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Message-ID: <5483490F.6080809@ecosensory.com>
Date: Sat, 06 Dec 2014 12:21:03 -0600
From: John Griessen <john AT ecosensory DOT com>
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To: geda-help AT delorie DOT com
Subject: Re: [geda-help] Questions from a noob ...
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On 12/05/2014 02:30 PM, Brian Eldridge wrote:
> Apologies, resending in plaintext:
>
> ====
>
> I am an experienced hardware designer who has not worked with gEDA before.
> I stumbled upon it recently and am very interested to try it out, however things
> are not working seamlessly for me and I'm curious if I can get answers here:
>
> 1) Running under Ubuntu Linux 14.04, I installed the latest version available
> there via apt-get install geda. This appears to be version 1.8.2.20130925.
> Should this be good enough, or should I try with the more involved "compile
> from git repository approach" to get the very latest?
>
> 2) Using the above version, and trying to invoke with "gschem <filename>"
> where filename does NOT exist, the tool crashes. Am I doing something wrong?
> I expected it to create the page, but nothing works unless the page already
> exists. Which is annoying for a new design. "gschem" with no arguments
> creates "untitled.sch" correctly but I'd prefer to be able to specify the file
> name as advertised.

Here's a usual scenario, but using v. gschem 1.7.2 (g7c7ad00)
Your 1.8.2 should be fine

-----------------status-----------------------------------------
Read init scm file [/opt/geda/share/gEDA/scheme/gschem.scm]
Parsed config from [/opt/geda/share/gEDA/system-gafrc]
Parsed config from [/home/john/.gEDA/gafrc]
Parsed config from [/home/john/EEProjects/tek_7k_flex/gafrc]
Parsed config from [/opt/geda/share/gEDA/system-gschemrc]
Library name [gschem-cibolo] already in use.  Using [gschem-cibolo<1>].
Library name [thru-hole] already in use.  Using [thru-hole<1>].
Library name [transistors] already in use.  Using [transistors<1>].
Library name [pwrgnd] already in use.  Using [pwrgnd<1>].
Library name [boards] already in use.  Using [boards<1>].
Library name [probes] already in use.  Using [probes<1>].
Library name [borders] already in use.  Using [borders<1>].
Library name [conn-smt] already in use.  Using [conn-smt<1>].
Library name [ic-gull-wing] already in use.  Using [ic-gull-wing<1>].
Parsed config from [/home/john/.gEDA/gschemrc]
Loading schematic [/home/john/EEProjects/tek_7k_flex/alf.sch]
Cannot find file /home/john/EEProjects/tek_7k_flex/alf.sch: No such file or directory
Saved [/home/john/EEProjects/tek_7k_flex/alf.sch]
-----------------status-----------------------------------------

Is this listing above the "annoying status message popup that
has to be dismissed every time?"  If so, you need to at least leave it up
until you get a personal work style figured out.  gschem and pcb
work well inside project directories that have some config files
defined for how things work.  A project dir can have many schematics.

gschemrc is a config file I recommend using.  Here's what mine looks like:

cat /home/john/.gEDA/gschemrc
(component-library "${HOME}/EEProjects/ecosensors-pub.git/gschem-cibolo")
(component-library "${HOME}/EEProjects/ecosensors-pub.git/gschem-cibolo/surf")
(component-library "${HOME}/EEProjects/ecosensors-pub.git/gschem-cibolo/thru-hole")
(component-library "${HOME}/EEProjects/ecosensors-pub.git/gschem-cibolo/transistors")
(component-library "${HOME}/EEProjects/ecosensors-pub.git/gschem-cibolo/pwrgnd")
(component-library "${HOME}/EEProjects/ecosensors-pub.git/gschem-cibolo/boards")
(component-library "${HOME}/EEProjects/ecosensors-pub.git/gschem-cibolo/probes")
(component-library "${HOME}/EEProjects/ecosensors-pub.git/gschem-cibolo/borders")
(component-library "${HOME}/EEProjects/ecosensors-pub.git/gschem-cibolo/conn-smt")
(component-library "${HOME}/EEProjects/ecosensors-pub.git/gschem-cibolo/ic-gull-wing")
(component-library "${HOME}/EEProjects/ecosensors-pub.git/gschem-cibolo/verilog-ams")
(component-library "/opt/geda/share/gEDA/sym/verilog")

These libraries above become my always available libraries.

A local gschemrc or gafrc file could overrule those, as happened with the gafrc file
containing many of the same libraries -- it was read first and overruled the
gschemrc file contents because the library neme was already in use.

It's really a good idea to have the status window open somewhere -- on a second or
third screen is a good place...

John