Re: gEDA-user: Reinventing the wheel

[Russell Shaw <rjshaw@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 17/05/11 02:44, DJ Delorie wrote:
> > I've always been interested in CAD programs and thought of making
> > a schematic/pcb one from scratch.
>
> I've never truly understood why people would rewrite a (potentially)
> huge application set "just because".  Why not start with the existing
> tools and just rewrite the parts you're interested in?  Like, start
> with pcb's HID modules but swap out the core?
>
> (and if you really want to get *that* involved in pcb layout tools,
> there *are* parts of pcb that could stand to be ripped out and
> replaced... ;)

Hi,
A schematic/pcb editor is not "huge" unless it's done in an inelegant way.

A very first task i would do is create a decent gui for drawing the symbol and 
footprint in the schematic/pcb library, and make a decent library browser.
Then i would make a drawing mode so that whatever symbol i click on in the
schematic, will appear under the mouse in the pcb. Likewise, clicking a pcb
symbol hilights it in the schematic.

I'd design everything from the ground up to decent reverse annotations so
that pin and gate swapping in the pcb appears in the schematic. Hierarchical
schematics is a must too.

By serializing all the gui actions internally, undo/redo and scripting is easy
to add.

Creating a schematic and pcb should be done productively within the first
hour of never having used the program, yet have no limitations for power
users.

Everything in geda is 180deg opposite to what i'd do.


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