+The native file formats of pcb-rnd are: +
-
+
- lihata board for PCBs +
- lihata subcircuit for footprints +
- lihata based pcb-rnf-conf for configuration data
3.4.2 footprint formats
-3.4.2 pcb-rnd import
-3.4.2 pcb-rnd export
+ ++Lossless save/load round trips for all pcb-rnd features are guaranteed +only when using the latest version of the native formats. It is possible +(but not recommended) to use older versions of the native formats to +retrain compatibility with older versions of pcb-rnd. + +
+Non-native file formats are called alien formats. pcb-rnd supports +a large variety of alien formats, but lossless save/load round trips are +not guaranteed when alien formats are used. The code will always do its best +to get good results, but different alien formats have different features, +and most of them can not fully capture all features pcb-rnd offers. + +
+Some alien formats are implemented as io_ plugins and are accessible +as normal board (and footprint) file formats directly from the load/save +infrastructure and footprint library. These formats are trying to capture +all details of the board (or footprint) and are usually close to +producing lossless save/load round trips. + +
+Other alien formats are supported through import_ or export_ plugins. +These formats do not capture enough aspects of a board (or footprint) to +be used as a full load or save, round trip of any sort is impossible. + +
+Typical export example is render outputs: png, ps, gerber are all +export_ plugins: they export one aspect (geometry and sometimes layering) +of the board, but do not export other aspects such as connections, +subcircuits or padstack structure. Lacking that information, the exported +board can never be loaded as a board from png, ps or gerber. + +
+Typical import example is netlist (or schematics): it deals with one aspect +of the project, connection info, and lacks any phyiscal information such +as geometry or layers. It is possible to import one aspect of the design from +a netlist (or schematics), but it is not possible to reconstruct a full board +using only the netlist information. + +
+
+
+
+For a detailed list of formats, please refer to the appendix. +(TODO: link an autogenerated list) +