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Re: dxf? (was: Re: gEDA-user: Making an odd-shaped PCB)
El lun, 05-02-2007 a las 19:33 -0800, Dave N6NZ escribiÃ:
> Very interesting thread. Taking it a little off topic...
>
> A question that has come up in the past is the idea of importing data
> from a mechanical package to get board outline, etc. As it turns out,
> I'm working on another project where I have been using dxflib, which is
> a C++ dxf reading library.
>
> What would pcb like to see from a .dxf file? I'm thinking that
> exporting board outline and mounting holes and nothing else from a dxf
> file would be straightforward. How might that be injected into pcb?
>
> One idea: with the code I already have, I could turn out a simple widget
> that:
> 1) looked for a particular layer name in a .dxf file, and ignored the rest.
> 2) extracted lines, arcs, and circles, and ignored all other drawing
> entities and all entity attributes. Presumably, lines and arcs would
> form a board outline, and circles would represent drills for mounting
> screws.
> 3) wrote out some cheesy well-formed XML that could be imported into pcb
> via something magical, or put through a style sheet to make something
> pcb wants, or some such. Alternatively, the program could write
> something in a native pcb format. Or somebody that understands the pcb
> format could volunteer to do a native back-end.
You may import drawings from DXF, but what about component positions,
for example? will you able to get a 3D model of your PCB board?
There is another open ASCII format designed for MCAD/ECAD integration:
IDF. I use it everyday at work to exchange data between the mechanical
CAD and the electronic CAD programs (in both directions).
Here is an article about it:
http://electronics-cooling.com/articles/2002/2002_november_a2.php
I remember I got the specs from a company called Intermedius Design
Integration, but I am unable to find the link right now.
The specs are also available at:
www.aertia.com/docs/priware/IDF_V20_Spec.pdf
www.aertia.com/docs/priware/IDF_V30_Spec.pdf
The mechanical CAD programs I have seen support versions 2.0 and 3.0
(they are quite similar). There is a 4.0 version released, but the
format changes a lot, and I haven't seen any program supporting it.
Best regards,
Carlos
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