Component symbol creation

Component symbols (from here on known as "symbols") are drawn using gschem just like drawing a schematic sheet. Here are the steps in a symbol in the gEDA/gaf system:

  1. Run gschem and find a blank page or run: gschem filename-1.sym
  2. Draw the symbol (see the style guide below for some conventions).
  3. Translate the symbol to the origin using Edit/Symbol Translate... Translating the symbol to the origin is a required step. To translate a symbol elsewhere, enter a offset (in mils) which is a even multiple of 100. Make sure all pins are snapped to a 100 mil grid point.
  4. Save the symbol using Save or SaveAs... Here are some symbol naming conventions:
  5. Place the symbol in one of the directories specified by the component-library keyword in the system-gafrc file. Once this is done, the symbol should be visible immediately and can be selected and placed with the "Add/Select Component..." menu item.

Ales Hvezda 2005-03-15