Re: gEDA-user: gschem, More than one component found with name ...

[John Doty <jpd@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Oct 19, 2007, at 11:00 AM, Peter TB Brett wrote:

> On Friday 19 October 2007 17:42:12 DJ Delorie wrote:
>> I would much rather have gschem semi-automatically copy symbols to a
>> local directory when they're needed for a schematic, than mess with
>> the schematics themselves.
>>
>> Most of my schematics are multi-page, and most of my symbols are made
>> with djboxsym.  Updating an embedded symbol is hard, updating a
>> non-embedded-but-project-local symbol is trivial (I use "make" :)
>>
>
> The intention is to provide a straightforward but powerful GUI for  
> keeping
> schematic & library up to date.  There would be a list of all symbols
> currently embedded in the schematic, showing how many times each  
> has been
> instantiated.

What schematic? File != schematic.

>
> Symbols which differ from that found in the library would be  
> flagged with an
> icon, indicating whether the library symbol is newer or older than the
> embedded version.

What library? We don't even yet have the most crucial thing: the  
project library concept. So we all implement it in ad hoc ways,  
because the symbols in the distributed library are usually wrong for  
any specific purpose. So, you copy, customize, and then updates of  
the distributed library are irrelevant: your project library has what  
you need.

>
> It would be possible to select all instances of a symbol, so that  
> users can
> see which symbols would be affected by an update.  Clicking an  
> "Update"
> button would show the user a dialog with a preview the old and new  
> symbols,
> and a radio box to select which symbol to use.

Completely unnecessary with a project library.

>
> It would also be possible to "export" embedded symbols into a local  
> library,

As far as I'm concerned, this should happen automatically. Both  
embedded symbols and instantiations of distributed library symbols  
are trouble waiting to happen. But a library of customized project  
symbols is a valuable asset, analogous to a parts stock in drawers.

> and to rename embedded symbols without making any library changes.
>
> My viewpoint on all of this is that it currently seems that  
> detailed knowledge
> of the gschem library system is required in order to gschem &  
> friends at all
> effectively.  We are severely hampered in our ability to  
> interoperate with
> other libgeda tools due to this.  Some sort of sane self-contained  
> file
> format is not only desirable but *required*, and the current embedding
> mechanism fails at this in an embarrassing fashion.

No! A self-contained file isn't reusable, while the present approach  
allows .sch files to be used as components of multiple schematics.  
Please, please, do not compromise gEDA's most valuable asset: its  
flexibility.

John Doty              Noqsi Aerospace, Ltd.
http://www.noqsi.com/
jpd@xxxxxxxxx




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