jspcb

Javascript library for parsing PCB file formats having rich metadata. Compatible with nodejs, jspcb can be used on the server or in the browser client in the context of automated pick-and-place (PnP). Supported PCB file formats:

• Eagle BRD (XML)
• Gerber files (Altium/Protel extension semantics)
• Gerber files (generated by SparkFun sfe-gerb274x.cam for Eagle BRD)

See the wiki

Install

To install jspcb command line wrapper and dependencies:

npm install -g jspcb

NOTE: The above requires that your user be able to write to /usr/local.

Command line

Generate SVG file from Eagle BRD

Convert XML Eagle BRD file such as the AdaFruit PCB ruler into its SVG equivalent

jspcb --eagle eagle/ruler.brd --svg /tmp/ruler.svg

Generate CSV file with SMD pads

To generate a CSV file of the SMD pads:

jspcb --eagle eagle/ruler.brd --csv-smdpads /tmp/pads.csv

Generate PCB matching template

Generate a FireSight and/or OpenCV PNG matching template from Gerber files using a jspcb JSON configuration file:

jspcb --json json/gerber-template.json

Node.js usage

Local scripts

The jspcb command line is just a wrapper around PcbTransform, which does the actual transformation. You can call PcbTransform directly with custom options. Here is a local script to print out the bounding rectangle of a PCB:

The script does the same thing as:

jspcb --eagle eagle/ruler.brd --show-bounds

NOTE: The above script won't work in the Github jspcb folder itself unless you set your environment NODE_PATH property to the global or local node_modules that has your jspcb installation. E.g.:

export NODE_PATH=node_modules

Web server

Do not use jspcb as a library from within a Node.js web applications. Node.js is single threaded, and you will block your entire web application when reading in PCB files. Instead, spawn a child process to perform your transformation. Spawning a child process will allow Node.js to run unencumbered--your web application will look for and consume the asynchronously generated JSON file(s) as they appear.