Boms away is a great program but it does have one flaw in that it falls down with hierarchical circuits. If you had a top level with two indentical subsheets say pre-amp circuit left and right, then a resistor in left maybe called ref R101 and in right ref R201. but when the top level gets opened in Boms-away it shows 2 resistors both ref R101. Not R101 and R201. Peaple may not have flaged this because it realy only effects things if you use the Boms-away, BOM generator. Can anybody point to the error in the code ?
Is it possible that this is a standalone tool that simply parses your schematic file(s) instead of using the xml generated by the normal bom plugin feature?
Yes its a program that alows you to build a database of common parts. So the more you use it the more usefull it becomes.
Rene I see your point its not really a Kicad problem .But the 3d party program is such a useful way of building a database of components i wondered if the original author was still searching the forums and be able to help.
You might be better off creating a github issue
OK . Out of interest does any body else use BOMS-Away or any other component database ?
I use house part numbers plus a spread sheet. And for the bom stuff i use KiCad BOM Wizard Plugin with customisable output (Can make HTML and CSV BOM)
If you want integration with distributors you could take a look at: https://github.com/xesscorp/KiCost
Maybe https://github.com/xesscorp/KiField can also help
What do other People use for there part selection => BOM 3rd party workflow?
I keep my inventory in PartKeepr which is a capable and well featured stock keeping database running on MySQL.
Once I have a BOM, I use KC2PK to compare it against my stock. KC2PK will produce a inventory report, identify stock shortages and provides links to the suppliers via an Octopart lookup with price breaks and hotlinks to order forms (and data sheets/parameters). It also produces a stock ‘pick list’ and barcoded labels to stick on bags for picked components. I find that it works well for my limited production needs. It maybe isn’t ready for prime time use (I am the author).
(wrt Partkeepr, I have installed this on a pi zero running Debian Stretch and it works very well for several hundred components).
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John sounds interesting . Thanks for replying.
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