gEDA-dev: Further thoughts on Parts Manager

[John Griessen]

Peter Clifton wrote:
> I'm very interested in the parts manager / database / symbol / footprint
> ideas.
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> I'd not like to loose the elegance of simple files for footprints /
> symbols, and at the same time realise that this is a limitation. We'd
> need to build index files, and association graphs for a proper parts
> manager, or the system won't scale.
>
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> I have considered that it might be important to version-control a parts
> database, such that if I put a symbol in my schematic, and the library
> version gets updated - e.g. a pin moves, my schematic won't be broken.

Probably some kind of checksum signature put in symbols
would let their version be verified by "unlimited" systems like you envision.
That would keep the file based symbols embedded in designs or saved in users
home directories in sync with ones chosen from a
central database.

You could put an attribute in your schematic
such that symbols must be from the central database as of such and such a date.
That would get you stuck in a big-corp/big-education IT world of hassles and update work
that everybody else could skip!

John Griessen