Re: gEDA-user: poll: How do you geda?

[Dave N6NZ <n6nz@xxxxxxxx>]

DJ Delorie wrote:
>>    That would be *fantastic*.  It'd also be nice (though this is 
>> somewhat pie-in-the-sky) to have a layer of abstraction between the user 
>> coordinate system and the internal coordinate system.  Say, allow the 
>> user to enter a translation factor (like "* 2.54, * 2.54") by which any 
>> coordinates entered would be scaled before being applied.
> 
> I suppose I could let you type units after it:
> 
>   :1.5in 4.5mm Paste()
> 
> or relative to the mark:
> 
>   :+200mil +400mil Paste()
> 
> How would that work out?
> 
>
Sorry for the late hit to this thread, but I use QCAD quite a lot, and 
there is a lot about the UI that is right -- high learning curve but 
*very* productive for 2D mechanical design situations.  So... being more 
"QCAD like" seems like a win to me.

One feature I use a lot with QCAD is the ability to type in an 
expression, not just a constant, when entering coordinates. I'm not sure 
how easy that is to implement in PCB's parser.  It's hugely convenient. 
It's annoyed me for 30 years that many programs require me to reach for 
a calculator to do some simple math for data entry.... when the program 
itself is *running on a computer*.  That's just wrong.  So...
how about:

: (2+.5)in, (20*3.7)mm Paste()

Now, another thing about QCAD that is wonderful is the great variety of 
snaps.  Snap to endpoints, snap to centers, snap to intersections... It 
is trivially easy to do a custom grid.  In QCAD, for instance, it is 
easy to create a construction line layer, and on that layer draw a 
series of concentric circles spaced (say) 2.3348 mm appart, then draw 
(say) 47 spokes radiating from the common center evenly spaced.  Then 
set for "snap to intersection" and change to the actual drawing layer. 
That would take only a few seconds and a few mouse clicks.  It may be a 
wacko set of snap points, but in the case where you need it, no form of 
predefined grid or snapping behavior will ever anticipate that.  It 
allows rapid constructive geometry the way Euclid intended.

QCAD, BTW, has a very nice GPL's .dxf reader/writer library.  I've used 
it to implement a program that reads .dxf to create a laser cutter CAM 
file.  Any .dxf import/export under consideration needs to look at that 
library and have a *darn* good reason not to use it if something else is 
selected.  A .dxf to footprint converter would be an interesting 
addition to the gEDA suite, since then you could draw footprints in 
QCAD.  I've got some ideas on how to approach that but never done 
anything about it.

-dave


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