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Date: Mon, 24 Aug 2015 17:35:38 GMT
From: falcon AT ivan DOT Harhan DOT ORG (Spacefalcon the Outlaw)
Message-Id: <1508241735.AA23409@ivan.Harhan.ORG>
To: geda-user AT delorie DOT com
Subject: [geda-user] PADS docs enabling conversion to PCB
Reply-To: geda-user AT delorie DOT com

Hello free EDA users,

After digging a junk laptop out of a closet and installing first
Windows, then PADS on it, I was able to gain access to the docs for
PADS' PCB and library ASCII file formats:

ftp://ftp.freecalypso.org/pub/CAD/PADS/pdfdocs/Plib_ASCII.pdf
ftp://ftp.freecalypso.org/pub/CAD/PADS/pdfdocs/Ppcb_ASCII.pdf

I found these docs to be quite good, and in theory it is possible to
write a lossless automated converter for moving footprints or even
complete board layouts from PADS into GNU PCB.  Notice I said "in
theory" - in practice the problem one will run into is that our
current PCB is so much less capable than PADS: no blind/buried vias,
no arbitrary drawing layers, no pad stacks etc.  Thus if a PADS board
design uses all of those (like cellphone boards do), then there is no
way to convert these features which our PCB does not support yet.  But
those features which GNU PCB does support can be converted from PADS
losslessly using these PADS file format docs.

Happy hacking,
SF