On 11/30/2012 12:23 PM, Richard Howlett wrote: > Thanks Dick for taking the time to look at this. > > I thought that the "Append Board" might have been a planned way of > dealing with hierarchy that just wasn't fully implemented. Now, I'm > guessing it for stepping multiple boards to export into gerber to > exploit full PCB panels? > > I'm poking around KiCad but I can't seem to find anything that > references Board fragment. I think I get what you are saying. In some > ways this approach is how I've dealt with this in the past, but it's > always been kind of a kludge (by hand, and very time consuming). Plus > the Module Editor doesn't deal in traces, just pads. If I could save a > PCB as a Module this might get me part of the way. Then, its like you > say, just adding modules. The only hiccup I see is the naming of the > internal nets, it would seem they would need some type of unique name > (hidden names in a component with no connect declarations so the > netlister assigns the names, oh the list just keeps getting longer...) > > *) Points of connections are just pads and traces, I can't think of any > thing else. > > *) So a Module would need some minimum set of verification such as width > and clearance DRCs, but it should be ok for connectivity to have opens > as long as the pads or traces are open for routing (this can be part of > someone's master plan to do this at a higher level, ie GND), thus it > should be a warning and not an error. > > *) It seems if the PCB could save schematics artwork as a Module, and > there were a simple path for a Schematic to save as Component (with some > type of link to the original schematic) this would be an acceptable and, > I might add, good solution. I don't know the code well enough to say if > this is easy but I have plans to start really digging into it next > year.
To actually achieve this, one would need a use case description (written spec), then a software design. After that, in theory, coding it is like cutting a down a few trees without a chainsaw, only a handsaw. Less thinking, mostly grinding. But it is definitely a longer term perspective, and tantamount to envisioning a garage from a pile of lumber. The pile may only look like a garage to a framer. If I were to spend any more time on it, then I would be funding it. And it is too big a task without outside funding. _______________________________________________ Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~kicad-developers Post to : [email protected] Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~kicad-developers More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
