Given the issue of importing foreign netlists see Xml2net broken with Netlist
Instead of going via a net I was wondering if I could write a program to go from Fritzing XML to s KiCad schematic. Is the schematic format of KiCad or Eagle documented anywhere?
Okay I found https://kicad.org/help/file-formats/
A little research project over the Christmas break perhaps.
For libraries i know of this document: https://www.compuphase.com/electronics/LibraryFileFormats.pdf
I don’t know if there is a similar document for the schematic and pcb file formats.
Maybe a better alternative would be to add an import feature to kicad for reading fritzing schematics.
Note that the schematic format will change soon™, as eeschema is being overhauled.
Only nightly might be effected. (And only if it really happens fast)
For stable we have till version 6. (My personal guess is that v6 is still at least 2 years away.)
Meaning writing such an converter is not really affected by this change right now.
+1 for Fritzing, as they have a public structure too and are aimed at beginners who are likely future KiCad users
fritzing also has a different goal in mind. So there is really no direct competition as one tool is used for the prototype stage and one is used to get a final product. Meaning both tools can benefit from an easy data exchange.
I use Fritzing for prototyping with a breadboard. i.e. Draw schematic, layout on a Fritzing breadboard which then serves as documentation. I wrote the original python program xml2net to take an XML exported Netlist from Fritzing that prior to V4 I could import into KiCad.Some people say they would never transfer via netlists, but for me, it means less likely to make a mistake in re-entering and saves the effort. People also say the same about transferring info for Spice emulation like LTSpice but re-entering a schematic is for me an opportunity to introduce a mistake or two. I think it is a shame that Fritzing is struggling as an open source project as it is a great application, especially for electronic hobbyists.
In this case the netlist conversion could be a useful check that the schematic conversion was correct
I’ll throw this out there. In the distant past I wrote some CAD file translators and used IGES as an intermediary. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IGES
I remember that IGES is complex, but very complete. If not IGES, maybe some vendor neutral standard.
Cheers
This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.