >> I agree with this. What you want to rename "Footprint" is more or less
>> >> a container unifying different PCB objects (pads, lines, 3d model...), but
>> >> may not be a footprint (logos, mounting holes, screws...)
>> >
>> > Personally I think "Components" may be an even better word than
>> > "modules" or "footprints" but suggesting that may have been even more
>> > radical and conflicting agaisn't the next point
>>
>> My two cents, based on the terminology used by every employer for whom
>> I've worked:
>>
>> a) A footprint is what defines how a part gets attached to a PCB. It
>> includes the pad/holes for lead attach, as well as silkscreen for refdes and
>> outline, and the other assembly layers such as soldermask, solder paste and
>> glue dots. "Land patterns" really only describe the lead attach, and not the
>> other stuff.
>>
>> I think Pads calls this a "decal." The only context I've seen the term
>> "module" refer to a PCB footprint is in Kicad.
>>
>> "Footprint" is the term used by most of us here in the colonies.
>>
>> b) A symbol is what defines a part for a schematic.
>>
>> c) A component is the marriage of the footprint and the symbol, and
>> possibly a 3D model, a SPICE model, a VHDL entity or Verilog module, and so
>> forth. This is the Altium nomenclature.
>>
>> d) A module is a completed assembly or subassembly which is installed as
>> one unit on a PCBA. The various DC-DC converters you can buy from TI and
>> Linear Tech are modules.
>>
>> So my vote, if there's a move to change Kicad terminology, is to replace
>> the term "module" with "footprint."
>>
>> -a
>>
>>
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>
>
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-- 
Mark