Pcbnew export/import scripting functions

random-builder · April 13, 2019, 6:57pm

Hello.

I am not able to find pcbnew export/import scripting
http://docs.kicad.org/doxygen-python/index.html
representation of PCBnew -> File -> Export Specttra DSN, etc.
what am I missing?

Thank you.

qu1ck · April 13, 2019, 11:06pm

I’m 99% sure import/export functionality is not available from python.
If you need it file a bug on launchpad. At least a few people will click “affects me too” button that I know.

random-builder · April 14, 2019, 1:39am

I filed a bug, thank you:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/kicad/+bug/1824668
current python interface api is auto generated by swig
http://docs.kicad.org/doxygen-python/pcbnew_8py_source.html
do you by chance know:
a) how hard would it be to make own swig-like stubs manually?
b) are there examples of that?
the entry points of interest seems to be here:

ExportSpecctraFile() @ 1084
ImportSpecctraSession() @ 1112
http://docs.kicad.org/doxygen/pcb__edit__frame_8h_source.html

ExportSpecctraFile()
http://docs.kicad.org/doxygen/specctra__export_8cpp_source.html
http://docs.kicad.org/doxygen/classPCB__EDIT__FRAME.html#aeaceecec60fa4b1290a7af8a4ab1531a

ImportSpecctraSession()
http://docs.kicad.org/doxygen/specctra__import_8cpp_source.html
http://docs.kicad.org/doxygen/classPCB__EDIT__FRAME.html#ad8b25ce84f3ec0602ec05dbe05ed0f30

qu1ck · April 14, 2019, 2:00am

It’s not very hard to add swig stubs. It maybe not trivial to disentangle the API you are interested in so that you don’t have to expose a lot of unrelated stuff in swig which shouldn’t be accessible from outside pcbnew binary itself. I don’t know how hard it would be for export/import stuff, I’m just saying in general.

Here are couple examples:
Extending C++ code just for scripting:

github.com

KiCad/kicad-source-mirror/blob/master/pcbnew/swig/pcbnew_scripting_helpers.h

/*
 * This program source code file is part of KiCad, a free EDA CAD application.
 *
 * Copyright (C) 2013 NBEE Embedded Systems SL, Miguel Angel Ajo <miguelangel@ajo.es>
 * Copyright (C) 2013-2017 KiCad Developers, see AUTHORS.txt for contributors.
 *
 * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
 * modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
 * as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2
 * of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
 *
 * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
 * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
 * GNU General Public License for more details.
 *
 * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 * along with this program; if not, you may find one here:
 * http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.html
 * or you may search the http://www.gnu.org website for the version 2 license,

This file has been truncated. show original

Extending python code on top of generated stubs:

github.com

KiCad/kicad-source-mirror/blob/master/pcbnew/swig/board.i#L77


// std::vector templates
%template(VIA_DIMENSION_Vector) std::vector<VIA_DIMENSION>;

// Do not permit default BOARD ctor since it won't initialize the project
%ignore BOARD::BOARD();

%include class_board.h
%{
#include <class_board.h>
%}

%extend std::deque<BOARD_ITEM *>
{
    %pythoncode
    %{
        def __iter__(self):
            it = self.iterator()
            try:
                while True:
                    item = it.next()  # throws StopIteration when iterator reached the end.
                    yield item.Cast()

Of course changes to both require recompiling KiCad which I don’t think is avoidable.

random-builder · April 14, 2019, 7:58pm

I sent basic pull request for the first issue I stumbled upon:
https://code.launchpad.net/~andrei-pozolotin/kicad/+git/kicad/+merge/366038
way back launchpad was “so cool”, but now it feels like a nuisance compared to git
would it make sense to ask core dev group to migrate to github? then whom/where to ask?

qu1ck · April 14, 2019, 8:45pm

I believe your PR will be rejected with advice “run build from build directory which is already in gitignore”

Yeah launchpad is abandonware that is stuck in early '00s in terms of design language with it’s tiny fonts and UI elements. I dread opening it every time I have to and I have already advocated to switch to github/gitlab. Luckily devs are thinking about it:
https://lists.launchpad.net/kicad-developers/msg39156.html
also relevant thread
https://lists.launchpad.net/kicad-developers/msg38081.html
Generally communication with devs happens through the pidgeon mail launchpad mailing list.

eelik · April 14, 2019, 9:17pm

That’s not important. What is important is the functional features. Launchpad is lousy. The bug report system is reeeally bad.

qu1ck · April 14, 2019, 9:24pm

I agree, pretty much everything about it is bad. UI sucks, CI is non-existant, bug tracking is archaic, code review process is perfect example of how NOT to do that sort of thing.
Oh well. Maybe one of these days I’ll have some time to put together launchpad=>gitlab importer to help them with migration.

Rene_Poschl · April 15, 2019, 5:58am

Still better than the github equivalent. Especially when it comes to searching for something.
Github also has no separation of tags, priority level and general state of the report. (One can simulate it by making lots of tags but that really seems like a hack. Hopefully MS will improve this part.)

So i think even if the launchpad bug report system has its drawbacks it still has a lot going for it.

MitjaN · April 15, 2019, 6:05am

If you want to run the script as an action plugin you can hack it via wx.UIActionSimulator() and you can simulate the keypress events in order to call the export action. It is quite hacky and it is not portable between languages. But it works.

random-builder · April 15, 2019, 10:59pm

Guys,
please review a PR for this feature request:
https://code.launchpad.net/~andrei-pozolotin/kicad/+git/kicad/+merge/366082
Thank you.

MitjaN · April 16, 2019, 6:20am

While you’re at it, is it possible to also expose ArchiveModulesOnBoard? If is is, would you be willing to do it? I’ve got a python plugin, which archives complete project and I’ve got a couple of request to also save the footprints programmatically. As the backend already exists I’d rather use the KiCad’s internal code than rolling something on my own in python.

random-builder · April 16, 2019, 2:26pm

sure, added support for ArchiveModulesOnBoard
build settings:
https://gist.github.com/Andrei-Pozolotin/30f76a71bae089c76b5d9dbe151d5ba2
please review/build/test
https://code.launchpad.net/~andrei-pozolotin/kicad/+git/kicad/+merge/366082

#
# manual test session for "Tools -> Scripting Console"
# verify that "board-archive.pretty" folder is present
# result should be identical to "File -> Archive -> ..."
#
import os
import pcbnew
board = pcbnew.GetBoard()
board_path = board.GetFileName()
path_tuple = os.path.splitext(board_path)
board_prefix = path_tuple[0]
aStoreInNewLib = True
aLibName = "footprint-export"
aLibPath = board_prefix + "-archive.pretty"
pcbnew.ArchiveModulesOnBoard(aStoreInNewLib,aLibName,aLibPath)

MitjaN · April 17, 2019, 7:00am

Thanks. Much appreciated.

random-builder · May 4, 2019, 7:19pm

FYI: committed to master:
https://git.launchpad.net/kicad/commit/?id=3e4913adce86ea3955b7dac39703425d9cb2c41e

system · August 2, 2019, 7:28pm

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