OK, I've put up a new gsch2pcb tarball:
http://web.wt.net/~billw/gsch2pcb/gsch2pcb-1.3.tar.gz
and tuned the footprint handling to make gsch2pcb usage slightly more convenient:
1) For symbols that have no footprint attribute give a warning and don't write an unfound package line into the output PCB file. However, if any such symbols have net connections they will be in the PCB netlist.
2) For symbols that have the attribute footprint=none give a warning and don't write an unfound package line into the output PCB file. So having the "none" footprint can serve as a generic place holder where multiple real footprints are candidates and the gsch2pcb warning serves as a reminder that one of them should be chosen.
3) New option "empty-footprint name". If specified (probably in a project file), then for symbols that have a footprint set to that name no warning is given (unless the verbose option is given) and nothing is written into the output PCB file. This just gives a convenient way to have symbols in a schematic which will not be mounted on the PC board and to shut up gsch2pcb warnings about it. However, if net connections are made to these symbols, they will be in the PCB netlist and PCB will warn if the netlist is loaded and never consider the layout complete. So, maybe connections to such parts could be drawn with a graphical line and not a net?
If "none" is specified as the empty-footprint, eg. the project file has: empty-footprint none then there are no warnings (unless verbose) and "none" will no longer be useful as a place holder as described in 2).
Bill
This should work great. Connectors that are not designed to be soldered directly to a PCB would then continue to be footprint=none. Then:
1. When they are placed in a PCB schematic they will fall into option 2 and the designer will then have to pick the pad patern he desires to hard wire the connector to. Here I am assuming that I have to pick another footprint in gschem before I run gsch2pcb. Am I correct?
This allows for none to be used as a place holder too.
2. When they are used in a cable schematic they will be fine because no PCB layout is to be done and gsch2pcb will not be used on the schematic file.
However, if a third case of the designer placing the cable schematic in with the PCB schematic happens then option 3 occures because the designer will have to either use graphical lines in place of nets and use the "empty-footprint none" option or deal with the PCB warnings of an incomplete layout.
This encourages seperating schematics into what will be soldered on the PCB and what is not.
Are we thinking the same?
-- Eric Winsor Stewart Radiance Laboratory Space Dynamics Laboratory - USURF Bedford, MA 01730
