Re: gEDA-user: Updating footprints in place

[joeft <joeft@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

This question has come up in the past.  Dig back in the archives and 
look for a posting from David Rowe.  He generated a script which can do 
footprint replacement in certain situations.  It may be available from 
his web site.  I have used it with success with a number of surface 
mount footprints.

Caveats: make sure the file formats (co-ordinates etc.) are the same for 
the old and new footprint.
Keep a backup copy of your original file!
Full disclosure: I contributed some tweaks to this script - if it breaks 
you can blame me:).

Joe T

Randall Nortman wrote:

>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.
>
>  
>



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