Re: gEDA-user: Parts DB API

[John Doty <jpd@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Dec 20, 2007, at 1:24 PM, Dave McGuire wrote:

> On Dec 19, 2007, at 5:47 PM, John Doty wrote:
>>>    As do I.  I've always thought that gattrib's functionality being
>>> implemented as a separate program is a bit odd.  I think there  
>>> should
>>> be a menu choice like "Edit all component attributes..." which would
>>> bring up what we now see as gattrib's main window.
>>
>> To me, it's the other way around. The schematic editor is a graphic
>> tool, and should concentrate on graphics ("A program should do one
>> thing well"). Attributes are text, and should be entered and edited
>> by a text-oriented tool. For attributes visible in the schematic, the
>> schematic editor should be able to read the attributes, but it need
>> not be able to write them.
>
>    I understand and agree with your point, but I think it should be
> looked at in a different way.  Rather than thinking of it as a
> graphical tool, the schematic editor is a "circuit design tool" (that
> happens to use graphics).  One can attach attributes to components in
> the design by individually selecting each component

That's fine for starting a project.

> and editing their
> attributes, but a spreadsheet-format tool like gattrib simply provides
> a shortcut for that functionality for more advanced users.

gattrib is very difficult. For one thing, it's a graphical tool  
itself, where a text tool is needed. For another, it's per page  
rather than per project. For another, it's per instance rather than  
per part or even per refdes (try changing the footprint for a 100  
slot device in gattrib). A text editor is a much more reasonable tool  
for, well, editing text, which is what attributes are. Right now, you  
can kind of do that by editing the sch files directly, but the fog of  
graphics data gets in the way, you're still working per instance, and  
I'm sure it's daunting to newbies.

But (optionally) moving attributes to a separate text file, indexed  
by part rather than instance or refdes, could make this much easier.

>
>    We're talking about the same thing of course; I'm just proposing a
> different way of looking at it.
>
>           -Dave
>
> --
> Dave McGuire
> Port Charlotte, FL
>
>
>
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John Doty              Noqsi Aerospace, Ltd.
http://www.noqsi.com/
jpd@xxxxxxxxx




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