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Re: DXF export generates non-closed polygons, and other problems interchanging data w/ Sonnet

 

Just adding ... it would be good to know exactly what those non-closed
polygons are - fill zones, cutouts, etc.  From there if we also know what
the specific defect is then we can decide how to fix it.   There are a few
instances where I was never comfortable with how we've handled things, for
example: board outline with arcs not a multiple of 90 degrees, or 2 tangent
arcs, often produces geometry that is not quite closed.  In the case of the
board outline we use a "close enough" algorithm to join the dots but the
reality is that our representation of the information provides no guarantee
that what we are doing meets the design intent.  I was dreaming of having a
basic 2D geometry engine to help tackle all these related problems, but I
never had the time to develop my ideas.

Cirilo


On Thu, Sep 3, 2020 at 12:52 PM Seth Hillbrand <seth@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> It would be helpful if you could generate a minimal example file where a
> polygon is not closed and create a bug report with that file.  To my
> knowledge, polygons are closed in the dxf plotter (at least the code is
> written in such a way as to attempt to do this).
>
> We do not yet support real drill outlines in the plotter.  We've added
> this to the printer and could probably do the same for the plotter.  Here,
> again it will be helpful to submit a bug report requesting this feature.
>
> Multiple layers in a single dxf has already been requested but has not yet
> been implemented (https://gitlab.com/kicad/code/kicad/-/issues/2526)
>
> Best-
> Seth
>
> On Wed, Sep 2, 2020 at 4:17 PM Andrew Zonenberg <
> azonenberg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> Kicad's DXF export seems to be broken, causing many tools (such as the
>> Sonnet field solver) to not import layouts correctly.
>> I contacted Sonnet support and they did some digging; it seems like
>> KiCAD is producing malformed DXFs that have non-closed polygons in them.
>>
>> I've also encountered two other problems getting KiCAD designs into
>> Sonnet:
>>
>> 1) Sonnet's DXF import expects a *single* DXF, with one drawing layer
>> per PCB/via layer. KiCAD generates one DXF per layer and I don't think
>> there is currently a way to do a multilayer export. This isn't a fatal
>> problem as I can just do multiple imports, but it's annoying.
>>
>> 2) More seriously, There does not seem to be any way to get via drill
>> *outlines* in DXF format. The "drill map" file just has an X at each via
>> location which is useless when trying to import layout into an external
>> tool.
>>
>> Anybody have suggestions on how to proceed, or interested in helping to
>> fix this? I'm not super familiar with the DXF file format although back
>> in the v4.x days I did do some work on the microvia/blind via Excellon
>> drill export code so I've done at least a little bit of work there.
>>
>> Andrew
>>
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>
>
> --
> [image: KiCad Services Corporation Logo]
> Seth Hillbrand
> *Lead Developer*
> +1-530-302-5483‬ <+12126039372>
> Davis, CA
> www.kipro-pcb.com    info@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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