X-Authentication-Warning: delorie.com: mail set sender to geda-user-bounces using -f X-Recipient: geda-user AT delorie DOT com Message-ID: <5568A70F.206@xs4all.nl> Date: Fri, 29 May 2015 19:51:11 +0200 From: "Bert Timmerman (bert DOT timmerman AT xs4all DOT nl)" User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.9.1.19) Gecko/20110429 Fedora/2.0.14-1.fc13 SeaMonkey/2.0.14 MIME-Version: 1.0 To: geda-user AT delorie DOT com Subject: Re: [geda-user] PCB implementing slot attribute in a footprint References: <1432916564 DOT 3024 DOT 451 DOT camel AT crowe DOT localdomain> In-Reply-To: <1432916564.3024.451.camel@crowe.localdomain> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Reply-To: geda-user AT delorie DOT com Mike Crowe (mcrowe AT gcdataconcepts DOT com) wrote: > Hello All > > I've been using gEDA pcb for several years now have found it to be an > excellent, stable, "meat and potatoes" tool for board layout. > > While there are several features I'd like to have implemented (keep out > regions, blind and buried vias, footprints that allow generic traces, > add pad flags 'start-round', 'stop-round'...) there is one feature that > I'd really like to see. The ability to put slot on a board as part of a > footprint. I'm interested in enough to volunteer time to help implement > this. > > On the output NC-drill side, implementing it seems simple enough. It > would be a start point, a "G85" keyword and an end point. There is some > preliminary code support for viewing slots in gerbv (git version). > > At the footprint side, it seems to me that a new keyword identifier is > in order, maybe "slot" It would have to properties of a "pin" except > that it would have a start and stop point. > > Then, of course, there's all that stuff in the middle. Either a pin > object would be extended to include a start/stop point, or a new object > class would be created ( I know its "C", but the idea is the same > regardless of the language ). > > I'm a relatively adept "C" programmer, and I think I'm up to the task. > But before I dive in, I have a few questions. > > Is someone already working on a feature similar to this? > If I generate a patch that works how do I go about getting this feature > merged? > Are there any roadmap developer docs that help lead the way through the > code maze? > In looking through the code, I see this "bison" stuff. I unfamiliar > with it. What kinds of development tools are being used to implement > this? > Does the the above implementation approach make sense? > > > Cheers > Mike > > > Hi Mike and list members, I think that "slot" properties resembles more to a "trace" than to a "pin". Traces do have a start point, end point, copper clearance and width, and could give straight "line" slots and curved "arc" slots. Maybe drawing slots on a separate layer as lines and arcs, and post processing the resulting gerber file for that hat layer (with awk or sed) can be a short term solution, YMMV. I see more and more reasons for extending the pcb file format for long term solutions for the above mentioned features. Kind regards, Bert Timmerman.