kicad-developers team mailing list archive

[Wayne Stambaugh <stambaughw@xxxxxxxxx>]

On 8/15/2016 7:45 PM, Cirilo Bernardo wrote:
> Hi Wayne,
> 
>  There are 2 parts to this:
> 
> 1. Have a suitable OCE build on Windows and OSX that we can put the
> 3D OCE plugin into the main branch. This plugin will always be a
> conditional compile of course since there is no sense in forcing all
> users to have OCE if they don't need it. The reason for putting the
> 3D OCE plugin into the main branch is so that it doesn't remain just a
> little-known third party add-on. From the installer point of view, we can
> provide general users with a second installer which would install OCE
> and the plugin so anyone who needs it can simply add it on.
> 
> 2. STEP export. I imagine a large number of professional users will
> require STEP export, so we need it at some stage in the future.
> I imagine it would only take me a few days to add code to pcbnew
> to provide an Export function. The reason I haven't done this is that
> we cannot do this in a modular fashion at the moment. If someone
> wants STEP export then they will have to recompile KiCad with that
> option. On our end we would have to provide 2 KiCad installers: one with
> OCE and the STEP export and one without. If the export tool can be
> kept separate, as in a dynamically loaded plugin, then users can add
> STEP export when they need it via a much smaller installer.
> 
> There is one compromise I can think of which would allow us to
> add STEP export in the short term. I can add code to search for
> the STEP conversion tool when pcbnew starts; if it is found then
> a menu item is added and if the tool isn't found then no menu item
> is created. This would make it possible to install OCE and the
> export tool using a second installer without installing a specially
> compiled version of KiCad. In this situation the export tool can also
> be moved into the KiCad main branch and can be distributed in
> the same installer as the 3D OCE plugin. That way anyone who
> requires MCAD can simply download and run this installer. For
> people who build from source, all these tools will be available
> once they install OCE and compile kicad with a flag to build
> the components which depend on OCE.

This might worthwhile in the short term until a export plugin can be
designed and written.

> 
> - Cirilo
> 
> On Tue, Aug 16, 2016 at 3:52 AM, Wayne Stambaugh <stambaughw@xxxxxxxxx
> <mailto:stambaughw@xxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
> 
>     Cirilo,
> 
>     I'm not sure what you are asking.  Ideally, any conversion tool such as
>     STEP would be part of Pcbnew where a simple export->step menu entry
>     would be available.  Users generally prefer this to running and external
>     tool.  What is the end goal of this?
> 
>     Cheers,
> 
>     Wayne
> 
>     On 8/14/2016 11:45 PM, Cirilo Bernardo wrote:
>     > Hi Folks,
>     >
>     >  Thanks mostly to nickoe we have been able to build the
>     > OCE-based 3D plugin for visualization of STEP (and IGES) files on
>     > Windows. I believe that regardless of the availability of some form
>     > of OCE on Windows, it is best if we distribute a known good version
>     > of OCE which has been built with gcc.
>     >
>     >  Back in May I also received some tips on building the plugin for
>     > OSX: https://github.com/cbernardo/kicad_oce_3D/issues/1
>     <https://github.com/cbernardo/kicad_oce_3D/issues/1>
>     >
>     >  However I have been advised that, as in the case of Windows, it
>     > is probably best if we provide our own OCE as part of the
>     > installer.
>     >
>     >  There is still some cleaning up to do with regards to getting a
>     > Windows build but I believe Nick has sorted out all the biggest
>     > problems.
>     >
>     >  We still need a volunteer to do some work to get an OSX build
>     > of OCE and the 3D plugin, and from there I can put the 3D plugin
>     > *and* a kicad_pcb to STEP converter into KiCad. (Any
>     > volunteers?)
>     >
>     > Currently the 3D plugin can be found here:
>     > https://github.com/cbernardo/kicad_oce_3D
>     <https://github.com/cbernardo/kicad_oce_3D>
>     >
>     > The kicad_pcb to STEP converter is here:
>     > https://github.com/cbernardo/kicad2mcad
>     <https://github.com/cbernardo/kicad2mcad>
>     >
>     > The PCB to STEP converter is currently a stand-alone tool
>     > since integration as a plugin to KiCad requires the implementation
>     > of a PCB API and I just haven't got time to work on that at the
>     > moment.
>     >
>     > - Cirilo
>     >
>     >
>     >
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