Hi PCB developers,
> > 1. It needs wish, which is part of Tcl/Tk. Configure fails when it
> > doesn't find wish. Ummm, I am not a PCB expert. Why does it need
> > wish?
>
> In the ~generic library, there is a "MENU_QFP" choice. It ends up
> calling a GUI for generating QFP footprints and that GUI is written
> in tcl/tk. I made it error out because I hate it when autoconf
> based build systems just enable/disable features based on whats
> installed on a system. I'd rather the user have to add --disable-foo.
>
> However, I'd probably like to just remove that footprint builder
> unless someone else feels very strongly. I think the QFP footprints
> in the ~geda library have been checked out more carefully and
> thats where I'd rather put the effort in improving the library.
As the author of "MENU_QFP", I will make the following comments:
1. If there is a good footprint already made and checked outside
of MENU_QFP, use it.
2. If there isn't a good footprint already made, you can make one
for yourself using MENU_QFP. It takes about two minutes with
the datasheet. I don't think any other existing technique
can make that claim.
3. By all means, make it optional. Especially if you can make
it give a nice error message if someone selects that (virtual)
part.
4. With a little improvement and community involvement, MENU_QFP
could be a very compact and clean method of archiving the
bazillion QFP (and SOIC) footprints that people need in the
wild. So far, nobody has even e-mailed me their qfp.dat, so
AFAIK I'm the only user.
5. I hate TCL. I only use it because it's quick for me to program
simple stuff, and it's supposedly multi-platform. I would consider
it a big improvement if something MENU_QFP-like were programmed in
a real language, and better integrated with the other tools.
- Larry
P.S. here's my qfp.dat, if anybody wants to merge it in.
5000 49 10 1 25 25 669 669 AD9430 SV-100
5000 45 10 1 17 17 433 433 MAX5886 generic
5000 59 11 1 16 16 511 511 LAN83C185 generic
5000 49 11 1 36 36 905 905 XCCACE generic
6500 44 14 1 20 30 669 906 CY7C68013 TQFP-100-14x20
