--- In [email protected], "apluscw" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >
> > You go, Roger! I thought I would have to do this by hand. Since > KiCad is really a project manager, once you feel the program is > really in a distributable form, you might want to get it integrated > into KiCad as an alternate (better?) means of producing a BOM. > > I will definitely want to check out your program. > I hope not, my program is a simple work around I wrote to overcome what I percieve to be short term ommissions in KiCAD. I think the fact that naming fields has been added to eeschema is an indication that there will be more work in this area. I trust that if as and when such features are incorporated the quality will be much better ;-) Personally I would like to see KiCAD using a database format, such as an SQLite database, rather than ASCII lists. It allows for much better integration, forward and back annotation, and would allow users to extend the system using thier own tables linked by queries to the design tables. BUT, I am not a KiCAD developer. I take what I am offered and I am very grateful for it. If I ever did get involved with development then I would work towards a database solution. But of course it is the package maintianers who must ultimately decide which type of solution they are most happy with. > My current brainstorm is to create a program that will generate a > parts library from a dump of data out of DigiKey. The idea would be > to copy data into Excel, dump it as something like a csv file, and > have the flexibility of turning it into a library of components > based on various criteria the user selects. For example, they could > decide that one column should be in field 4 and that field should be > named "Description" or such. Parsing the HTML output would be much easier, why pass througth Excel. BTW, if you use a spreadsheet for KiCAD related work, why not use Open Office. Apart from being the official package for documentation it would also mean that you can share anything useful with the 50% of KiCAD users who do not use windows, as well as the many windows users who do not have Excel. Saluti, Roger.
