Re: gEDA-user: Updating footprints in place

[Randall Nortman <geda-lists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Sun, Oct 07, 2007 at 12:45:47PM -0400, John Luciani wrote:
[...]
> You could definately do it with a script but unless you have a lot of footprints
> to update or have to update a number of layouts it may not be worth it.

Well, if the script is generic (rather than hard-coding which
footprints you're looking for), it only ever has to be written once,
and then used for many different footprints/layouts.  The hardest part
is searching paths for the updated footprints -- that part could be
ripped from gsch2pcb (except that's written in C and this is a natural
job for a higher-level language).


> The cleanup after the script finishes may be more difficult than the cleanup
> prior to doing a manual replace.

If footprint changes are minor -- clearances, mask, silkscreen, etc.,
then cleanup should not be too bad.  If you change pad widths or
lengths, you might have problems.  If you change the internal
coordinate reference, fuggedaboutit.


> If your components are on the grid manual replacement goes quickly.

Well, that all depends on what "the grid" means.  I usually end up
with boards that have components on different grids, and I often set
up a module/cluster of components on one grid, then select and move it
as a single mass, possibly onto another grid, and so the components
then end up on a fractional grid of some sort.  This is particularly
likely when I'm using a metric grid on one module and imperial on
another.  The part I'm looking at right now ended up with its center
on (1410.50,409.10), for one or both of those reasons (I can't really
recall).

For now, I have fixed my immediate problem with the power of emacs.
Maybe I'll write that generic script, someday.

-- 
Randall


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