StripMagic 0.1b

[~arph]

Hi guys,

Posted this at the other forum too. Here is a little something I've been working on lately. (I'n not 100% electronics, more like 50/50 with software engineering)

Still a work in progress, but I feel some of you might enjoy trying it out.

You need Java 1.6+ and a OpenGL enable gfx card. Then click this link:

http://www.friedair.com/stripmagic/start.jnlp

Regards,

Arnoud

[~arph]

please state your:

- java version
- Operating system

[marshmellow]

Works for me without problems. Pretty nice tool, Arnoud!

Though I still have hope I will never ever have to use stripboard ...

[~arph]

thanks,

I like stripboard because it's fast and simple. But it's impossible to use on slightly more complex circuits (any circuit with IC's basically... )

[rocklander]

bummer, fails for me too... can you please explain what it is does?

java version 1.6.0_15
OS: winxpsp2

perhaps my firewall you think?

Code: Select all

com.sun.deploy.net.FailedDownloadException: Unable to load resource: http://www.friedair.com/stripmagic/start.jnlp
   at com.sun.deploy.net.DownloadEngine.actionDownload(Unknown Source)
   at com.sun.deploy.net.DownloadEngine.getCacheEntry(Unknown Source)
   at com.sun.deploy.net.DownloadEngine.getCacheEntry(Unknown Source)
   at com.sun.deploy.net.DownloadEngine.getResourceCacheEntry(Unknown Source)
   at com.sun.deploy.net.DownloadEngine.getResourceCacheEntry(Unknown Source)
   at com.sun.deploy.net.DownloadEngine.getResource(Unknown Source)
   at com.sun.deploy.net.DownloadEngine.getResource(Unknown Source)
   at com.sun.javaws.Launcher.updateFinalLaunchDesc(Unknown Source)
   at com.sun.javaws.Launcher.prepareToLaunch(Unknown Source)
   at com.sun.javaws.Launcher.prepareToLaunch(Unknown Source)
   at com.sun.javaws.Launcher.launch(Unknown Source)
   at com.sun.javaws.Main.launchApp(Unknown Source)
   at com.sun.javaws.Main.continueInSecureThread(Unknown Source)
   at com.sun.javaws.Main$1.run(Unknown Source)
   at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)


[~arph]

Mmm.. if it doesn't download it must be a firewall or network problem.. Not much I can do about that.

The app looks like this:

[rocklander]

yup - firewall bad heh.. it's very nice actual

[~arph]

Thanks,

I will fix the export and trace cut placement.

[Dr Tony Balls]

works quite awesomely for me. here are some quick comments that i initially saw:

1. is there a way to change the size of the strip board? if there is I couldnt figure it out.
2. when I first opened it up and started using it, the components were all rather transparent. But when I reopened the app they were much more opaque (to a nice level where you could read the value but also see trace cuts underneath. i'm attaching the original too-transparent image.
3. could it be possible to automate the printing of a component list on the component side image export? Basically, i didnt see a way to print the image and understand what values all the components are.
4. was there a trimmer option? i dont remember.


Other than that i like it a lot!

[~arph]

1. is there a way to change the size of the strip board? if there is I couldnt figure it out.

Yes. Go to the menu: File -> Properties

2. when I first opened it up and started using it, the components were all rather transparent. But when I reopened the app they were much more opaque (to a nice level where you could read the value but also see trace cuts underneath. i'm attaching the original too-transparent image.

In the bottom right side of the app there is a slider for component opacity

3. could it be possible to automate the printing of a component list on the component side image export? Basically, i didnt see a way to print the image and understand what values all the components are.

After copy/paste the BOM (Bill of materials) is the first thing on the list.

4. was there a trimmer option? i dont remember.

Not yet on the creation of layouts. However if you open an existing .diy layout trimmers will be displayed.

Other than that i like it a lot!

Thanks!

[RnFR]

very cool! takes a little getting used to, and moving components is a little tricky sometimes, but other than that i'm enjoying it. the connections function is very cool. it's going to make it a lot easier tocheck for problems in the layout. i also like how you can put transistor legs in different places, but one time once the the legs got positioned, i couldn't get them changed. it would be great if the transistor symbols would reflect where the legs were too. it would make it possible to read it more clearly once exported.

[modman]

very neat - could you run this off a cell phone too?

[~arph]

I've had some fixes lying around for some time, so I decided to put them up. No big changes.
Copy paste works. No more obtrusive flashing selections. Fixed the export.. not the tracecuts under IC's thats a tricky one.

have fun..

[Dr Tony Balls]

I tried using this the other day and had a view problem. I expanded the board to like 34 columns by something, but as I expanded the window it cut the view of the board at about 25 or 26 columns. That's the best I could get, no matter what I tried.

[culturejam]

Works for me on Mac OS X 10.5.8 (Intel Core Duo).

Very cool app!!

Is there any way to move a component that's already been placed? I can't figure out how to do this.

[RnFR]

Works for me on Mac OS X 10.5.8 (Intel Core Duo).

Very cool app!!

Is there any way to move a component that's already been placed? I can't figure out how to do this.

click on the end of the component, hold it down, and drag. then do the other end/lead. it can be kind of tricky. sometimes i get the whole thing to move as well, but it's rare. one lead at a time seems to work best.

edit-

this doesn't always work, but-
click on the component end hole, until it turns purple. then click and drag the whole component.

[~arph]

Yes I should explain dragging a bit. It's kinda tricky.

You can either drag a single node. OR, when you click on the component itself it turns purple, that means it is selected (you can drag a rectangle around multiple components too).
Once a component is selected you can drag the entire component at the first node (and that is the tricky part). No real way of telling what the first node is, you just have to try.

I really want to improve this, I want to make it as user friendly as possible.

Thanks for the input.

[culturejam]

Thanks for the info, arph. It's a very nice app.

By the way, is the .diy format for StripMagic the same one as the Windows-only version of DIYlayoutcreator, or is it the Java version?

I assume it's the older version since you mentioned something about importing trimmers, and the Java version doesn't have a trimmer in the library.

[~arph]

The old version. windows only

This is for a couple reasons.

1. The Java version is/was beta. And the author said he was still working on the final file format.
2. There are allready loads of v1 (windows) layouts available
3. This way DIYLC can also read files created with StripMagic.
4. Non windows users can open v1 DIYLC files now too!

I might include the possibility to save to a more flexible and complete format with stripmagic, but I will allways keep the .diy extention read/writeable

[Dr Tony Balls]

[quote="Dr Tony Balls"]I tried using this the other day and had a view problem. I expanded the board to like 34 columns by something, but as I expanded the window it cut the view of the board at about 25 or 26 columns. That's the best I could get, no matter what I tried.[/quote]


~arph, any input on this?