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In praise of S-Plan7.0 (for block diagrams)

FWIW--I was using various programs--MSPaint, OpenOffice Draw-- late last night trying to draw a block diagram for a new system. But I was spending hours fighting lame limitations and quirks with each program, and the result was rotten & ugly.

I formerly used CorelDraw for this sort of work, but Windows' 'progress' has finally broken my tried-and-true friend. So last night I PayPal'd ~$50US for S-Plan7.0 over at ABACOM-online.de, and was up and running in ten minutes. No kidding.

It's meant as a schematic-drawing program, but it's quite good for block diagrams, too.

Some of the main advantages for drawing block diagrams were that it has built-in easy snap-to-grid, reasonable defaults that closely match the task, and super fast, low-click access to adjusting line widths, adding text, zooming in and out, etc.

Anti-bloatware, light & fast. 5MB, had it within two minutes of check-out, installed in two minutes more. Superb.

It's just for /drawing/ schematics. It doesn't put out netlists, it doesn't interface with any other CAD program, it's just for preparing schematic artwork. (It will, however, output a BOM.)

SPRINT LAYOUT I've used and recommended their PCB layout program, Sprint Layout, for years. That too is just an artwork /drawing/ program that lets you put pads and edit traces wherever you want, super-easily, and super-quickly. Think "tape-and-mylar," but quickly, on a computer.

Sprint Layout doesn't use or accept netlists, that's up to you, but I haven't found it to matter. You can click on pins you intend to connect, and Sprint Layout will put up a "rubber band" trace until you've routed it--that's handy. Four-layers, max. I use Sprint Layout to design quickie prototypes and for doing preliminary parts-placements. It has more than earned its keep.

HTH.

Cheers, James Arthur

Reply to
dagmargoodboat
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For $50, I might give it a try.

I use an old version of Visio for block diagrams. I created a bunch of electronic symbols. It's OK. I export the diagrams as EMF files, which look good in Word docs. It is object oriented, which helps a lot.

PADS PCB allows one to lay out a board without a schematic netlist, in "ECO" mode. You can import parts and add connections any way you like.

--

John Larkin         Highland Technology, Inc 
picosecond timing   precision measurement  

jlarkin att highlandtechnology dott com 
http://www.highlandtechnology.com
Reply to
John Larkin

dagmargoodboat wrote

Linux has xfig, very simple to draw blocks and lock to grid, export is selectable in in about 30 different formats, pictures, pdf, whathave you. Should be on any Linux system.

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Then there is gimp, but using it is more complicated

and then there is Blender, make your own movies:

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All are free as in beer.

There is also free peeseebee software.

Reply to
<698839253X6D445TD

Hey, nothing wrong with free beer! (Except I've got to watch my girlish figure these days--no non-utilitarian calories!)

It's long past time I should've switched to Linux, but I'm already spending too much time at computer screens. Xfig looks interesting.

I bought an old P.C. with a serviceable Linux installed. I'll have to repair it (bad CPU cooler), and get rolling some time.

Cheers, James Arthur

P.S. I should've mentioned in the OP that Sprint Layout doesn't use netlists, but it does output Gerbers.

Reply to
dagmargoodboat

Yup, An old version of visio, It only runs on a virtual Win 95... which is kinda troubling. I've used it for front panel art work too. The later versions of visio stink. (It's sad when that happens to software.)

And Thanks James, I probably won't look for something new until my current 'tool' fails.

George H.

Reply to
George Herold

I use Visio 2002 Pro, which works fine under Win 7. I've heard that Microsoft wrecked later versions.

--

John Larkin         Highland Technology, Inc 
picosecond timing   precision measurement  

jlarkin att highlandtechnology dott com 
http://www.highlandtechnology.com
Reply to
John Larkin

I've got a pre-MS version... maybe 4.1 or 4.5?

It does everything I want.

George H.

Reply to
George Herold

I've got a copy of Visio 2000 still in the box. I almost loaded it last time this came up, on your recommendation. Can't remember what stopped me...

SPlan has a free "can't save or export" version on the website. I'm not sure it's quite enough to get the full feel of it, though.

It took me a couple hours to realize that bare-bones SprintLayout from the same people wasn't bare bones at all, it was *elegant.*

Click on text and you're instantly editing, with a full pop-up panel giving you full access to all the typeface, size, and other options, no need to click a bunch of multi-level pull-down menus to change each attribute. It's a breath of fresh air.

Engineering software by engineers.

Cheers, James Arthur

Reply to
dagmargoodboat

Freelance 4.0 for DOS rules. ;)

I draw everything in it.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs 
Principal Consultant 
ElectroOptical Innovations LLC / Hobbs ElectroOptics 
Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics 
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510 

http://electrooptical.net 
http://hobbs-eo.com
Reply to
Phil Hobbs

I use MS Office Visio 2007 (12.0). I won't say they wrecked it. Just left a mess of bugs not fixed. This might help. It's the "Visio Bugs (er... Issues)" sub forum: My problem with Visio is that some things only work when viewed using Internet Exploder. Try it. Here's my unfinished Visio scribble of our local ham radio repeater network: Viewed using Firefox or any other on Microsoft browser, hitting

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann
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Reply to
makolber

I'm not aware of any bugs in 2002. But I just use it to do block diagrams and crude schematics to go into manuals.

What do you mean "viewed"? Or "under IE"? I export jpegs or emf files and save the .vsd files for future use in Visio. EMFs do nice line work in documents.

--

John Larkin         Highland Technology, Inc 

lunatic fringe electronics
Reply to
John Larkin

And don't forget inkscape which gives you nice SVG drawings.

Pere

Reply to
o pere o

That's cool. Does it output EPS or PS?

BTW, the newest Microsoft Office (365) will no longer allow insertion of EPS files. Kinda lame. One has to use an old version. I don't know of a substitute way to get pictures with searchable text into a DOCX or PDF.

Reply to
Simon S Aysdie

Pity. EPS does nice line work in a doc, much better than jpegs or tiffs.

Microsoft keeps breaking things.

What happens if 365 opens an old doc that includes an EPS image?

--

John Larkin         Highland Technology, Inc 
picosecond timing   precision measurement  

jlarkin att highlandtechnology dott com 
http://www.highlandtechnology.com
Reply to
John Larkin

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