Re: gEDA-user: "new-style" (IEC 60617-12) TTL / CMOS symbols

["Samuel A. Falvo II" <sam.falvo@xxxxxxxxx>]

On 7/11/05, primorec <geda.mail@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> What bothers me is the statement "free sharing is prohibited without
> the explicit, written approval of the IEC"
> 
> I hope that the implementation of the IEC60617 symbols in gEDA is not
> understood as "free sharing"

Of course, it would by definition be.

Although, after looking at some of the symbology they use, I have to
ask myself, "Why in the world would #anyone# want to use this?"

The symbols are all grotesquely confusing for individual gates at the
very least.  The ANSI-style symbology is so very much clearer for
discrete gates.

I think IEC symbology makes a bit more sense for describing more
complex structures, like shift registers that have independently
controlled parall output registers (e.g., like the 74HC595).  However,
even there, properly labeling the input and output signals on a simple
"empty box"-style symbol is often quite sufficient for the schematic
reader to surmise the function of a chip.  And, I doubt you'll ever
find an IEC symbol that adequately describes a microprocessor, or
something like a 65C22 VIA chip.

So, between the license restrictions and the decidedly limited utility
of the symbology, I have to wonder where, how, and why IEC symbology
is used?

--
Samuel A. Falvo II