Announcement: EAN-02 :: Managing EAGLE Directories

James Morrison wrote:

We've added a new http://www.eaglecentral.ca/eagle-appnotes/.

EAN-02 discusses the issues and perils of configuring the

"Directories" in EAGLE.

"Stratford Digital recommends adding a user folder as the base for all

EAGLE related design files and making it the highest priority."

Although this seems to mirror the way Cadsoft intended to use Eagle, I

strongly dislike the idea of one big tree of Eagle projects.

I put Eagle project files (epf, sch, brd and special project libs) in

subfolders of the product projects where I store also other design

files and docs.

I invoke eagle while this directory is "current" and by passing the

epf file name to eagle. A simple association eith "epf" does the job

inWindows if you use one version of Eagle for all projects, but see

below.

In Eagle, I configure "." (only "."!) as the project root, and I add

"." to the other paths.

Then I navigate to the folder where my project resides and invoke

Eagle from there, in Windows by double clicking the epf file.

Besides this, I use a cmd file to select the matching Eagle version,

because I don't want to convert old projects unintentionally:

- snip -

@echo off

find "Version=""03 5" %1 >nul

if NOT errorlevel 1 (

     start X:\Path_to_Eagle3\eagle.exe %1

     exit /b

)

find "Version=""04 1" %1 >nul

if NOT errorlevel 1 (

     start X:\Path_to_Eagle4\eagle.exe %1

     exit /b

)

find "Version=""05 0" %1 >nul

if NOT errorlevel 1 (

        start X:\Path_to_Eagle5\eagle.exe %1

     exit /b

)

echo Unknown epf version

pause

- snip -

It should be trivial to make a similar shell script for the *x world.

If you don't intend to change old projects and you are using Eagle 5,

this batch file is not needed, because Eagle 5 doesn't change the epf

unasked (earlier versions did).

Oliver

Oliver Betz wrote on Thu, 29 January 2009 03:14

James Morrison wrote:

 

>We've added a new http://www.eaglecentral.ca/eagle-appnotes/.

EAN-02 discusses the issues and perils of configuring the

"Directories" in EAGLE.

 

"Stratford Digital recommends adding a user folder as the base for all

EAGLE related design files and making it the highest priority."

 

Although this seems to mirror the way Cadsoft intended to use Eagle, I

strongly dislike the idea of one big tree of Eagle projects.

 

I put Eagle project files (epf, sch, brd and special project libs) in

subfolders of the product projects where I store also other design

files and docs.

Hello Oliver,

What we have suggested doesn't preclude having a large sub-tree of projects.  In fact, it would be the natural way to do it and is in fact how we work here.  But it means that you use the EAGLE Control Panel to move around and open projects.

Quote:

I invoke eagle while this directory is "current" and by passing the

epf file name to eagle. A simple association eith "epf" does the job

inWindows if you use one version of Eagle for all projects, but see

below.

 

In Eagle, I configure "." (only "."!) as the project root, and I add

"." to the other paths.

 

Then I navigate to the folder where my project resides and invoke

Eagle from there, in Windows by double clicking the epf file.

 

Besides this, I use a cmd file to select the matching Eagle version,

because I don't want to convert old projects unintentionally:

 

- snip -

@echo off

find "Version=""03 5" %1 >nul

if NOT errorlevel 1 (

     start X:\Path_to_Eagle3\eagle.exe %1

     exit /b

)

find "Version=""04 1" %1 >nul

if NOT errorlevel 1 (

     start X:\Path_to_Eagle4\eagle.exe %1

     exit /b

)

find "Version=""05 0" %1 >nul

if NOT errorlevel 1 (

        start X:\Path_to_Eagle5\eagle.exe %1

     exit /b

)

echo Unknown epf version

pause

- snip -

 

It should be trivial to make a similar shell script for the *x world.

 

If you don't intend to change old projects and you are using Eagle 5,

this batch file is not needed, because Eagle 5 doesn't change the epf

unasked (earlier versions did).

 

Oliver

While I can see that this will work, I'm not sure I'd go to that extent.  I actually like having a big tree of projects.  It makes revision control easier for one thing.

And the point of this app note was to help newbies understand how things work.  I'd say your setup is more advanced.  For new users who start with EAGLE 5 then there isn't the concern of auto-updating projects.

Thanks for the input though.  You've obviously thought about this before

Cheers,

James.

--

James Morrison  ~~~  Stratford Digital

email:  sales2009@eaglecentral.ca

fax:    888.701.8097

web:    http://www.eaglecentral.ca

Online EAGLE Dealer for US and Canada

EAGLE Design Experts

EAGLE Enterprise Toolkit

--

Browser access to CadSoft Support Forums at http://www.eaglecentral.ca

Hello James,

do you think it's possible to limit the line length of your posting to

some 70 characters? Else it's hard to quote.

"Stratford Digital recommends adding a user folder as the base for all

EAGLE related design files and making it the highest priority."

 

Although this seems to mirror the way Cadsoft intended to use Eagle, I

strongly dislike the idea of one big tree of Eagle projects.

 

I put Eagle project files (epf, sch, brd and special project libs) in

subfolders of the product projects where I store also other design

files and docs.

 

What we have suggested doesn't preclude having a large sub-tree of

projects.  In fact, it would be the natural way to do it and is in

fact how we work here.  But it means that you use the EAGLE Control

Panel to move around and open projects.

While I can see that this will work, I'm not sure I'd go to that

extent.  I actually like having a big tree of projects.  It makes

revision control easier for one thing.

The question is whether you want to use the Eagle control panel in

your "big tree of projects". I prefer a good file manager.

If you meant my automatic version selection method: As I wrote, it

depends. E.g. whether you have to make small maintenance changes in

old projects. Usually it's much more efficient to use the according

Eagle version than to convert the project to the new Eagle version,

especially if the old files are still Eagle 3. Or consider a

contractor - he must use the same version as his client.

And the point of this app note was to help newbies understand how

To avoid misunderstandings: I didn't want to criticize your app note,

just wanted to show that in many cases it's more efficient to use a

different method.

things work.  I'd say your setup is more advanced.  For new users

who start with EAGLE 5 then there isn't the concern of auto-updating

projects.

 

Thanks for the input though.  You've obviously thought about this before

Decades .

Oliver

Oliver Betz wrote on Thu, 29 January 2009 14:53

The question is whether you want to use the Eagle control panel in

your "big tree of projects". I prefer a good file manager.

To each his own.  I see what you are saying here and other users have suggested that EAGLE be able to open other types of files from Control Panel.  In both cases I see the point, but it's not a big deal for me.  To each his own I guess...

Quote:

If you meant my automatic version selection method: As I wrote, it

depends. E.g. whether you have to make small maintenance changes in

old projects. Usually it's much more efficient to use the according

Eagle version than to convert the project to the new Eagle version,

especially if the old files are still Eagle 3. Or consider a

contractor - he must use the same version as his client.

I do consider that case all the time since a large portion of our business is doing custom EAGLE design!  Luckily I only had one project in 3.5 (my own) and we didn't start doing custom work until 4.0 was released--so I don't go back near as far as you do.

I've been asking for a "Save As" feature that would save the project out in older formats.  I realise there are some complications with doing that, but it would very useful for me because different clients want different formats.

Quote:

And the point of this app note was to help newbies understand how

 

To avoid misunderstandings: I didn't want to criticize your app note,

just wanted to show that in many cases it's more efficient to use a

different method.

 

things work.

And I don't disagree.  I'm sure your input in this thread has caused some users to consider some new possibilities.  But most users won't come close to that.  In my experience, a large number of users (and users who you would think would know better) still have all their design data in c:\Program Files\EAGLE....

Cheers,

James.

--

James Morrison  ~~~  Stratford Digital

email:  sales2009@eaglecentral.ca

fax:    888.701.8097

web:    http://www.eaglecentral.ca

Online EAGLE Dealer for US and Canada

EAGLE Design Experts

EAGLE Enterprise Toolkit

--

Browser access to CadSoft Support Forums at http://www.eaglecentral.ca

James Morrison wrote:

come close to that.  In my experience, a large number of users (and

users who you would think would know better) still have all their

design data in c:\Program Files\EAGLE....

Ack. And no backups.

Oliver