EAGLE FEATURE SURVEY

Am 24.08.2012 00:38, schrieb Jorge_Garcia:

I've made a simple GoogleDocs Form as a type of survey

Here some random thoughts about the different list entries. Numbers in

front of the list signify the importance of this entry (10=yes PLEASE,

0=forget it) based on my own very personal opinion.

  8  User Interface Improvements

       (See my previous posts for this)

  1  3D Visualization

       (That WOULD be nice in principle, but takes an AWFUL amount of

       manpower away for 3D library creation, so perhaps better

       not - we NEVER use the libraries from CadSoft, but ALWAYS

       create our own ones...)

10  Pad Stack

       (If 'pad stack' means the possibility of having different pads

       for top and bottom layers, YES PLEASE! If it means something

       else, I don't know)

  9  Schematic Hierarchy and Design Modularity

       (It would be VERY nice to have a sheet with some sort of block

       diagram, and if you double-click on a block, the corresponding

       sheet pops up. Additionally, with multi-channel boards one

       often finds a small error in one channel, and this then needs

       to be corrected eight times. It would be nice if there could

       be some channel connections so that a change oin one channel

       would be reflected in ALL of them. Though HOW this thing can

       be made to work EASILY, I've no idea)

  5  Simulation Facilities

       (Would be nice to have, but we can already do this with

       well-behaved ULPs here)

  4  More Import/Export Formats IDF, DXF, Netlists

       (Proper bitmap/vector imports/exports would be nice to have -

       and NOT only via external strange ULPs - but we don't need that

       SO often)

  2  Auto Placement

       (An auto-placer WOULD be nice in principle, but in order to

       get DECENT results, one would need to define SO many parameters

       that hand-placing might be easier overall)

  0  Multi-core or GPU support

  0  ODB++ Export

  0  Electrical Planning

  0  EAGLE for Tablet or Smartphones

       (or perhaps even MINUS ten instead of a zero in front)

  2  Autorouter improvements, push and shove, shape based, etc.

       (The current autorouter is possibly the worst in industry,

       and doing it correctly is an AWFUL amount of advanced

       programming. There are much more important things at the

       moment)

  8  Simplified Library Management, speedier part creation, etc.

       (though EAGLE has all NECESSARY functions for library management,

       their usage is QUITE outdated and VERY impractical. I'll write

       some additional posts with LOTS of suggestions concerning this

       when I find the time)

  0  Cloud Interface

  3  Version Control

       (With the current XML file scheme, integrating a version control

       should not be THAT difficult. BUT normally, one board is mainly

       created by ONE designer, and not many people fiddle around with

       it at the same time, so a version control might not be THAT

       important)

  4  Visual Difference Tool (Visually see differences between two boards)

       (That WOULD be nice, but I have no idea how the output of such a

       thing MIGHT look. Depending on that, it might be valuable or

       completely useless)

Overall, I think version 7 should include hierarchy and pad stack (for

the professionals), better user interface (for the newbies) and nicer

library handling (for both of them).

Andreas Weidner

On 9/5/12 12:20 PM, Andreas Weidner wrote:

Am 24.08.2012 00:38, schrieb Jorge_Garcia:

>> I've made a simple GoogleDocs Form as a type of survey

 

Here some random thoughts about the different list entries. Numbers in

front of the list signify the importance of this entry (10=yes PLEASE,

0=forget it) based on my own very personal opinion.

 

  8  User Interface Improvements

       (See my previous posts for this)

  1  3D Visualization

       (That WOULD be nice in principle, but takes an AWFUL amount of

       manpower away for 3D library creation, so perhaps better

       not - we NEVER use the libraries from CadSoft, but ALWAYS

       create our own ones...)

10  Pad Stack

       (If 'pad stack' means the possibility of having different pads

       for top and bottom layers, YES PLEASE! If it means something

       else, I don't know)

  9  Schematic Hierarchy and Design Modularity

       (It would be VERY nice to have a sheet with some sort of block

       diagram, and if you double-click on a block, the corresponding

       sheet pops up. Additionally, with multi-channel boards one

       often finds a small error in one channel, and this then needs

       to be corrected eight times. It would be nice if there could

       be some channel connections so that a change oin one channel

       would be reflected in ALL of them. Though HOW this thing can

       be made to work EASILY, I've no idea)

  5  Simulation Facilities

       (Would be nice to have, but we can already do this with

       well-behaved ULPs here)

  4  More Import/Export Formats IDF, DXF, Netlists

       (Proper bitmap/vector imports/exports would be nice to have -

       and NOT only via external strange ULPs - but we don't need that

       SO often)

  2  Auto Placement

       (An auto-placer WOULD be nice in principle, but in order to

       get DECENT results, one would need to define SO many parameters

       that hand-placing might be easier overall)

  0  Multi-core or GPU support

  0  ODB++ Export

  0  Electrical Planning

  0  EAGLE for Tablet or Smartphones

       (or perhaps even MINUS ten instead of a zero in front)

  2  Autorouter improvements, push and shove, shape based, etc.

       (The current autorouter is possibly the worst in industry,

       and doing it correctly is an AWFUL amount of advanced

       programming. There are much more important things at the

       moment)

  8  Simplified Library Management, speedier part creation, etc.

       (though EAGLE has all NECESSARY functions for library management,

       their usage is QUITE outdated and VERY impractical. I'll write

       some additional posts with LOTS of suggestions concerning this

       when I find the time)

  0  Cloud Interface

  3  Version Control

       (With the current XML file scheme, integrating a version control

       should not be THAT difficult. BUT normally, one board is mainly

       created by ONE designer, and not many people fiddle around with

       it at the same time, so a version control might not be THAT

       important)

  4  Visual Difference Tool (Visually see differences between two boards)

       (That WOULD be nice, but I have no idea how the output of such a

       thing MIGHT look. Depending on that, it might be valuable or

       completely useless)

 

Overall, I think version 7 should include hierarchy and pad stack (for

the professionals), better user interface (for the newbies) and nicer

library handling (for both of them).

 

Andreas Weidner

+10 for Andreas! I agree with all the numbers except the Autorouter

Improvements should be 8 instead of 2 (IMHO).

This would be a great list to put forth on the Internet for users to

vote on

Andrew.

Andrew Sterian wrote on Wed, 05 September 2012 12:44

On 9/5/12 12:20 PM, Andreas Weidner wrote:

Am 24.08.2012 00:38, schrieb Jorge_Garcia:

>> I've made a simple GoogleDocs Form as a type of survey

 

Here some random thoughts about the different list entries. Numbers

in

front of the list signify the importance of this entry (10=yes

PLEASE,

0=forget it) based on my own very personal opinion.

 

  8  User Interface Improvements

       (See my previous posts for this)

  1  3D Visualization

       (That WOULD be nice in principle, but takes an AWFUL amount

of

       manpower away for 3D library creation, so perhaps better

       not - we NEVER use the libraries from CadSoft, but ALWAYS

       create our own ones...)

10  Pad Stack

       (If 'pad stack' means the possibility of having different

pads

       for top and bottom layers, YES PLEASE! If it means

something

       else, I don't know)

  9  Schematic Hierarchy and Design Modularity

       (It would be VERY nice to have a sheet with some sort of

block

       diagram, and if you double-click on a block, the

corresponding

       sheet pops up. Additionally, with multi-channel boards one

       often finds a small error in one channel, and this then

needs

       to be corrected eight times. It would be nice if there

could

       be some channel connections so that a change oin one

channel

       would be reflected in ALL of them. Though HOW this thing

can

       be made to work EASILY, I've no idea)

  5  Simulation Facilities

       (Would be nice to have, but we can already do this with

       well-behaved ULPs here)

  4  More Import/Export Formats IDF, DXF, Netlists

       (Proper bitmap/vector imports/exports would be nice to have

-

       and NOT only via external strange ULPs - but we don't need

that

       SO often)

  2  Auto Placement

       (An auto-placer WOULD be nice in principle, but in order to

       get DECENT results, one would need to define SO many

parameters

       that hand-placing might be easier overall)

  0  Multi-core or GPU support

  0  ODB++ Export

  0  Electrical Planning

  0  EAGLE for Tablet or Smartphones

       (or perhaps even MINUS ten instead of a zero in front)

  2  Autorouter improvements, push and shove, shape based, etc.

       (The current autorouter is possibly the worst in industry,

       and doing it correctly is an AWFUL amount of advanced

       programming. There are much more important things at the

       moment)

  8  Simplified Library Management, speedier part creation, etc.

       (though EAGLE has all NECESSARY functions for library

management,

       their usage is QUITE outdated and VERY impractical. I'll

write

       some additional posts with LOTS of suggestions concerning

this

       when I find the time)

  0  Cloud Interface

  3  Version Control

       (With the current XML file scheme, integrating a version

control

       should not be THAT difficult. BUT normally, one board is

mainly

       created by ONE designer, and not many people fiddle around

with

       it at the same time, so a version control might not be THAT

       important)

  4  Visual Difference Tool (Visually see differences between two

boards)

       (That WOULD be nice, but I have no idea how the output of

such a

       thing MIGHT look. Depending on that, it might be valuable

or

       completely useless)

 

Overall, I think version 7 should include hierarchy and pad stack

(for

the professionals), better user interface (for the newbies) and

nicer

library handling (for both of them).

 

Andreas Weidner

 

+10 for Andreas! I agree with all the numbers except the Autorouter

Improvements should be 8 instead of 2 (IMHO).

 

This would be a great list to put forth on the Internet for users to

vote on

 

Andrew.

I think you guys are pretty close to right on.  I would add for design

houses like us, being able to get the design data into and out of other CAD

formats is a great feature.  I can see why normal usage in a company

wouldn't normally use this a lot.  But I get all sorts of projects in all

kinds of formats.  Being able to read in many formats would be a great

benefit.

I often see this around eval boards.  We get requests to take an eval board

(usually in Mentor or Cadence) and make a small change.  But I have to

quote a complete redesign and of course the cost is way too high.  CadSoft

just lost a customer because they would have moved to EAGLE.  In fact, if

EAGLE did this I would win lots of contracts like this.  And when the quote

includes the CAD tools they'll need to manage the design going forward they

save 1000's of dollars by using EAGLE over other options.  This is a design

cost that lots of people ignore but I use to win lots of design work.

I'd also add for library management, Altium has a really nice feature that

allows you to copy pin names out of datasheet tables and paste them into

the GUI.  Works great for parts with lots of pins and with copy/paste it is

very quick and reduces the possibility of typing errors or missing one

entry.  The same concept would be great to create pins in symbols and do

the connections in the device editor.

Forget the cloud.  What a useless marketing buzz.  The tech has been around

forever to have a remote hard drive.  Sure it's a bit easier but IMNSHO it

takes too much control and I turn it off in Mac OS X because I'd rather

control where my data goes.  And there are huge IP issues with that as

well.

Cheers,

James.

--

James Morrison  ~~~  Stratford Digital

Specializing in CadSoft EAGLE

• Online Sales to North America

• Electronic Design Services

• EAGLE Enterprise Toolkit

--

Web access to CadSoft support forums at www.eaglecentral.ca.  Where the CadSoft EAGLE community meets.

Andrew Sterian wrote on Wed, 05 September 2012 12:44

On 9/5/12 12:20 PM, Andreas Weidner wrote:

Am 24.08.2012 00:38, schrieb Jorge_Garcia:

>> I've made a simple GoogleDocs Form as a type of survey

 

Here some random thoughts about the different list entries. Numbers

in

front of the list signify the importance of this entry (10=yes

PLEASE,

0=forget it) based on my own very personal opinion.

 

  8  User Interface Improvements

       (See my previous posts for this)

  1  3D Visualization

       (That WOULD be nice in principle, but takes an AWFUL amount

of

       manpower away for 3D library creation, so perhaps better

       not - we NEVER use the libraries from CadSoft, but ALWAYS

       create our own ones...)

10  Pad Stack

       (If 'pad stack' means the possibility of having different

pads

       for top and bottom layers, YES PLEASE! If it means

something

       else, I don't know)

  9  Schematic Hierarchy and Design Modularity

       (It would be VERY nice to have a sheet with some sort of

block

       diagram, and if you double-click on a block, the

corresponding

       sheet pops up. Additionally, with multi-channel boards one

       often finds a small error in one channel, and this then

needs

       to be corrected eight times. It would be nice if there

could

       be some channel connections so that a change oin one

channel

       would be reflected in ALL of them. Though HOW this thing

can

       be made to work EASILY, I've no idea)

  5  Simulation Facilities

       (Would be nice to have, but we can already do this with

       well-behaved ULPs here)

  4  More Import/Export Formats IDF, DXF, Netlists

       (Proper bitmap/vector imports/exports would be nice to have

-

       and NOT only via external strange ULPs - but we don't need

that

       SO often)

  2  Auto Placement

       (An auto-placer WOULD be nice in principle, but in order to

       get DECENT results, one would need to define SO many

parameters

       that hand-placing might be easier overall)

  0  Multi-core or GPU support

  0  ODB++ Export

  0  Electrical Planning

  0  EAGLE for Tablet or Smartphones

       (or perhaps even MINUS ten instead of a zero in front)

  2  Autorouter improvements, push and shove, shape based, etc.

       (The current autorouter is possibly the worst in industry,

       and doing it correctly is an AWFUL amount of advanced

       programming. There are much more important things at the

       moment)

  8  Simplified Library Management, speedier part creation, etc.

       (though EAGLE has all NECESSARY functions for library

management,

       their usage is QUITE outdated and VERY impractical. I'll

write

       some additional posts with LOTS of suggestions concerning

this

       when I find the time)

  0  Cloud Interface

  3  Version Control

       (With the current XML file scheme, integrating a version

control

       should not be THAT difficult. BUT normally, one board is

mainly

       created by ONE designer, and not many people fiddle around

with

       it at the same time, so a version control might not be THAT

       important)

  4  Visual Difference Tool (Visually see differences between two

boards)

       (That WOULD be nice, but I have no idea how the output of

such a

       thing MIGHT look. Depending on that, it might be valuable

or

       completely useless)

 

Overall, I think version 7 should include hierarchy and pad stack

(for

the professionals), better user interface (for the newbies) and

nicer

library handling (for both of them).

 

Andreas Weidner

 

+10 for Andreas! I agree with all the numbers except the Autorouter

Improvements should be 8 instead of 2 (IMHO).

 

This would be a great list to put forth on the Internet for users to

vote on

 

Andrew.

I think you guys are pretty close to right on.  I would add for design

houses like us, being able to get the design data into and out of other CAD

formats is a great feature.  I can see why normal usage in a company

wouldn't normally use this a lot.  But I get all sorts of projects in all

kinds of formats.  Being able to read in many formats would be a great

benefit.

I often see this around eval boards.  We get requests to take an eval board

(usually in Mentor or Cadence) and make a small change.  But I have to

quote a complete redesign and of course the cost is way too high.  CadSoft

just lost a customer because they would have moved to EAGLE.  In fact, if

EAGLE did this I would win lots of contracts like this.  And when the quote

includes the CAD tools they'll need to manage the design going forward they

save 1000's of dollars by using EAGLE over other options.  This is a design

cost that lots of people ignore but I use to win lots of design work.

I'd also add for library management, Altium has a really nice feature that

allows you to copy pin names out of datasheet tables and paste them into

the GUI.  Works great for parts with lots of pins and with copy/paste it is

very quick and reduces the possibility of typing errors or missing one

entry.  The same concept would be great to create pins in symbols and do

the connections in the device editor.

Forget the cloud.  What a useless marketing buzz.  The tech has been around

forever to have a remote hard drive.  Sure it's a bit easier but IMNSHO it

takes too much control and I turn it off in Mac OS X because I'd rather

control where my data goes.  And there are huge IP issues with that as

well.

Cheers,

James.

--

James Morrison  ~~~  Stratford Digital

Specializing in CadSoft EAGLE

• Online Sales to North America

• Electronic Design Services

• EAGLE Enterprise Toolkit

--

Web access to CadSoft support forums at www.eaglecentral.ca.  Where the CadSoft EAGLE community meets.

- 10!!!! Better measure tool! I want an affordable tool to inspect lenght and distances in my pcb!!

- 10000 better DRC error description: For example If I have a  clearance error I want a column or popup or some system to tell me that

" the pad is only 0.0000001inch far from pin" and that tells me the rules that generate the error not only error and layer!!!!!

the measure tool can be useful to measure clearance, distance, etc etc

- a way to export settings/port it in another eagle

- a version control for all files! libraries, ulp, scr, schematic, project!!!

- port all ULP/ addendum to github or some other online collaboration tool in order to incentivate other people to contribute and manage to update libraries more easily

-  Schematic Hierarchy and Design Modularity;  I've used previously altium designer and I very like the possibility for example to group part of schematic and route them separately with autorouter or replicate a layout for multichannel design

- REPLACE some major ULP with program features for example 3d wings export, dxf imports. panelize, spice export, etc etc give it a menu name and incorporate these.

- !!!! DXF BOARD SHAPE IMPORT give the possibility to import dxf (or step :-) shapes to define board shapes!!! If I have a dxf/some other file with for example hole locations, board shape, precise component location I want to import it in eagle and use it to redefine board shape, place holes, snap components into specific places

- better snap: give the possibility to snap object position in other position other than the standard grid!: for example I have imported a dxf with the hole location of some control and I want to put potentiometer, button, led and snap it to the position definited by the mechanical cad

- Multi-core or GPU support -> not needed without 3d I think

- EAGLE for Tablet or Smartphones -> NOOO

- Simplified Library Management, speedier part creation, etc.

(+1 I also like to have a tool to automatic create array of holes, smd body part, or simply have menu to import some other package or symbol in library and after modif it to create a new part)

- Version Control

       very important! especially for share the created library and ULP between users!!! I think that a revision control system integrated in eagle website

with the extension download (ULP, scr, etc etc) can permit more users to integrate their correction and to expand the funcionality of eagle)

- Visual Difference Tool (Visually see differences between two boards)

       (very useful to multiple tasks, could be useful also for design variations

- An Eagle API to create extensions!! ULP are great but I think that an api could be better