I’ve uploaded my Altium to Kicad PCB convertor utility written in C#, to github. It can be found here https://github.com/stevegrn/AtoK . This is the first upload and hasn’t been fully checked but I thought it was time to get it out there for people to try out. It’s not a plugin but I couldn’t find a suitable category to categorise it.
1 Like
Just tried installing on my laptop and it fails to run with “unable to start program dotnet.exe” so I’ve obviously got more to sort out. Unfortunately that’ll be in a few days.
I think my efforts are much more advanced than the “Native Altium Importer” and would think it would be better to advance my program instead. I believe that only some effort on shape based 3D models is required and also some effort on the clearance design rules for pads solder mask clearances etc. However they are welcome to read my code to help them.
Even bigger reason to help “Native Altium Importer”.
Sorry to say that, but yet another importer is not really the right apporach. When it is integrated, why would anyone use an external program anyway?
Your C# and another Perl program are the most advanced I analyzed, but there are also at least 2 Python and one other C++ Project which handle certain things better. My apporach is to analyze all those, combine the good and put my own reverse engineering ontop of that
For example, after reading your code, I also handle a few clearances now (without relying on some hadcoded names), and with KiCad 6, the importer will likely support most Altium rules out of the box because there is other work in the background currently going on.
2 Likes
Yes maybe but I’ve spent a lot of time doing my code and am lacking the impetus to do any more on it (I’m nearly 66 and tire easily these days). I’ve still got to get the deploying sorted out. Naively I thought I could just produce a .exe but it looks like it’s a bit more complicated than that. I’ll try and sort it out in the next couple of days.
Especially if it’s Windows only, needs compiling but is without any compilation and installation instructions, and works from command-line. A user in need must be really dedicated to begin to try that.
If you have time, could you please add a license to your efforts? Something like GPL v3 would make your efforts compatible with the KiCad codebase and ensure that any combination of your work with ours will include an attribution to you.
Without a compatible license, this work will never be able to be used by the KiCad project and no future contributors will carry this work forward.
Let me know if you would like any assistance with the licensing.
3 Likes
1 Like
@der.ule, please do not denigrate someone’s work that they are sharing with the community.
KiCad does not currently have the native capability to import Altium files. @pointhi’s work addresses this shortage. While there are a number of external programs out there, we will be very fortunate to have a single, integrated solution that works with and is updated with the core KiCad codebase. This is not analogous to a competing standard, this is creating functionality that does not currently exist.
Teasing, even this sort of maybe good-natured variety, leads to fewer contributions in the future. I would ask you to not do this anymore.
4 Likes
Hmm, you seem to have answered to some of my arguments in your previous comment.
I appreciate the work you have done but the fact is that to receive any serious user base it should be cross-platform and have a GUI. And be maintained and enhanced for future versions of Altium and KiCad.
Thomas is commended for already having done more than many Open Source developers do, namely reading other people’s code. So your work have been useful. But maybe you could try the KiCad’s importer and give at least opinions about what exactly should be enhanced. Saying “my efforts are much more advanced” is pretty vague (and didn’t give a good first impression).
Woah! I was definitely not denigrating nobody’s work, I was intended as a pun/joke, if I was not seen like that I apologize.
1 Like
I’ve updated my repository here https://github.com/stevegrn/AtoK to hopefully make it easier for people to try it out. Basically I’ve converted it into a simple GUI based app.
2 Likes
This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.