kicad-developers team mailing list archive

[Wayne Stambaugh <stambaughw@xxxxxxxxx>]

On 12/21/2016 12:25 PM, Kaspar Emanuel wrote:
> Thanks for reading over this JP,
> 
>     I don't really understand why you are thinking the schematic file
>     format should be modified.
> 
> 
>     If you want to see a user field always existing in your component
>     editor, just add this field name
> 
>     and a default value in the schematic editor options (Default fields).
> 
> 
>     The feature you want is already available since many years in Eeschema.
> 
> 
> You can add an MPN field yourself already, the problem is all the
> external tooling expects a different convention and it would save people
> a lot of time if someone decided on a convention and encouraged it.
> Eeschema developers are in the best place to do that.

What you are describing is what the KiCad project refers to as a "fully
defined symbol".  Fully defined symbols contain optional fields such as
manufacturer, manufacturer part number, vendor, vendor part number,
cost, location code, etc.  The reason the KiCad project does not provide
fully defined symbols is that there is no way of knowing what the user
expects in terms of defined fields.  If I asked 10 different board
designers what they want in a fully defined symbol, I would get 10
different answers.  No two companies I've worked for have ever defined
symbols the same way.  They all have their own unique requirements.
This would be impossible for the kicad project to implement and support
so we have made it a policy not to provide them and leave that up to the
user.  That is why most of our symbols are generic.  If kicad users want
to get together and implement a standard for fully defined symbols, I'm
fine with that but it's not something that makes sense for the kicad
project to define.

> 
> The reason for the file format discussion is that, to me, the best
> convention would be one that allows for multiple manufacturer + MPN
> pairs per symbol.

I wouldn't support this in the file format.  This kind of information is
exactly what fields are for.  Changes to the file format are reserved
for information required by the schematic and symbol libraries.

> 
>     From the point of view of the *schematic editor*, what is the
>     purpose of this field?
> 
>  
> It allows the schematic editor to work better together with the existing
> external tools.

I don't see how using a field versus a new file token makes any
difference to external tools.  The formatting of a field in a schematic
file is no more or less difficult to parse than any other token such as
a pin, wire, line, etc.

> 
> 
> 
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