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KiCad-RW : Python library to read/write KiCad Sexpr file format

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Overview

What is KiCaD-RW ?

A WORK IN PROGRESS...

keywords: kicad, 6, sexpr, python, schema

KiCad-RW is a Python module to read the KiCad version 6 schema file format (<span class="title-ref">.kicad_sch</span> file extension) and to compute the netlist which is not actually stored by KiCad. This module is standalone and independent of the KiCad Python API, thus it don't require KiCad to work.

Examples of use cases:

• perform checks on circuit
• export a BOM
• generate a customised SPICE netlist, see PySpice
• generate a LaTeX/Tikz graphic TO BE IMPLEMENTED
• generate a draft for Circuit_macros, a tool for drawing electric high quality circuits, see <span class="title-ref">CircuitMacrosDumper</span>
• etc.

KiCad-RW uses the Python library sexpdata to parse the file.

How to go further:

• KiCad uses Sexpr format, thus we don't have so many tools and a DTD like for XML
• We must use an external library to parse Sexpr format: sexpdata actually
• We must be able to parse the file without the need of KiCad, especially if we think KiCad is a reference EDA software
• We must not write tons of code to handle this format...
• We must try to auto-learn the KiCad format from a reference file collection and generate an OO API (fully automatic, jinja template)

Look at this project

Comprehensive bibliography and relevant links on the topic

Where is the Documentation ?

TO BE COMPLETED

Where to get help or talk about KiCaD-RW ?

TO BE COMPLETED:

What are the main features ?

How to install it ?

TO BE COMPLETED

Pull Request Recommendation

To make it easier to merge your pull request, you should divide your PR into smaller and easier-to-verify units.

Please do not make a pull requests with a lot of modifications which are difficult to check.

Credits

Authors: Fabrice Salvaire and contributors

News

V0 2020-05-xx

Started project...