Re: gEDA-user: blue sky ideas - written down finally

[DJ Delorie <dj@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> If I put the most optimistic interpretation on the final three  
> paragraphs of of your "Component Databases" memo, I might see it.

Right.  They key is this: "Second, the ... tools query the database to
fill in missing information that might be needed for the layout."
Also the "The ABI works something like this:" list is very open ended.
Given these attributes, tell me those attributes.

The tools mentioned there, basically the netlister, takes all the
attributes you specified, and uses a set of rules to find whatever
other attributes it needs.  This might be footprint for PCB, or vendor
part number for a BOM, or spice model for a simulation.  So, it allows
you to add extra attributes which exist only to tell your ruleset what
other attributes to choose.

> The problem is that most of the memo is about sugar, not nutrition
> or balance.

It *is* a "blue sky" document.

> This makes optimism rather difficult.

I can't help it if you're not optimistic.  You need to look at new
ideas as a way to express flexibility, not as arbitrary limits on
them.  Just because *I* talk about PCB a lot doesn't mean my ideas are
only for PCB - it's up to you to see how they can apply to your own
goals, not just assume that they won't.

> "GUI" and "plugin" (the sugar) are mentioned 11 times. The core
> engine of gEDA, gnetlist, isn't mentioned once,

I mention the sch->pcb workflow as an entity, five times.  I don't
assume it will be gnetlist, but no reason why it couldn't.

Also, I don't see gnetlist being *the* core of gEDA, but that's just
my opinion.

And I call it a "plugin" because I think it's important to design it
as something that can get used by more than one app, and something
that can be implemented in more than one way.  If the word "plugin"
bothers you, substitute "service".

> And, of course, there's no mention of the fact that these issues are  
> pretty universal across all flows, even VLSI and simulation.

Hence my design is open-ended.

> It's pure pcb-centrism, an attitude which always rubs me the wrong
> way.

Well, stop seeing it that way then.


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