gEDA-user: New version of gattrib available

[sdb@cloud9.net (Stuart Brorson)]

We interrupt your ordinarily scheduled flaming about bugs to bring you
this important announcement! 

I have updated gattrib, the gEDA attribute editor.  I have now
implemented the ability to add and delete attribute columns in the
spreadsheet.  This makes it easier than ever to use gattrib to
administer the attributes in your design.  

I have put the newest version on the web at:

http://www.brorson.com/gEDA/gattrib/

The latest version is 20041120.  It is compatible with any version of
gEDA post 20040710.  Unfortunately, Ales has not created a release
since 20040111 (hint, hint, Ales), so you need to use a late-model
version of gEDA from CVS to use this gattrib release.

I will upload this release to CVS on Monday 11.22.2004.  If you
prefer, you can pull it out of CVS late Monday or Tuesday, rather than
grabbing it off the above web site.  If you do that, you can also grab
the other latest and greatest gEDA sources!

Enjoy,

Stuart

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What is gattrib?

Gattrib is an attribute editor for gEDA. It reads a set of gschem .sch
files (schematic files) and creates a spreadsheet showing all
components, nets, and pins in rows, with the associated attributes
listed in the columns.  Gattrib allows the user to add, modify, or
delete attributes outside of gschem, and then save the .sch files back
out.  This makes managing your attributes (footprints, component
values, vendor part numbers, etc) as easy as running a spreadsheet!  

Gattrib is useful in situations where you need to add, modify, or
delete a number of attributes all at once. It saves you the pain of
clicking on each schematic object and using gschem's attribute editor
when you have a large number of changes to make. For example, suppose
you create a large design with generic components, and then later want
to attach "footprint" attributes to all your components for
layout. Using gschem to do this is a real hassle because you must
click on each and every component. Gattrib makes this job easy: it
shows you all components in your design, and allows you to attach the
"footprint" attribte to all components using an easy-to-use
spreadsheet.

Finally, a lot of traffic on this list has recently involved storing
vendor part numbers on components or on component symbols.  Gattrib
gives you another way to handle this issue: You just open up gattrib,
and type the part numbers into the the spreadsheet.  This makes it
much easier to deal with attributes than trying to click on each
component in gschem.