At 05:19 PM 9/28/2008, you wrote:
> I prefer to open both tools at once and make the same changes in
> both tools at the same time.
I do something similar. If I want to swap in pcb, I update the
schematic, regenerate the netlist, and import it. Then the rats know
what I *want* rather than trying to play catch-up. Now, if we could
use DBUS to make that a one-click transfer...
I guess I don't understand. If you wanted a rat line between pins,
why wouldn't you have done it that way the first time? I guess I am
thinking in terms of having partially routed a net and found that to
continue, it is better to swap a pin at the unrouted end. Are you
saying that you can see the problem without routing? If you just
update the schematic and import the new net list, doesn't that cause
the trace for that net to be ripped up? If not, that's great!
> Personally, I favor the idea of a unified data base for both layout
> and schematic. So far no one seems to agree with this idea.
It's been tossed around before, but there are drawbacks. For example,
gschem supports more backends than just pcb, so carrying around pcb's
overhead when you won't use pcb is a waste. Also, layouts and
schematics have different needs for what is stored (gschem doesn't
need to save line clearance info, via drill sizes, etc).
Sure, you can say it's a waste, but wasted what, disk space? If you
create a schematic with no layout info, there wouldn't be anything in
the file for that, so no (or very little) overhead. If a format such
as XML is adopted, then I think that has lots of overhead, but likely
without much impact really.
Still, the pcb file format is very old and probably due for a
redesign. I suspect if I ever find time to redo the internal layer
infrastructure, I might end up changing it for that.
I would suggest that a broad perspective be considered when thinking
of changing the internal file format. Maybe it is too early to tell
if the IPC ideas will take root, but certainly they can be
considered. Just like all the layout vendors seem to prefer
proprietary formats, it appears that every open source layout and
schematic tool has to reinvent the file format wheel.
Rick
Arius - A Signal Processing Solutions Company
Specializing in DSP and FPGA design URL http://www.arius.com
4 King Ave 301-682-7772 Voice
Frederick, MD 21701-3110
_______________________________________________
geda-user mailing list
[email protected]
http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
