I think small EDA developers should make something like OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards) and form a coallition to have a proper interoperability by using the same file format and provide importing filters of their former ones. There was EDIF (Electronic Design Interchange Format) but it seems little apps use it. National Instruments' OECL (Open EDA Component Library) They get rich by vendor lock-in and customer support.
That's why big names in EDA stay alive, despite their software is very buggy. But again, I'd be surprised if it couldn't export something the mill could read. Kicad files don't seem to be exchangeable with any other program.
But I'd be surprised if the mill needed anything Diptrace can't export. It's bad for competition, it creates monopolies and make users very unhappy with bad done software. Diptrace can read Eagle files, I don't know if it can export anything that Eagle can read. So 100% interoperability with Eagle is mandatory for my use case, no exceptions. If I were able to use a common file format or export to the formats of those apps, I would be able any other EDA software such as DipTrace. There's a zillion new file formats and some weak efforts at providing a standard one.įor example: It's mandatory for my school to send projects in Eagle for schematics and PCBs, Proteus for simulation. Truly a must-have tool for every PCB Designer, CAD Librarian and EE Engineer worldwide.The EDA file format situation is similar than Microsoft Office before OpenDocument.
Footprint Expert Pro is the ultimate FREE footprint in the electronics industry, period! 3D STEP is also availble at a very low cost.Tools for PADS to CAD, Convert units, Pad Stack and Hole Size Calculator and Axial Lead Form Calculator.Footprint features for Panning, Zoom in & out, Mirror, Rotate.Turn Layers on/off to display any layer to the top.Bottom or All Layers for Placement & Height, Trace, Copper, Via, Test Point and round, rectangle, square or map to courtyard shapes, any size and location Add 8 different Polarity Marking shapes for Silkscreen Legend and Assembly Top & Bottom layers.Settings for Units, Pin 1 Orientation, Origin Location, Pads on Assembly, Pad Shapes Polarity Marking Automation and feature on/off buttons Drafting rules for Silkscreen Legend, Assembly, Courtyard, Component and Terminal Lead Outlines, Reference Designators, Rounded Rectangular Radius Settings, Thermal Pad Solder & Paste Mask Rules for minimum Pad to Pad, Pad to Thermal, Minimum Solder mask Web, Gang Mask, Minimum Stand-off Pad Trimming, Terminal Settings for Pad Place Round-off, Solder and Paste Mask, Fabrication and Assembly Tolerances, 3 Density Levels,Ĭourtyard to Body & Courtyard to Pad, Toe Heel and Side solder joint goals FP Designer module for non-standard for connectors, semiconductors, and discrete (using manufacturer-recommended patterns).26 major Through-hole component families and 39 sub-families = 65 total families.44 major Surface Mount component families and 71 sub-families = 115 total families.
Now you can get the full Enterprise edition license for 12 months - for only the cost of maintenance. To access save/retrieve/edit functions for part data and preferences (tolerances, line widths, pad shapes, etc.), get the Enterprise edition.
Completely FREE with registration / login. The Footprint Expert Pro lets you automatically build footprints and use in your PCB design projects, for literally NO COST.