Re: gEDA-user: Reinventing the wheel

[John Doty <jpd@xxxxxxxxx>]

On May 17, 2011, at 4:36 AM, Russell Shaw wrote:

> 
> 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.

OK, you want an integrated tool. Integrated tools are great: I have a nice, handy multitool on my belt. It's the tool I use most.

> 
> 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.

Impossible. A multitool cannot do all of the things a well-stocked workshop can. The architectures are different.

Your program will probably never export designs to other layout programs. It will never support a variety of simulators. It will never support symbolic circuit analysis. It will never support scripted documentation generation. Or the other things in the open-ended list a toolkit can support. 

That's fine for an integrated tool: target the specific flow you want. It's no doubt what the majority of users would prefer, at least at the start, and gEDA will still be around for those who need more.

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

I cheer for your success. Both approaches are needed.

---
John Doty              Noqsi Aerospace, Ltd.

This message contains technical discussion involving difficult issues. No personal disrespect or malice is intended. If you perceive such, your perception is simply wrong. I'm a busy person, and in my business "go along to get along" causes mission failures and sometimes kills people, so I tend to be a bit blunt.



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