Re: gEDA-user: libraries for PCB

[Darrell Harmon <mail@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Sun, Oct 23, 2005 at 06:46:27PM +0200, Karel Kulhavy wrote:
> I am currently coaxing someone to redraw printed boards for Ronja he
> designed in Orcad in PCB and he asks how many libraries there are for
> PCB.
> 
> I say that those shipped with the program and he says that it won't be
> much (which is true) and that it is more work to draw all the missing
> library elements than doing it in a different program.
> 
> Why doesn't PCB webpage have also web submit feature like gschem?
> For example when I asked for BF988 element here, it was immediately sent
> to me by someone, but it isn't shipped with the program. This way there
> is a lot of elements which are locked down on someone's harddisk and
> they are not available for the public.
> 
> He also asks "if there is a manual so one doesn't have to permanently
> work in a trial-error way or pestering people around". Is PCB manual of
> this kind? Last time I remember the file format descriptions were
> horribly obsolete.
> 
> CL<

First of all, to solve the locked down on a disk problem:

To get my elements and symbols, install subversion and type:
$ svn co svn://dlharmon.com/geda/sym symbols.dlharmon
$ svn co svn://dlharmon.com/geda/elements elements.dlharmon

Most of these are tested, but some are not. All of the ones I created
are public domain, but there are still a few in there that are 
derivatives from gschem or pcb. Of course no guarantees on accuracy.

I am on a new server now, and it is a virtual private server, so I have
root. I am working on a web frontend for my footprint generator script.
This should make it easy to generate a footprint to a user's 
specifications without having to learn the unusual format of the 
footprint description file. I may also try make any footprints that 
cannot be generated available. This would need to be automated somehow. 
I have had thoughts of a text file description to go with each footprint 
and a script in cron.daily to generate the web pages with groupings by 
several categories. 

Something like this could be attatched as a comment to the footprint or 
added as a seperate file. I am using the SOT143 footprint of the BF998 
footprint Karel mentioned. More fields may be necessary. Pitch would be 
helpful for so and qfp parts.

Name: SOT143
Author: Darrell Harmon 
Date: May 2005
License: public domain
Category: SOT, transistor, ic, smt
Note: Dimensions from STM811 datasheet
Status: tested

I could set up an email address to recieve footprints with this header, 
and every few days, scan through them and add them to the archive. It 
would be even better if others would volunteer to help administer it. 
Other ideas are welcome. I would make weekly snapshots of the whole 
thing available for mirrors or backups. 

Of course keeping symbols on the PCB website would be better, but I 
would hate for the developers to waste their time on maintaining it.

Darrell Harmon
http://dlharmon.com