gEDA-user: PCB package creation guidelines

[Karel Kulhavy <clock@twibright.com>]

Hello

I suggest that some PCB package creation guidelines were created:
1) The centroid of the package must be really the centroid
2) The middle of the silkscreen outline outlines the biggest outline that
   can occur.
3) The outline can go over pins and pads; it will be automatically masked
   out
4) Each pin or pad should have a name so that 'd' and pinout window display
   something meaningful
5) It's permitted to have a protrusion in the outline at pin 1, this protrusion
   doesn't count for an outline.

Could you comment on this? Would your guidelines be different?

Would it be possible to add some description or something like that inside
the packages which would describe for example what the package denotes?

For example I downloaded package outlines from Philips and Fairchild and they
of course differed. Fairchild makes bigger outlines that Philips. So I made
my own DIP16 package that could be described as "A package for Philips or
Fairchild DIP16". One could put URL's with relevant specification into the
description and the description could be displayed by some special key or
meu entry in PCB and would be saved in the schematic.

Also m4 symbols could generate some special data field that could be displayed
from the library window and would describe what should be exactly written
into the gschem schematic. For example DIL:
Macro name is DIL, $1 is number of pins, $2 is distance between the rows in
mils.

Cl<