Re: gEDA-user: Pcb, anyone?

[DJ Delorie <dj@delorie.com>]

> I think I can always live with "pcb" - the xfig-like interface is kind
> of fascinating, anyway. But it would have been very nice if I could find
> a footprint-oriented library. Does one exist? By footprint-oriented I mean
> something with items called "DIL16", "SO16", "SO23", "0805" and so on. The
> standard offering is rather strange - it seems to define outlines for
> individual devices, with names for pins? 

PCB does two things - it provides a footprint library (with names like
"DIL 300 20") and it provides a mapping between part numbers and
footprints (like 74ALS00 -> DIL 300 14).

For the little bit of work I've been doing with gschem and pcb, I've
been creating my own footprint library from scratch.  OTOH, I've been
creating my own gschem library from scratch too, so I just put in the
right footprint attributes when I do so.

In theory, you can replace the m4 library with any other program.
I've been toying with the idea of replacing the m4 stuff with a perl
script that's a bit more flexible.  I also have a perl script that
lets you set footprint attributes in gschem files in bulk (i.e. it
matches part numbers with wildcards) if anyone's interested.

I have some patches for pcb here: http://www.delorie.com/hobbyplat/edatools/
These add MUCS autorouting and some trace optimizers.