Re: gEDA-user: Element file format questions

[DJ Delorie <dj@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> I'm a big fan of "drawing" my footprints with either a text editor or
> a python script.  It's been a while since I last did this, and I know
> that pcb keeps changing.  Is the documentation at
> http://pcb.sourceforge.net/pcb-20070208/pcb.html correct for the
> 20070208 snapshot?  (Or is there any compelling reason to us the CVS
> version?)

CVS has arbitrary element rotations.  I don't think we've changed the
format since then.

> Second question: if I want to draw a dot on the silk layer (i.e., a
> filled-in circle), am I to use the ElementArc command with x,y at the
> center, thickness equal to the desired radius, a width and height
> equal to half the radius, and a delta angle of 360?  (Or is that angle
> in radians?)

ElementLine from X,Y to X,Y, thickness = diameter.  The code knows to
draw that as a filled circle, since we use that to draw BGA pads.

Using ElementArc would draw a circle, not a dot.  In theory, you could
get away with it if you chose radius and thickness equal to *half* the
dot's diameter, though.

> And lastly, what is the "best practice" on placing the mark and
> element text?  Seems to me that the mark should either be in the
> center of the element body or centered on pin/pad 1.  I've always
> just left the text at the origin and moved/rotated it during layout.

I put the mark at the center of the part, if that makes sense to.  For
odd-shaped parts, I put it on pin1.  Either way, I keep the mark and
the pins on the same grid.

I put text inside the element if I can, but I always end up moving it
during layout.  The latest PCB has a "lock text" option that keeps you
from accidentally selecting the names when moving elements, and an
"only text" mode for rearranging the refdes's.


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