Extremely repetitive script

So I've been tasked with the job of designing a circuit board with 10240 pads on it. I can split it up into 10 sections of 1024 pads, so let's assume I only need to make 1024 pads since copying that section and moving it into the appropriate positions I need is pretty simple for this geometry. I've been looking into scripting this one out since I don't feel like spending days and days doing this, but I've yet to find an easy way to make loops in .scr files. ULP's I know you can make loops in, but I'm unsure (if this is even the way to do it) of how one would send the appropriate arguments to the appropriate .scr file or how to even run a .scr file from a ULP (I know you can run a ULP from a .scr, but I'm not sure it works the other way). Am I missing something really obvious?

dukepro over 14 years ago

On 02/02/2012 02:34 AM, wesman26 wrote:
So I've been tasked with the job of designing a circuit board with
10240 pads on it. I can split it up into 10 sections of 1024 pads,
so let's assume I only need to make 1024 pads since copying that
section and moving it into the appropriate positions I need is pretty
simple for this geometry. I've been looking into scripting this one
out since I don't feel like spending days and days doing this, but
I've yet to find an easy way to make loops in .scr files. ULP's I
know you can make loops in, but I'm unsure (if this is even the way
to do it) of how one would send the appropriate arguments to the
appropriate .scr file or how to even run a .scr file from a ULP (I
know you can run a ULP from a .scr, but I'm not sure it works the
other way). Am I missing something really obvious?

You could write your program in any number of other languages. C,
Basic, Perl, etc. You're not stuck with ULP.

But if you do choose to use ULP, you want to start with an output statement:

output("myfile.scr") {
...
}

Every print inside the braces will be written to the specified file.

Next, inside the braces place the code that will iterate through each
pad. perhaps something like:

    int block, xpad, ypad;
    for (block = 0; block < 10; ++block) {
        for (xpad = 0; xpad < 32; ++xpad) {
            for (ypad = 0; ypad < 32; ++ypad) {
                // calculate x and y coordinates of this pad
                ...
                // Emit to the script file
                printf("pad (%f %f);\n", xcoord, ycoord);
            }
        }
    }

Then when everything is done, and you're outside of your output block,
exit with a string argument, where the argument is the name of the
script file to execute:

    exit("myfile.scr");

The precise syntax may be off a bit, but that's the outline.

As I mentioned above, it might be easier to write a C program for this,
and just redirect the output to your script file.

Enjoy,
    - Chuck
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