As far as I have understood, it’s not about storing the files at all, but only about storing the metadata.
@ janvi
The Database driven library system that is now being implemented is a completely separate system from the schematic and footprint libraries. It is not the intention of the KiCad designers to combine these, nor to populate the database. The database library system is purely a framework for people and companies who maintain their own parts database. Apparently it’s quite common for companies to have full-time employees working on maintaining such databases. But maybe this database system will also be usable to track the status of parts in the “melee library” I mentioned earlier.
@ albin
I do not understand your post. If you do not even use KiCad’s own libraries, then why respond in this thread at all? It is of course perfectly fine if you only want to work with self made and verified parts, but it’s just another way of working than this thread is for. “The KiCad developers” are aware that different users have different workflows and it’s one of the main goals of them for KiCad to enable these different workflows without getting into each other’s way. For example the database library system may be interesting for you, but the majority (mostly smaller users) may not even know it exists.
The V6 introduction of inheritance by @stambaughw was a first big step in the correct direction to shrink the Kicad Library. We need about a dozen more of features like this in symbol and footprint lib to improve maintenance possiblities for the library. My last EDA system also came without any lib and we had to do everything from scratch ourself. That was one of the reasons why we used eagle in parallel for a long time.
@craftyjon database MR claims to control the amount of inheritance. Such features would make the creation of a personal lib for everybody much more easy. You only click to items from other libraries what you want to have or at least what are similar in any way. Then the inheritance allows to overwrite properties from database to generate the private version moving to your personal lib.
@paulvdhoeven (you) closed #6981 and @craftyjon closed #6313 with hint „this is solved by the database“. I doubt about this and I am curious until I tried myself with the soon upcoming V7. If database ist complete seperate it may do the derive of symbols temporary on the fly. To use all the power it finally requires changes in schematic editor and goes deep inside the library formats what shouldnt be changed too often for reasons of compability. Read the comments of @craftyjon in issue #7436 what is exactly the topics of this thread: „ … it would be possible for people to use this feature to provide public / community-run libraries as well…“ Its a code functionality what reduces the content part of a library data and makes it easy to maintain libs.
I’m sorry if my post came out as arrogant! My points and reasons for my post are:
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IMHO web-based “libraries” can be really helpful when you’re looking for a specific part. There’s probably a “market” for yet another such site with only user contributed parts. If users can give thumbs up+down on parts, a team of reviewers wouldn’t be absolutely nessecary.
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A single library with every part ever being contributed by a user would be heavily bloated and hard to use if installed on the PC and used directly in KiCad.
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If users would actually share their libraries, and not the parts in their libraries, that would mean a hell of a lot of libraries. Having hundreds of libraries on the PC and trying to use these in KiCad would also be troublesome.
Sure, we could all share our libraries on some platform and users could select which libraries to download and use (that would be the same functionality as currently present in PCM). But that to me would defeat the purpose.
I would probably still not find the particular part that I’m looking for. Not without installing all of them, or at least searching all of them and installing the one I need. I would then need to install an entire library when just needing a single part.
@janvi What are those numbers? Are those referring to this forum, or to gitlab?
This one is still open: Component Parts & Stock Management, partkeepr alternative, integration? (#6981) · Issues · KiCad / KiCad Source Code / kicad · GitLab I am only mentioned in that issue because I referred to it from another issue, and that other issue is closed. My contributions on gitlab are also quite modest, I am not a developer.
@albin Not interpreted as arrogant at all, just a bit confused.
Numbers are gitlab issues. I didnt see the reference and there are even different epics to similar library problem. But lets wait and see what the V7 database may improve in future.
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