i have an idea for a new plugin. So I sometimes do jobs on Fiverr where i generate footprints and 3D models for KiCAD for a customer and he often wants me to do a merge request to the official kicad repo.
The process is quite tedious and repetitive but also where prone to errors.
What if we could do all the branching, commiting, documenting directly from within KiCAD when we created a new part?
I did a few python scripts in the past and would be happy to work on this, but I don’t thing I’m experienced enough to do this on my own. So if anyone has a similar pain and want’s to help me on this… thx.
This idea has been thought up a few times. and I call it a “melee library”. Ideally this would be:
Optional to install, (plugin manager is a good place).
Not too tightly controlled. The KLC is a wonderful thing. In general it ensures that quality comes before quantity in KiCad’s libraries and it makes KiCads libraries trustworthy. But it’s also a big load on the librarians. It’s difficult to keep motivated on working on parts for which you have no need yourself.
Easy to update / manage.(How does the plugin manager handle changing libraries? Can it run a git pull in the background?
Integrated into KiCad. For example, as an answer to: [quote=“jmk, post:6, topic:39834”]
Will the seasoned user bother with this library?
[/quote] When the Melee library is “just installed”, then you will find parts in it in the first try to get a symbol / footprint. I would prefer these to be marked as “not verified”, to keep the quality of KiCad’s own libraries high. (Maybe just the library name is enough of an indicator). And again, having part of your work of creating / verifying already done invites to spend some time to give back.
Have some way to have a path towards verification and KLC compliancy. The comment system as already implemented on gitlab can be used for this. (Similar to what KLC itself uses).
As a librarian, I initial feeling is that doing this as a payed gig is not fair to us. You get money, we get extra work and no compensation.
OTOH, if you have done this a few times, you should be quite experienced and the MR should go in without much back-and-forth. That is a win for your customer and the community.
p.s. I just checked, there are two open MR that I stared to review. There I am waiting for action from you (one is kinda ■■■■■■ since the documentation is missing).
I got your point.
I have done this a few times, yes, but I see i need to get better. This is why I’m proposing this to make the process less prone to errors. Ultimately I’m thinking of some kind of Wizard that does most of the pre-checks.
Yes I know… I’m working on this John Beard gave me a few good hints how to improve my MR.