CAM Process Create Directories

On 7/22/2011 7:45 AM, James Morrison wrote:

Hello,

 

I would like to suggest that there be a way for the CAM processor to

automatically create any sub-directories it needs based on the file

specified for a given layer.  For instance, I have the following file

specified for my top layer:

 

%P/gerbers/01-top.grb

 

This structure helps keep the design files separate from the manufacturing

file output.

 

But I have to manually create the gerbers folder which is a bit of a pain.

There is more to this folder structure so it's not just one folder, but

actually a whole tree of folders for various outputs and formats.

 

It would be nice if I could set a switch in the CAM processor to simply

create any sub-directories that it needs that don't exist.

 

James.

 

or even not a switch... just do it.

On 7/22/2011 7:45 AM, James Morrison wrote:

Hello,

 

I would like to suggest that there be a way for the CAM processor to

automatically create any sub-directories it needs based on the file

specified for a given layer.  For instance, I have the following file

specified for my top layer:

 

%P/gerbers/01-top.grb

 

This structure helps keep the design files separate from the manufacturing

file output.

 

But I have to manually create the gerbers folder which is a bit of a pain.

There is more to this folder structure so it's not just one folder, but

actually a whole tree of folders for various outputs and formats.

 

It would be nice if I could set a switch in the CAM processor to simply

create any sub-directories that it needs that don't exist.

 

James.

 

or even not a switch... just do it.

HI James,

I was going to ask this exact same question!

I instead, create a folder on my desktop called "Gerber Files" Once that is

created, I then run my CAM Processor and all the files are named as I like

them and put into that folder, The only thing I can't automate is the

creation of the folder as you said yourself.

I dont think there is any "Tricks" in the cam processor to create folders

though.

My file is named as follows in the CAM Processor ( eg)

"/Users/Me/Desktop/Gerber Files/%N SILK TOP.GBR"

I am wondering, Could a ULP Script be written so that it ?

1) Creates the Folder(s)

2) Runs the CAM Processor of your choice

3) Run Other scripts like Pick & Place, drilling and even a BOM.

Then we could assign a button in the LAYOUT to run that script?

What do you think?

Dave M

--

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

davem wrote on Fri, 22 July 2011 20:36

HI James,

 

I was going to ask this exact same question!

 

I instead, create a folder on my desktop called "Gerber Files" Once

that is created, I then run my CAM Processor and all the files are named

as I like them and put into that folder, The only thing I can't automate

is the creation of the folder as you said yourself.

 

I dont think there is any "Tricks" in the cam processor to create

folders though.

 

My file is named as follows in the CAM Processor ( eg)

 

"/Users/Me/Desktop/Gerber Files/%N SILK TOP.GBR"

 

I am wondering, Could a ULP Script be written so that it ?

 

1) Creates the Folder(s)

2) Runs the CAM Processor of your choice

3) Run Other scripts like Pick & Place, drilling and even a BOM.

 

Then we could assign a button in the LAYOUT to run that script?

I like your thinking.  I've suggested in the past that the CAM processor be

expanded to be a more generic manufacturing output engine.  Then we could

add tabs for BOM, x-y data, and any other specific output we need like

mechanical drawings, etc.  We'd need to be able to specify a ULP to run and

the ability to run it from the schematic or board file.

I suppose you could write a custom ULP to do it.  But since almost every

EAGLE user needs to create output for manufacturing of some sort I would

think having CadSoft solve it once for everyone is a better use of overall

time than everyone coming up with a solution to the same problem.  And

because they can write it right into the code base they could do things you

can't do in ULP/SCR's.

But the idea is sound.  There should be a one-click solution to creating

all the manufacturing output you need for a project.  And this is not to be

lazy, it's to be consistent and to reduce mistakes.

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.

Hi James,

I am glad someone likes my "Thinking"!

When I get to the stage of outputting manufacturing data I first run the

cam processor and view the gerber files etc.

I check for any errors and then make adjustment in the PCB Layout or where

ever. Then I rerun the gerber output and check again, So By AUTOMATING

This, we can prevent a whole bunch of duplicate or redundant files and make

folders of files suited for the different parties that need it, i.e PCB

Manufacture, PCB Assembly, Purchasing,and as well as complete documentation

records for your own use, I understand this will be different for each

company.

So..

I am starting to learn the ULP Scripting language, I do know other

languages ( object Orientated)  So It shouldn't be impossible.

I have already started reading the manual to get familiar with its

capabilities, and have already started modify the BOM.ULP to get it to work

more "SEAMLESS" for my needs.

If we wait for CADSOFT to IMPROVE EagleCad then that will never happen, So

we should not rely on them. ?There has hardly been any MAJOR features or

changes in the last few releases. Probably because FARNELL own them now!

In order to AUTOMATE the export we need to see what the limits of the

Scripting language are.

The Main question is :

Q1) Can the CAM Processor be called via a ULP?

and

Q2) is the a better text editor for EagleCad Scripting?

Dave M

--

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

OK,

I have been READING THE MANUAL, and some web searching, And I can find

NOTHING on running the CAM PROCESSOR within a ULP.

I did see that you can run a CAM JOB from a "Command lIne" ( not eagle

command line)

like this one.

-X-     eXecute CAM Processor

But I dont know if you can call this with a script.

The ONLY other thing I have read is that OLIN seems to have some usefull

ULPS or scripts that can do cam processing, but on his web link they are

only available for PC , does anyone have these ULPS?

Dave M

--

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

Gary Gofstein wrote on Fri, 22 July 2011 17:16

or even not a switch... just do it.

No!  Don't "just do" something that is incompatible with the current

behavior.

If Eagle had always created subdirectories then I'd probably have my system

set up to work with that now.  But it doesn't, so I've created my workflow

around what Eagle does now.  DON'T CHANGE THE DEFAULT.

I use a separate directory for every version of every board, and just put

all the files in there as one flat pile.  I just checked, and a fairly full

directory has around 40 files.  That's easily managable without

subdirectories.  I do have scripts that know the various file name suffixes

and build the zip files for the board house and for assembly.  These take

care of the details of grabbing appropriate files from the pile so I don't

have to.  When I want a file, I know its name and use it directly, so the

fact that there are 39 other files in the directory is irrelevant.

So for me there is no problem to solve as I've already adapted to how Eagle

does things.  Add new features if you want, but make sure the default is to

do the same thing as before.  It would really piss me off if the next

verion of Eagle did something different out of the box, and I had to waste

time digging around figuring out how to get it back as it was.

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

James Morrison wrote on Fri, 22 July 2011 21:55

And because they can write it right into the code base they could do

things you can't do in ULP/SCR's.

A better answer would be to instead add the hooks so a ULP can do it.  Then

everyone can get what they want.

There are many different ways manufacturing output could work, and the

chances are pretty much zero Cadsoft is going to do it how I want it done.

Give me the tools to customize as I see fit instead.  Cadsoft could then

make a example ULP for novices to get started with.

That said, isn't this already reasonably possible?  Creating gerber files

is something you do once per board, so I haven't spent a lot of time

optimizing it.  I have some canned CAM jobs set up for common cases, so

generating gerbers is already trivial from my point of view.  I've also got

ULPs and scripts that largely automate making board drawings, creating the

cross reference file, creating the BOM, and packaging up files for the

board and assembly houses.  Since this takes a small portion of the time

designing a board, automating it more isn't high on my list of things to

do.  However, can't the CAM processor be run from a ULP or script already?

If so, doesn't that get you what you want?

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"Gary Gofstein" <nospam@use.forum.net> wrote in message

news:j0cpc0$jne$1@cheetah.cadsoft.de...

On 7/22/2011 7:45 AM, James Morrison wrote:

or even not a switch... just do it.

+1

I think this is the reasons "folders" were invented after all: to sort

things. Currently an Eagle "project" is just a bunch of files, most of them

unassociated in OS with any executable (eagle or other). Eagle should sort

them (by default) by functionality.

"Olin Lathrop" <eagle@embedinc.com> wrote in message

news:j0ek49$bhl$1@cheetah.cadsoft.de...

around what Eagle does now.  DON'T CHANGE THE DEFAULT.

With this attitude, over 5 years we will use Eagle10, with the same "default

functionality" as now, and it will be ten thousands "new" features hidden

well in some command-line-only-editable file.

Olin wrote on Sat, 23 July 2011 10:09

James Morrison wrote on Fri, 22 July 2011 21:55

And because they can write it right into the code base they could

do things you can't do in ULP/SCR's.

 

A better answer would be to instead add the hooks so a ULP can do it.

Then everyone can get what they want.

I think that is generally what I had in mind, though I may not have stated

it as clearly.  Either hooks in the CAM processor to run a ULP or hooks

from a ULP to run the CAM processor easily would be a minimum.

Quote:

There are many different ways manufacturing output could work, and the

chances are pretty much zero Cadsoft is going to do it how I want it

done.  Give me the tools to customize as I see fit instead.  Cadsoft

could then make a example ULP for novices to get started with.

I don't disagree here.  But with a bit of thought I bet CadSoft could get

it pretty close.  Then, if it's done as a ULP using the hooks above you can

customise the last little bit (like how you actually want your files

organised).  But even then, CadSoft should have something default that is

usable so newbies have a reasonably complete environment to start with.

Quote:

That said, isn't this already reasonably possible?  Creating gerber

files is something you do once per board, so I haven't spent a lot of

time optimizing it.  I have some canned CAM jobs set up for common cases,

so generating gerbers is already trivial from my point of view.  I've

also got ULPs and scripts that largely automate making board drawings,

creating the cross reference file, creating the BOM, and packaging up

files for the board and assembly houses.  Since this takes a small

portion of the time designing a board, automating it more isn't high on

my list of things to do.  However, can't the CAM processor be run from a

ULP or script already?  If so, doesn't that get you what you want?

It's fine for a one-person organisation if that person is anal enough (like

you and I Olin) to have the discipline to do things the same way every

time.  But as more people get involved the more things that have to be

remembered the more deviation there is.  The gerbers are fine now because I

can specify our local repository of CAM jobs and people can use that and

all the gerbers and NC drill files end up with the same names in the same

places every time.  But that isn't true for BOM's, x-y data, PDF's of the

schematic, and other things that I extract on every project.  Having one

"GO" button like the CAM processor to do these extra things is a must for

corporate work.

I think if you add the ability to run ULP's from a layer tab in the CAM

processor I think we get just about all the way there.  Except for auto

generating a schematic PDF.  There should be a way to do that too.  Adding

PDF as an output type is a start.  But I would like it to be able to get

access to the schematic layers.  Maybe all that is needed is including the

schematic layers in the right-hand selection box as well.

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.

James Morrison wrote on Sat, 23 July 2011 16:42

Except for auto generating a schematic PDF.

It seems you can already do this, at least if you are willing to use

Eagle's PDF generator.  I just looked at the PRINT command options, and it

appears there is enough there to do that.

What is missing is the ability to select the printer by name.  This is

presumably something Cadsoft could add without too much trouble.  I use

Acrobat to create PDF files, not Eagle's built in capability for that.

Maybe Eagle's is OK, I haven't tried it.  I guess I just trust Adobe to do

a better job writing PDF files.

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