Re: What is your favourite PCB software?
- From: rickman <gnuarm@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 20 Apr 2008 14:51:31 -0700 (PDT)
On Apr 10, 9:49 pm, James Morrison <sp...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Just curious about what everyone uses. I've been using Orcad PCB editor.
Disclaimer: My company sells EAGLE online to customers in North America
(see sig below). But I'm also an engineer and I use EAGLE for _real_ work
on a daily basis.
I like EAGLE. Version 4 and previous did take some getting used to the UI.
This is a stumbling block for some people. The main reason is that EAGLE's
motif was to pick your function, then pick your object. The idea being that
you typically will perform the same function on multiple objects. And in
reality I find this to be true, thus this i/f is generally the optimal way
to go.
That may be true, but the simple fact that it is different is a major
issue. Like I said, I learned the old interface once, then when I
wanted to use it again 6 months later, I had to learn it all over
again! That is not a good interface unless you use the tool all the
time. My projects are typically on a 6 month cycle.
However, Windows and other modern UI's are all object based: pick your
object then your function. Anyone who is used to this will find EAGLE's old
UI a bit obtuse at the start. But trust me, once you use it a lot you see
the brilliance of it all.
I wouldn't go so far as to call it "brilliant"! It works and you can
get used to it. But I found I work in different modes and the typical
interface does a good job with all of them. The only thing I don't
like about nearly every package I have seen (don't recall if Eagle is
like this or not), to do a basic move, you have to select the
object(s) and *then* select a move command! Other than PCB layout, I
have not seen a program that doesn't allow you to move objects by just
simple clicking and dragging! That is a significant time waster in my
opinion.
I can't say anything about how well the new interface works as I won't
be using this tool. Someone else mentioned how using a third party
footprint or schematic can result in your designs being "infected"
with an illegal copy stamp resulting in the loss of support (possibly
for all time). Sorry, I'm not interested.
I could get going on a long rant about licensing and software locks.
But I'll just say that I *much* prefer to use software that has no
lock regardless of the cost. This includes intended locks such as
hardware dongles or software keys, but also includes proprietary
format files and the like. Ultimately the important part of tools is
getting the work done. Locks get in the way of getting the work
done.
The real reason I like it is that the schematic and PCB are coming from the
same database (other s/w has this to, PCB123 from Sunstone is one example).
Thus there is no forward or back annotation--all modifications are applied
to both simultaneously. This is a big bonus and seriously cuts down on
chaos when things change.
Is it an open database? Can I write tools to pull data out of it and
to update it without using Eagle? For example, if I design in a part
and in procurement the part is substituted, do I have to go into Eagle
to make the change or can I change the database externally?
.
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