Re: gEDA-user: Design Flow Roadmap starting point

["C P Tarun" <tcpip@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I am a beginner, and I have a lot of exposure to Eagle, so please
keep these limitations/biases in mind.

I would really like to see the following additions:

1.  In gschem, when selecting a footprint, I would like to see the
   footprint _and_ its description in a popup window. I should be
   able to browse the footprint library _visually_, basically.

2.  In PCB, when I create a "Convert buffer contents into an
   element", it should ask me for a description of the element.
   This should get embedded in the description field in the
   element header line.

3.  There should be native support for elongated vias (they
   are called "pads" in Eagle) when defining an element.
   Since pin addition while creating a footprint in PCB is
   done by adding a via, maybe this elongated shape should
   be added as an option to the via itself, like you can flip
   between circular and octagonal. And then of course one
   would need the ability to rotate a via, so that the elongated
   shape could be aligned the way I want.

The current method to define elongated pads ("pins" in PCB
element terminology) is really roundabout, and error-prone,
and needs manual editing of the element file in a text editor,
if I understand correctly. You have to define (at least) two
pads manually, one for the solder layer, one for the component
layer, and make sure they both match the pin/via in diameter
and centering, and then manually edit the element file to
make the pad numbers match the pin number. I feel elongated
pads is a sufficiently universally used feature to require native
support in the software.

I suspect that I am unaware of the heated arguments some of
these issues must've seen in the period before I joined the list,
in which case please excuse my raking them up again. :)

BTW, I like the way PCB has unified the concepts of pads for
element footprints, vias, and holes. Good engineering design,
I thought. :)

Tarun


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