Re: gEDA-user: PCB Netlist?

[John Doty <jpd@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Apr 2, 2010, at 9:06 AM, Chris Maness wrote:

>   On Fri, Apr 2, 2010 at 7:37 AM, John Doty <[1]jpd@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> 
>   On Apr 2, 2010, at 8:20 AM, Chris Maness wrote:
>> is there a utility for converting a regular _cleaned
>>  up_  (commands removed) spice netlist?
> 
>     I don't think so. I don't think any PCB users use LTSpice for
>     schematic capture: most apparently use gschem. And some use gschem
>     to capture schematics for LTSpice, see
>     [2]http://www.brorson.com/gEDA/SPICE/intro.html.
>     That said, it wouldn't be hard to do SPICE->pcb: maybe a page or two
>     of AWK or Perl. Most of the SPICE syntax problems can be ignored in
>     this narrow application. Why don't you write it and contribute it?
>     John Doty              Noqsi Aerospace, Ltd.
>     [3]http://www.noqsi.com/
>     [4]jpd@xxxxxxxxx
> 
>   Yes, Perl is the right script language for the job, but I only know
>   bash.  I foresee an issue with the pin numbers, as I don't think spice
>   netlists handles pin numbers in an analogues way, but I am not sure as
>   I am a spice n00b.

SPICE has no understanding of pin numbers *at all*. Its abstractions are grounded in IC design where you have no pin numbers (at least internally). You'd have to provide a file mapping positional netlist connections to pin numbers. Another advantage of using a *flexible* schematic capture tool rather than a specialized one. In gschem you can specify both pin numbers (pinnumber= attribute) and pin position in a SPICE netlist (pinseq= attribute).

>   I really like LTSpice for schematic capture, it is very intuitive and
>   fast for me.

Except that it's too specialized to be convenient for this job.

>  TinyCAD is kind of nice too, but LT's is very easy and
>   fast.  Gschem does not seem to be in mac ports.  I saw it listed as a
>   fink package, but I don't like fink at all.

gEDA has excellent support under Fink, and it's also not too difficult to build from source on the Mac. I do a lot of gEDA work on my MacBook, especially on the road when I'm away from my Linux desktop machines.

>  I am running PCB under
>   wine (works great) because the mac ports version was buggy.  I
>   installed gschem on FreeBSD server to play with it, but I like LTSpice
>   a little better at this point.

gschem is extremely *flexible*. But that flexibility comes with a cost. I do schematic capture for simulation, printed circuit design, and VLSI design with gschem, using a variety of design flows, whatever the customer wants. But LTSpice is specialized for simulation, so it doesn't need the extra capabilities gschem has, and there are therefore fewer opportunities for confusion.

>   I like PCB better than all of the other PCB CAD packages out there.
>   Very powerful, and it does not have a real steep curve just to get up
>   and running.
>   Thanks,
>   Chris Maness
> 
> References
> 
>   1. mailto:jpd@xxxxxxxxx
>   2. http://www.brorson.com/gEDA/SPICE/intro.html
>   3. http://www.noqsi.com/
>   4. mailto:jpd@xxxxxxxxx
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> geda-user mailing list
> geda-user@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user

John Doty              Noqsi Aerospace, Ltd.
http://www.noqsi.com/
jpd@xxxxxxxxx




_______________________________________________
geda-user mailing list
geda-user@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user