bigcat100/kicad-tools

KiCad Tools

Purpose

A set of tools to simplify and automate workflow with KiCad

Contents

Currently, the following utilities are offered:

Name	Description
conngen.py	Connector generator utility. Allows to generate arbitrary connector component
icgen.py	Integrated circuit generator utility. Intended to create IC component from YAML description
merge-lib.sh	Simple shell script for merging component files into library.
scmgr.py	Powerfull GUI application for schematic components properties management

Tools description

Command-line tools

Connector generator utility

usage: conngen -n N [-p P] [-w W] [-f] [-l L]
    where:
      -n N - pin count
      -p P - part count
      -w W - symbol width
      -f   - make connector body filled with color
      -l L - pin length (default pin lenght is 200 mils)

Result: connector component file. Note that pin count must be multiple of part count.

Integrated circuit generator utility

usage: icgen [-o PATH -s] filename.yml
    where:
      -o PATH - path for output files (component file and component 
                documentation file), by default output files are
                placed in current directory
      -s      - silent operation

Result: component (.cmp) and component documetation (.dcmp) files

Merge library script utility

usage: merge-lib.sh libname
    where libname - base name for generated files

Result: libname.lib and libname.dcm files. Note: the script utility merges all .cmp files in current directory to .lib file and all .dcmp files in current directory to .dcm file.

Schematic Component Manager

Schematic Component Manager is powerfull GUI application that allows efficient way for processing of schematic components properties.

Features

• Table representation of component list
• Automating of component selection
  • Dedicated Selector tool
  • Using component property as selection criteria
  • Flexible rules for property matching: same, different, regular expression
  • Use any component as template for property list
• Group editing of selected componets
  • Convenient Inspector tool
  • Add/Delete/Rename of component[s] properties
  • Property value substitutions
  • Property templates: generating property value using template
• Customization of components table view
• Delicate schematic files handling - preserve file sturcture over open/save operations
• Multisheet schematic support
• Automatic save/restore all GUI geometry properties

Usage

usage: scmgr.py [<schematic-filename>.sch]

Documentation

The program contains help documentation that explains the program features and usage. Besides, there is wiki page [ru] with more detail program description.