Draw block diagrams with Eagle?

On 2008/Apr/14 9:29 PM, in article fu10dd$v6u$1@cheetah.cadsoft.de, "Joerg"

<notthisjoergsch@removethispacbell.net> wrote:

Hello Folks,

 

So far I used to draw block diagrams with other (more mechanical) CAD

software but that gets old. Is there a fairly easy way to do that with

Eagle?

 

It's not about anything being ERC-proof at all, just to illustrate the

function of electronic devices. Boxes, text, lines with arrows at one

end and such.

Hi Joerg,

I usually leave the first sheet of every schematic for just that: a block

diagram of the PCB.  EAGLE isn't really made for it specifically like say

Visio.  But then again you don't have to struggle with getting the grid to

line up like I always have to in Visio.  You can use the wire command (about

the only thing its good for) to create lines, arrows, rectangles, ....  I

usually create a few templates at the side off the sheet and then group,

cut, paste them where I need to.

For more complex diagrams it might not be worth it since its pretty low

level.  And not being able to create a group (like a recent suggestion)

makes it a bit slower.  But its not too bad overall.

Cheers,

James.

--

James Morrison

www.eagletoolkit.com

EAGLE Design Expert

North American Online EAGLE Dealer

EAGLE Enterprise Toolkit

Joerg wrote:

So far I used to draw block diagrams with other (more mechanical) CAD

software but that gets old. Is there a fairly easy way to do that with

Eagle?

 

It's not about anything being ERC-proof at all, just to illustrate the

function of electronic devices. Boxes, text, lines with arrows at one

end and such.

as soon as you want to connect boxes (containing some text, I guess)

by "lines with arrows", I suggest to use an specific tool for

graphs.

Visio has been mentioned, there are free alternatives as

http://live.gnome.org/Dia and OpenOffice.org Draw or Inkscape might

also do the job.

If you are a text-centric programmer, you might consider AT&T

http://www.graphviz.org/. It's sometimes more efficient to describe

the dependencies in a text form and rely on the software to arrange

the elements than to pull items around with the mouse.

Oliver

James Morrison wrote:

On 2008/Apr/14 9:29 PM, in article fu10dd$v6u$1@cheetah.cadsoft.de, "Joerg"

<notthisjoergsch@removethispacbell.net> wrote:

 

Hello Folks,

 

So far I used to draw block diagrams with other (more mechanical) CAD

software but that gets old. Is there a fairly easy way to do that with

Eagle?

 

It's not about anything being ERC-proof at all, just to illustrate the

function of electronic devices. Boxes, text, lines with arrows at one

end and such.

 

Hi Joerg,

 

I usually leave the first sheet of every schematic for just that: a block

diagram of the PCB.  EAGLE isn't really made for it specifically like say

Visio.  But then again you don't have to struggle with getting the grid to

line up like I always have to in Visio.  You can use the wire command (about

the only thing its good for) to create lines, arrows, rectangles, ....  I

usually create a few templates at the side off the sheet and then group,

cut, paste them where I need to.

 

Thanks, James. I use the wire command all the time, didn't know you

could place arrows with it. So I'll just draw the boxes with "wire" as

well I guess. Haven't used Visio yet, AFAIK none of my PCs has that.

For more complex diagrams it might not be worth it since its pretty low

level.  And not being able to create a group (like a recent suggestion)

makes it a bit slower.  But its not too bad overall.

 

OrCad is much better at that and always had a true hierarchy. But I only

have the DOS version which works via HPGL export and "modern" desktop SW

can't read that anymore. Heck, maybe I fire up old DOS-Word which

cooperated perfectly with OrCad SDT and when I am all done I just

convert it to "modern" MS-Word.

--

Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

Oliver Betz wrote:

Joerg wrote:

 

So far I used to draw block diagrams with other (more mechanical) CAD

software but that gets old. Is there a fairly easy way to do that with

Eagle?

 

It's not about anything being ERC-proof at all, just to illustrate the

function of electronic devices. Boxes, text, lines with arrows at one

end and such.

 

as soon as you want to connect boxes (containing some text, I guess)

by "lines with arrows", I suggest to use an specific tool for

graphs.

 

Visio has been mentioned, there are free alternatives as

http://live.gnome.org/Dia and OpenOffice.org Draw or Inkscape might

also do the job.

 

Yes, those work. They aren't quite as intuitive and simple as CAD

though. Maybe I fire up the old SDT. Somehow stuff was easier in the DOS

days. Or maybe I am getting old.

If you are a text-centric programmer, you might consider AT&T

http://www.graphviz.org/. It's sometimes more efficient to describe

the dependencies in a text form and rely on the software to arrange

the elements than to pull items around with the mouse.

 

That one looks really nerdy

--

Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

Joerg wrote:

Visio has been mentioned, there are free alternatives as

http://live.gnome.org/Dia and OpenOffice.org Draw or Inkscape might

also do the job.

 

 

Yes, those work. They aren't quite as intuitive and simple as CAD

though. Maybe I fire up the old SDT. Somehow stuff was easier in the DOS

you wouldn't write so if you had used them more then Eagle.

days. Or maybe I am getting old.

 

 

If you are a text-centric programmer, you might consider AT&T

http://www.graphviz.org/. It's sometimes more efficient to describe

the dependencies in a text form and rely on the software to arrange

the elements than to pull items around with the mouse.

 

 

That one looks really nerdy

You get pretty results rather fast.

Oliver

Oliver Betz wrote:

Joerg wrote:

 

 

Visio has been mentioned, there are free alternatives as

http://live.gnome.org/Dia and OpenOffice.org Draw or Inkscape might

also do the job.

 

Yes, those work. They aren't quite as intuitive and simple as CAD

though. Maybe I fire up the old SDT. Somehow stuff was easier in the DOS

 

you wouldn't write so if you had used them more then Eagle.

 

Oh, I did. For over 10 years. The reason why I stopped was mainly the

printer support and export utilities. DOS-Word and SDT were a perfect

team but since clients now want Word-97 compatible files and Microsoft

broke the old compatibility chain it's not as easy anymore. If MS hadn't

done that this would have been a no-brainer.

Eagle is ok but the fact that it cannot do hierarchical designs will be

the reason for me to abandon it some day.

days. Or maybe I am getting old.

 

 

If you are a text-centric programmer, you might consider AT&T

http://www.graphviz.org/. It's sometimes more efficient to describe

the dependencies in a text form and rely on the software to arrange

the elements than to pull items around with the mouse.

 

That one looks really nerdy

 

You get pretty results rather fast.

 

True, text based programs are fast but the learning curve for

non-programmers like me is steep.

--

Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.

Use another domain or send PM.

Joerg wrote:

Hello Folks,

 

So far I used to draw block diagrams with other (more mechanical) CAD

software but that gets old. Is there a fairly easy way to do that with

Eagle?

 

It's not about anything being ERC-proof at all, just to illustrate the

function of electronic devices. Boxes, text, lines with arrows at one

end and such.

 

Hi Joerg,

We have done many mechanical design drawings with Eagle.

When we have a project that requires schematics, PCB, system wiring

diagrams and mechanical drawings for machining assemblies and panels,

we do it all with eagle.  just don't have the time to learn several

programs for one project.

Mechanicals are easy.  We have a Template Sheet that is part of every

project requiring any mechanical drawings.  The template has various

Arrows (for pointing and dimensions), Line Stiles, Valves, Screws,

Springs, and other oddball stuff not found in the usual PCB project. 

The new 5.0 makes this even easier because of the thumbnails and sheet

reshuffling.  We just copy the needed part to the worksheet.

We even have Symbol sheets of CNC Ladder, Pneumatic/Hydraulic and

Software Flow Chart stuff.

We build all of this stuff with WIRES so they are easy to Resize to

fit the application at hand.  Even Circles and Arcs will resize in 5.0

Best of all, we only create the component once for all time use.

This all may have been a bore, or maybe useful.

Regards,

Brownie

Brownie wrote:

Joerg wrote:

 

Hello Folks,

 

So far I used to draw block diagrams with other (more mechanical) CAD

software but that gets old. Is there a fairly easy way to do that with

Eagle?

 

It's not about anything being ERC-proof at all, just to illustrate the

function of electronic devices. Boxes, text, lines with arrows at one

end and such.

 

Hi Joerg,

We have done many mechanical design drawings with Eagle.

When we have a project that requires schematics, PCB, system wiring

diagrams and mechanical drawings for machining assemblies and panels,

we do it all with eagle.  just don't have the time to learn several

programs for one project.

Mechanicals are easy.  We have a Template Sheet that is part of every

project requiring any mechanical drawings.  The template has various

Arrows (for pointing and dimensions), Line Stiles, Valves, Screws,

Springs, and other oddball stuff not found in the usual PCB project. 

The new 5.0 makes this even easier because of the thumbnails and sheet

reshuffling.  We just copy the needed part to the worksheet.

We even have Symbol sheets of CNC Ladder, Pneumatic/Hydraulic and

Software Flow Chart stuff.

We build all of this stuff with WIRES so they are easy to Resize to

fit the application at hand.  Even Circles and Arcs will resize in 5.0

Best of all, we only create the component once for all time use.

This all may have been a bore, or maybe useful.

Not boring at all, this is interesting. I'll have to look at how

templates are done, so far I have only created library parts. The manual

doesn't mention templates. But even with a library it could be done,

except that you can't resize parts easily which I'll have to do at least

with the boxes. But those can be sketched directly with the wire command.

Thanks, Brownie.

--

Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

Joerg wrote:

Brownie wrote:

Joerg wrote:

 

Hello Folks,

 

So far I used to draw block diagrams with other (more mechanical) CAD

software but that gets old. Is there a fairly easy way to do that with

Eagle?

 

It's not about anything being ERC-proof at all, just to illustrate the

function of electronic devices. Boxes, text, lines with arrows at one

end and such.

 

Hi Joerg,

We have done many mechanical design drawings with Eagle.

When we have a project that requires schematics, PCB, system wiring

diagrams and mechanical drawings for machining assemblies and panels,

we do it all with eagle.  just don't have the time to learn several

programs for one project.

Mechanicals are easy.  We have a Template Sheet that is part of every

project requiring any mechanical drawings.  The template has various

Arrows (for pointing and dimensions), Line Stiles, Valves, Screws,

Springs, and other oddball stuff not found in the usual PCB project.

The new 5.0 makes this even easier because of the thumbnails and sheet

reshuffling.  We just copy the needed part to the worksheet.

We even have Symbol sheets of CNC Ladder, Pneumatic/Hydraulic and

Software Flow Chart stuff.

We build all of this stuff with WIRES so they are easy to Resize to

fit the application at hand.  Even Circles and Arcs will resize in 5.0

Best of all, we only create the component once for all time use.

This all may have been a bore, or maybe useful.

 

Not boring at all, this is interesting. I'll have to look at how

templates are done, so far I have only created library parts. The manual

doesn't mention templates. But even with a library it could be done,

except that you can't resize parts easily which I'll have to do at least

with the boxes. But those can be sketched directly with the wire command.

 

Thanks, Brownie.

 

Joerg,

We refer to our component sheets internally as templates but the

manual nay not mention this.  Our Templates are nothing more than a

schematic sheet with the various components drawn in.

An Eagle Library (maybe call it Special_symbols.lib) could be used,

BUT our applications often require resizing of the symbols and I don't

think this is possible with library parts.

Our Template Sheets are defined in our Skeleton Eaglerc and .EPF files

so that they will auto-load with all new projects.  The sheets can be

deleted when the project is done.

Regards,

Brownie

Brownie wrote:

Joerg wrote:

 

Brownie wrote:

Joerg wrote:

 

Hello Folks,

 

So far I used to draw block diagrams with other (more mechanical) CAD

software but that gets old. Is there a fairly easy way to do that with

Eagle?

 

It's not about anything being ERC-proof at all, just to illustrate the

function of electronic devices. Boxes, text, lines with arrows at one

end and such.

 

Hi Joerg,

We have done many mechanical design drawings with Eagle.

When we have a project that requires schematics, PCB, system wiring

diagrams and mechanical drawings for machining assemblies and panels,

we do it all with eagle.  just don't have the time to learn several

programs for one project.

Mechanicals are easy.  We have a Template Sheet that is part of every

project requiring any mechanical drawings.  The template has various

Arrows (for pointing and dimensions), Line Stiles, Valves, Screws,

Springs, and other oddball stuff not found in the usual PCB project.

The new 5.0 makes this even easier because of the thumbnails and sheet

reshuffling.  We just copy the needed part to the worksheet.

We even have Symbol sheets of CNC Ladder, Pneumatic/Hydraulic and

Software Flow Chart stuff.

We build all of this stuff with WIRES so they are easy to Resize to

fit the application at hand.  Even Circles and Arcs will resize in 5.0

Best of all, we only create the component once for all time use.

This all may have been a bore, or maybe useful.

 

Not boring at all, this is interesting. I'll have to look at how

templates are done, so far I have only created library parts. The manual

doesn't mention templates. But even with a library it could be done,

except that you can't resize parts easily which I'll have to do at least

with the boxes. But those can be sketched directly with the wire command.

 

Thanks, Brownie.

 

Joerg,

We refer to our component sheets internally as templates but the

manual nay not mention this.  Our Templates are nothing more than a

schematic sheet with the various components drawn in.

An Eagle Library (maybe call it Special_symbols.lib) could be used,

BUT our applications often require resizing of the symbols and I don't

think this is possible with library parts.

Our Template Sheets are defined in our Skeleton Eaglerc and .EPF files

so that they will auto-load with all new projects.  The sheets can be

deleted when the project is done.

Aha. So you are basically drawing a sample schematic which gets dragged

along as a sheet, parts are picked from there and then deleted at the

end. Pretty clever.

And yes, I believe that's the only way to keep things resizeable because

the library editor in Eagle is IMHO, ahem, a bit on the clumsy side.

--

Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.

Use another domain or send PM.