generate a schematic for pcb ?

That's a "netlist", and no, I don't think there's a tool that'll take a netlist and make a schematic out of it.

A good schematic and a poor schematic can both generate the same netlist. The difference is that more people will be able to understand the good schematic faster than the bad one. If you make a poor schematic, then at some point someone will read it and curse you -- and it may be you, after you've forgotten what you did!

So make a nice, logically organized schematic that you can be proud of.

A netlist is generally used to go from schematic capture to PCB.

I think you're looking for a conversion from netlist to schematic capture... AFAIK that doesn't exist.. Well...not entirely true but I'll leave that detail out.

If it did exist, it would be cool to see auto schematic part placement and connection autorouting done just like in PCB programs.

D from BC

Yup..and if the schematic is a massively time consuming sparkling example of perfection, it can be hung in an art gallery next to the other expensive works of art... :P

D from BC

There are some tools that convert VHDL to schematics, but they are expensive and insanely ugly. For people who can't understand their own VHDL, I suppose.

Schematics should be art.

John

Did you ever trace a piece of equipment, to derive its schematic? The result is usually very, very ugly.

John

components

schematic

that'll take a

same

understand

you -- and

proud of.

thanks Tim, that was my suspicion. bleh, thanks again, robb

Thanks John and D , for the responces and help, robb

I once traced a bipolar H-bridge and got about 1.5 times around a cycle before I realized that the schematic I was drawing needed to fold onto iself. Very mind bending.

I'm dealing with a piss-poor one now. No off-page connectors. No busses. Few wires. VHDL is far more readable.

They're really used to understand what logic is being generated out of one's VHDL (read: how the synthesizer is screwing the pooch). They're also useful to figure out what primitives are being used by core libraries. As far as a schematic for documentation, forget it.

Perhaps, but they don't pay me to be an artist (nor schematics ;).

?? "A good schematic and a poor schematic can both generate the same netlist" ?? Forgive my abysmal ignorance, how is that possible? Give a simple example.

I have done that on rare occasion, and find it tedius and prone to error. It would be nice to have a netlist-to-schematic converter!

For example, I could create a circuit using a couple of opamps and a half a dozen resistors or so, a few diodes and a capacitor. The components could be laid out and the connections drawn in so it's easy to follow- the circuit I've got in mind is a simple linear ramp slew rate limited voltage follower.

Or I could lay the opamps out in random orientations on one part of the sheet, all the resistors likewise in another corner, etc., and simply assign the pins to nets (on the PCB CAD I use I could even hide the net names). The result would be exactly equivalent to the well- sketched version, but would be harder than spaghetti assembler to understand.

PB

You don't even have to try hard. Simply leave all the "wires" off the components and simply name them. Oh, and don't forget to skip the cross-reference step. :-(

You need to get hold of a decent CAD package and forget net lists.

Some are much easier to use than others.

As an experienced electronics engineer I use PCBCAD28

It is powerful yet doesnt want to know the ins and outs of every connection until your blue in the face.

You forgot to mention you are the author of said software (and probably it's only user?), and have been slammed many times for spruiking it on here, for example:

Dave.

Ahhh....except for looks, it is the same schematic. Most PCBs are not laid out in random order, so the result may not look fabulously perfect sparkling white super duper, but it certainly would not look like dog-doo scattered by ten thousand vultures either.

How on earth can I be spamming the group ?

I simply gave an opinion on the software I use !

I simply took another companies software, tore it to pieces, improved it, then wrote my own without the bugs in it !

If i was gonna spam it certainly wouldnt be on a group with 3 people offering opinions !

You would be better off with a PCB CAD software that autoplaces as well. This would find the optimum net lay out for your PCB.

PCBCAD28 does this really well. It has: auto-autoplacer. swap autoplacer. rotational autoplacer. place and route autoplacer (keeps going finding best routes until you stop it)