Using Eagle on two systems, with library on USB stick

On 06.03.11 9:40 PM, Garrick wrote:

I use EAGLE on a desktop and a laptop for the same projects. A complication

happens when I edit a library part and I want the project on both systems to

update from the same library. The part in a project is linked to a library

at a certain path. If I copy the library to a USB stick and try to update

the library part in a project to the laptop, the EAGLE on the laptop doesn't

know to update from the library on the USB stick. It only updates from the

library in the original path.

 

Do I need to have libraries in exactly the same path names, and same drive

letters common to both systems to make a part update from the library it is

originally from? Is there a way to point it to "mylibrary.lib" on the USB

stick and update the part in the board and schematic?

 

>

The way I sync libraries on more than one computer is using a small

utility called Dropbox. It creates a folder on you HDD wich synchronizes

across multiple computers (two Windows and one Linux). So I have a

special folder for Eagle libraries, DRU, CAM etc. In Eagle Control Panel

I point to these folders and everything is synced when internet is

available. There is also a copy available online and past versions can

be recovered for a period of up to 30 days. You can get a free 2 GB

account (http://db.tt/IbdsuKY if you want to use my referral).

It is possible to use a USB stick for the same purpose, but you need to

remember to mount the stick as the same letter each time or you will

need to update the paths each time in Eagle Control Panel. I suggest Z

as drive letter or something from the end of the alphabet because these

are rarely used.

Best regards,

Marius

Am 06.03.2011 20:40, schrieb Garrick:

I use EAGLE on a desktop and a laptop for the same projects. A complication

happens when I edit a library part and I want the project on both systems to

update from the same library. The part in a project is linked to a library

at a certain path. If I copy the library to a USB stick and try to update

the library part in a project to the laptop, the EAGLE on the laptop doesn't

know to update from the library on the USB stick. It only updates from the

library in the original path.

 

Do I need to have libraries in exactly the same path names, and same drive

letters common to both systems to make a part update from the library it is

originally from? Is there a way to point it to "mylibrary.lib" on the USB

stick and update the part in the board and schematic?

Eagle use the first library if found in directories.

Change the order of the lbr directories in Options/Directory:

C:\Program\eagle\lbr;U:\lbr

U:\lbr;C:\Program\eagle\lbr

"U:" == USB stick

Mit freundlichen Grüßen / Best regards

Alfred Zaffran

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Hi Alfred,

this is all well and good, if you only need to make the latest version of a library available on multiple computers.  But let's extend the usage scenario a bit and make editing of the same project on multiple computers/operating systems a requirement as well.  Let's say I want to be able to work on the same project on my desktop PC running Linux and on my laptop runing Win7 while I am traveling or something.  I have tried to find a good solution for this but so far to no avail.  The EPF file records the used libraries with absolute path and the windows sections record the opened file for editing in the same way.  Obviously the paths on both systems will be different.  I even tried to have 2 epf files (eagle_win.epf and eagle_lin.epf) with the corresponding paths and platform attributes, but Eagle insists on the project file to be called eagle.epf and not *.epf.  For a product designed to run on different platforms this is a rather serious shortcoming IMHO.  I guess I could write a bash/batch/perl script to be run every time I switch computers before I start Eagle, which will parse the project file and convert any found path based on search and replace or regex, but that seems to be rather cumbersome and inelegant.  Especially if Cadsoft gives me the option to install the software and use the same license on multiple computers (just not at the same time)...

Regards,

Todor

On 09/28/2011 03:33 PM, Todor Todorov wrote:

Hi Alfred,

 

this is all well and good, if you only need to make the latest version of a library available on multiple computers.  But let's extend the usage scenario a bit and make editing of the same project on multiple computers/operating systems a requirement as well.  Let's say I want to be able to work on the same project on my desktop PC running Linux and on my laptop runing Win7 while I am traveling or something.  I have tried to find a good solution for this but so far to no avail.  The EPF file records the used libraries with absolute path and the windows sections record the opened file for editing in the same way.  Obviously the paths on both systems will be different.  I even tried to have 2 epf files (eagle_win.epf and eagle_lin.epf) with the corresponding paths and platform attributes, but Eagle insists on the project file to be called eagle.epf and not *.epf.  For a product designed to run on different platforms this is a rather serious shortcoming IMHO.  I guess I could

write a bash/batch/perl script to be run every time I switch computers before I start Eagle, which will parse the project file and convert any found path based on search and replace or regex, but that seems to be rather cumbersome and inelegant.  Especially if Cadsoft gives me the option to install the software and use the same license on multiple computers (just not at the same time)...

 

Regards,

Todor

 

I use unison to sync directories. I have ssh setup on my master system

with failtoban to block ssh attacks. I do my remote log in with 1024 bit

public key file.

While on the road I sync after I make changes and before I edit on my

master system.

http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~bcpierce/unison/

http://www.fail2ban.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

Unison can also be used to sync a usb drive sub directory to your

workstation and laptop. You then have 3 copies of data.

Paul R.

You miss my point.

I do know how to sync files between different machines, no matter if I do it by hand or with some utility or with a versioning system.  The problem is not how to share files between Liniux and Linux or between Windows and Windows, but rather how EAGLE handles project files from different operating systems.  If I create a project in Windows, this will not open correctly in Linux or Mac OS, just because the paths to libraries or opened files are different!  Please don't get me wrong, I like EAGLE very much, but for a multi-paltform tool in things interoperability it falls a bit short off the mark.

It seems appropriate to reactivate this old thread because it explains the situation well, and there don't seem to be any more recent contributions.

I'm introducing some beginners to Arduino and expect to use Eagle to document the circuitry. Drawing schematics isn't too difficult; Sparkfun and Adafruit have provided nice libraries, and Dave Young has supplied a complete set of Arduinos as devices. We won't often be making PCBs.

A major advantage of Eagle is that it runs on both  Windows and Linux; not everybody can replace their XP machines lubuntu is a good choice for saving all but the oldest. I'ts also a good way of getting beginners to use Linux from the start. TinyCAD is brilliant for amateurs, but it wants users to write files in the protected Program Files area and can't be ported to Linux.

Like other contributors here, my friends will be working on more than one PC (at home & and in my house), and I'd like to know what's the current situation or "least worst" workaround with Eagle. The basic problem is that both Linux and Windows, as well as many applications, still force users to use their own user areas. This may be good for security, but it's totally stupid, even for sharing photos among family members.

Perhaps a workaround with Eagle might be to use a shared directory on each PC for working, and to get a backup application like Create Synchronicity to sychronise this with the Dropbox, Ubuntu One, etc. directories in a user space. I tried something like that but got into a bit of a mess, with multiple copies of libraries and so on.

So, my question is: has anyone now found a reliable way of sharing projects and libraries tidily, without any special programming? 

On 3/20/2014 10:57 AM, Christopher Lee wrote:

Perhaps a workaround with Eagle might be to use a shared directory on

each PC for working, and to get a backup application like Create

Synchronicity to sychronise this with the Dropbox, Ubuntu One, etc.

directories in a user space. I tried something like that but got into a

bit of a mess, with multiple copies of libraries and so on.

Hi Christopher,

I hope you're doing well. If you're going to have multiple collaborators

working on the same project then the standard solution is to use some

sort of Version control system.

A popular setup is to use something like GitHub to store all of the

design files. Users can then checkout the files and modify them, when

they're done they can then push the changes back to github. Usually

there will be an administrator who can control what changes make it back

to the main set of files.

This is a very high-level description and there are lots of variations

on the theme. For example Ubuntu has version control system called

Bazaar that interfaces with Launchpad their GitHub clone.

Others will chime in with suggestions.

hth,

Jorge Garcia

On 21/03/2014 3:57 a.m., Christopher Lee wrote:

..............

 

So, my question is: has anyone now found a reliable way of sharing

projects and libraries tidily, without any special programming?

 

--

Not about sharing but referring to 'USB stick'. This does address the

'user area' concern you mention.

An option to consider is not 'installing' Eagle. You can simply have all

the files in the folder structure somewhere. I use Eagle from a USB

stick this way so I can run Eagle on any computer I am seated at. There

are a couple of things you should do though. Create a shortcut to launch

Eagle command line style and using the -Uxxx option tell Eagle where to

store the users settings file. I add a 'Settings' folder  for this on

the USB stick.

HTH

Warren