Re: gEDA-user: PCB can't find new footprints

[Richard Rasker <rasker@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Op woensdag 01-10-2008 om 15:31 uur [tijdzone +0100], schreef Peter
Clifton:
> On Wed, 2008-10-01 at 16:19 +0200, Richard Rasker wrote:
> > Op woensdag 01-10-2008 om 12:58 uur [tijdzone +0000], schreef 
> 
> > > You can set this list of paths from within the GUI (GTK-GUI assumed):
> > > 	File --> Preferences --> Library
> > 
> > ??? if I enter the path to newlib here, PCB's library window shows
> > double entries for every subdirectory -- so I see two instances of
> > "analog-devices", "burr-brown", "connectors" etcetera. So I have a
> > suspicion that this library-newlib setting isn't the right solution at
> > all.
> 
> You really shouldn't be keeping your locally created footprints in the
> directories created by the install of PCB. Most distros would probably
> preserve the directry if PCB were uninstalled / upgraded, but its not
> particularly nice. Having a single dir you can add neatly cures the
> double-entry problem.

Well, actually I have my own footprints in a separate directory, with a
symlink from ~/geda-0.0.2/share/pcb/newlib pointing to this directory.
I only tried hard-copying some footprints into this directory structure
when gsch2pcb and PCB couldn't find them. But perhaps it's a good idea
to define this directory in PCB's preferences and a gafrc file instead
of linking to it.

> > > Note, this library path does not affect gsch2pcb/gnetlist.
> > > The recommended place to set the lib path for these tools is 
> > > gafrc at one of the various local or system-wide places.
> > 
> > And what exactly am I supposed to enter there? I can only find a file
> > geda-0.0.2/share/gEDA/system-gafrc, and there's no line defining library
> > locations or whatever. And yes, I really need gsch2pcb to work -- it's
> > the only way I can reliably design pcb's with hundreds of components.
> 
> For _symbol_ libraries, entering a line like:
> 
> (component-library "symbols" "Local symbols")
> 
> In "a" gafrc file. (Either the system one, or ~/.gEDA/gafrc or a file
> called "gafrc" in the directory with your schematics).
> 
> Adds the "symbols" directory (relative to current path) to the the list
> of symbol libraies.

I also have a symlinked directory with symbols for use in gschem; this
works fine.

> To teach gsch2pcb to find your _packages_, you want to add on the
> command line:
> 
> -d /path/to/packages (or --elements-dir /path/to/packages)
> 
> OR, add the directive in your gsch2pcb project file:
> 
> elements-dir /path/to/packages
> 
> OR, make use or project local packages, and the fact that gsch2pcb will
> always hunt in the folder called "packages" in the current directory.
> 
> Run gsch2pcb --help for more info.
> 
> > What I don't understand is why I have to bother with these things all of
> > a sudden -- and why this doesn't appear to be documented anywhere. All
> > the manuals simply say that I can simply create footprints and save
> > these somewhere under the newlib directory. And in previous gEDA
> > versions, I never encountered these problems.
> 
> What do you mean "all of a sudden"? You have a new install of PCB, and
> the search paths aren't setup as you expected. I presume you installed
> previous versions of gEDA from sources / distro packages? (This is still
> probably the best way for good integration with your desktop).

So far, I always installed it from the CD ISO image, and never had to
enter path settings and the likes (apart from the usual two export
commands to be added to .bash_profile or .bashrc). PCB and gsch2pcb have
no trouble finding library footprints -- but only the predefined
footprints. Anything added/linked to the directories with those
predefined footprints is ignored. So I really wonder where both PCB and
gsch2pcb are searching for footprints at this moment, and why the
preinstalled ones are found without problem.

Perhaps I'll try installing the whole suite once over in a test account,
where there's no chance of residual settings messing things up; maybe
that will give me a clue as to what goes wrong here.

Thanks for your response already, best regards,

Richard Rasker



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