gEDA-user: PCB format wishlist

[Ethan Swint <eswint.ramu@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

In parallel to how we want to implement the PCB file format, why don't 
we have a separate thread on *what* we want to implement?  I'll propose 
the following as a starting point:

1) Better angle support: include rotation (in degrees, 
rotation/translation matrix, whatever) as a location argument instead of 
altering the pad/pin/silk/refdes/whatever location data separately
2) Footprint re-use: reduce file size by having components refer to a 
'base' component with XYRS information, make component tweaking easier. 
Say you wanted to change all your 0603 resistors - it's easier to change 
the fundamental component, rather than the present case of to modifying 
individual components in all of their rotations.
3) Connectivity information: include the connection information between 
line segments, similar to (but not necessarily exactly!) SVG format, 
where multiple points and arcs can be included in one line.
4) DRC re-use: refer to a 'base' DRC rule, rather than re-describing the 
DRC at every instance.  DRC rules could be arbitrarily complex or 
simple, e.g. elements in DRC class '250V' must have a 0.050" clearance 
from class '5V', but can have 0.010" clearance within '250V', or 
something along the lines of the 'skinny, normal, fat, power' we have in 
place now.
5) Ability to lock any portion of the location coordinate, either in 
absolute or relative to another entity (line segment locked to pin/pad, 
components locked to the same Y coordinate, etc) - rather than just 
specifying an absolute coordinate.

We might not be able to use this flexibility until PCB's internals are 
modified, but the ability will be there, waiting to be tapped.


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