docs/wiki/geda-gattrib_readme.html

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  13 <h1 class="sectionedit1" id="gattrib_readme">gattrib README</h1>
  14 <div class="level1">
  15 <pre class="code">******************************************************************
  16 *************  DANGER!!  Read the entirety of this  **************
  17 ************  README before you try runing gattrib!  *************
  18 ******************************************************************
  19
  20
  21 INTRODUCTION
  22
  23 Gattrib is gEDA&#039;s attribute editor.  It reads a set of gschem .sch
  24 files (schematic files), and creates a spreadsheet showing all
  25 components in rows, with the associated component attributes listed in
  26 the columns.  It allows the user to add, modify, or delete component
  27 attributes outside of gschem, and then save the .sch files back
  28 out.  When it is completed, it will allow the user to edit attributes
  29 attached to components, nets, and pins.  (Currently, only component
  30 attribute editing is implemented; pin attributes are displayed only,
  31 and net attributes are TBD.)
  32
  33 Gattrib is useful in situations where you need to view, add, modify,
  34 or delete a number of attributes all at once.  It saves you the pain
  35 of clicking on each component and repeatedly using gschem&#039;s attribute
  36 editor to modify component attributes.  For example, if you create a
  37 large design with generic components, and then later want to attach
  38 &quot;footprint&quot; attributes to your components, it is a real hassle to do
  39 so using gschem.  In this situation, you can run gattrib on your
  40 design files to attach the &quot;footprint&quot; attributes all at once using an
  41 easy-to-use spreadsheet.
  42
  43 WARNING NOTE:  Gattrib is currently PRE-ALPHA SOFTWARE!
  44 It has been tested on several designs, but is not garuanteed to work.
  45 It may even trash your design!  Therefore, if you wish to try gattrib
  46 out, please create a backup copy of your design before you run it!
  47
  48 ------------------------------------------------------------------
  49 USAGE
  50
  51 You can invoke gattrib on your design from the command line in the
  52 following way:
  53
  54 gattrib my_design_*.sch
  55
  56 (This assumes you have a multi-page design with file names
  57 &quot;my_design_1.sch&quot;, &quot;my_design_2.sch&quot;, etc.)  Gattrib will then read in
  58 your design, and present you with a spreadsheet showing all components
  59 and associated attributes.
  60
  61 You can also just run gattrib, and specify the input files using the
  62 file-&gt;open dialog box.
  63
  64 To edit your attributes, just edit the cells in the spreadsheet.
  65
  66 To save your design, just select &quot;save&quot; from the command menu.  Note
  67 that no checks are currently done when you select save.  Be careful!
  68
  69 To quit, just select &quot;quit&quot; from the command menu.  Note that
  70 currently no checks thet you have saved your design are done when you
  71 quit.
  72
  73 If you want to add an entirely new attribute to your design (i.e. one
  74 which doesn&#039;t exist on any component), you must first attach at least
  75 one instance of that attribute to a component using gschem.  Then you
  76 can use gattrib to attach the attribute to the remaining components.
  77 (The reason for this is that gattrib creates its spreadsheet columns
  78 based upon all attributes it finds when reading in the design.
  79 Therefore, to create a column for a new attribute, you need to make
  80 sure that that new attribute pre-exists in the design.)  In the future,
  81 you will be able to add new attribute columns directly from gattrib,
  82 but this feature is currently unimplemented.
  83
  84 ------------------------------------------------------------------
  85 FEATURES
  86
  87 The following features are currently implemented:
  88
  89 *  .sch file read in from command line.
  90 *  .sch file read in from menu.
  91 *  .sch file save out from menu.
  92 *  Component attribute editing (of course).
  93 *  Pin attribute viewing.
  94 *  Quit from menu.
  95
  96 The following features are currently unimplemented, but will be
  97 incorporated at some future date:
  98
  99 *  Throw up &quot;Are you sure&quot; dialog boxes upon selecting &quot;save&quot; and
 100    &quot;quit&quot; from menu.
 101 *  Alphabetic sort of rows.  (Should happen automatically upon read-in
 102    of design.)
 103 *  Editing of net attributes (important for setting routing
 104    attributes).
 105 *  Adding/deleting attribute columns (to add/delete entire sets of
 106    attributes from a design.)
 107 *  Search/replace of individual attributes.
 108 *  Search for component refdeses &amp; netnames.
 109 *  Set/view component &amp; net visibility (through options pull-down
 110    menu).  Currently, visibility is &quot;invisible&quot;, and both name &amp; value
 111    are displayed (if you turn on the visibility).
 112
 113 Note that if you select unimplemented features from the menu, nothing
 114 will happen.
 115
 116 ------------------------------------------------------------------
 117 INSTALLATION
 118
 119 To install gattrib, place the tarball in the directory where your gEDA
 120 sources live.  Then do:
 121
 122 tar -zxvf geda-gattrib-20040806.tar.gz
 123 cd geda-gattrib-20040806
 124 ./configure --prefix=/path/to/your/geda/stuff
 125 make
 126 make install
 127
 128 Note that you may need to set some environment variables first.  If
 129 your compilation barfs, try setting these (for csh):
 130
 131 setenv LD_LIBRARY_PATH /usr/local/geda/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
 132 setenv PATH /usr/local/geda/bin:$PATH
 133 setenv PKG_CONFIG_PATH /usr/local/geda/lib/pkgconfig:$PKG_CONFIG_PATH
 134
 135 ------------------------------------------------------------------
 136 CREDITS/CONTACT:
 137
 138 Gattrib was cobbled together by Stuart Brorson starting in December
 139 2003 from parts culled from GtkSheet (GTK+Extra) and gEDA.  Please
 140 mail bug reports to: sdb@cloud9.net
 141
 142
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