Wishlist: Gerbview can import file archive

[Evan Shultz]

After creating the fabrication files I compress them into a single file archive, usually ZIP format. This is what I send to the PCB fabricator, and I think it's the standard process.

Here are some examples to show this on both sides:
-Advanced Circuits/FreeDFM (http://www.4pcb.com/) requires submission in a ZIP archive.
-GC-Prevue (http://graphicode.com/) can directly import a ZIP archive (see the attached image of the file import dialog)
-GerberLogix (http://www.easylogix.de/products_detail.php?prog_id=1) can import ZIP archives
-ViewMate (http://www.pentalogix.com/viewmate.php#main-content) can also do it
-http://www.gerber-viewer.com/, an online Gerber viewer, can import ZIP

Gerbview currently can only open individual Gerber or drill files, and it would be great if I could import an entire archive at once to verify everything looks good. That lets me check exactly what I'll be sending out for fabrication, in addition to making import easier since I only need to browse to pick a single file.

[jean-pierre charras (jp-charras)]

It is a good idea.

[Evan Shultz (evan-shultz)]

Thanks, JP.

I realized I forgot to include the attachments, so here is GC-Prevue.

[Evan Shultz (evan-shultz)]

And GerberLogix.

[Evan Shultz (evan-shultz)]

Thanks for implementing my suggestion! I started testing this using KiCad version:
Application: kicad
Version: (5.0.0-rc2-dev-114-g8fcbb64a4), release build
Libraries:
    wxWidgets 3.0.3
    libcurl/7.54.1 OpenSSL/1.0.2l zlib/1.2.11 libssh2/1.8.0 nghttp2/1.23.1 librtmp/2.3
Platform: Windows 7 (build 7601, Service Pack 1), 64-bit edition, 64 bit, Little endian, wxMSW
Build Info:
    wxWidgets: 3.0.3 (wchar_t,wx containers,compatible with 2.8)
    Boost: 1.60.0
    Curl: 7.54.1
    Compiler: GCC 7.1.0 with C++ ABI 1011

Build settings:
    USE_WX_GRAPHICS_CONTEXT=OFF
    USE_WX_OVERLAY=OFF
    KICAD_SCRIPTING=ON
    KICAD_SCRIPTING_MODULES=ON
    KICAD_SCRIPTING_WXPYTHON=ON
    KICAD_SCRIPTING_ACTION_MENU=ON
    BUILD_GITHUB_PLUGIN=ON
    KICAD_USE_OCE=ON
    KICAD_SPICE=ON

I started searching on Google for Gerber archives to test, without any particular direction. Just downloading and opening the first thing I found and then moving to the second one, etc.

First, ART files aren't recognized as Gerbers. This is the default extension of Cadence Allegro, which I'd think ought to be accepted. For example, MAXIM provides Gerbers this way at https://www.maximintegrated.com/en/design/tools/cad-layout/gerber/ (I tested https://www.maximintegrated.com/en/design/tools/cad-layout/gerber/DS3170DK01A0.ZIP).

Secondly, if I rename all the ART files to GBR and try to then import the ZIP archive, I get an "unhandled exception" error.

If I try to open the GBR files individually instead of in an archive, Gerbview crashes with:
Problem signature:
  Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
  Application Name: gerbview.exe
  Application Version: 0.0.0.0
  Application Timestamp: 00000000
  Fault Module Name: atio6axx.dll
  Fault Module Version: 6.14.10.9756
  Fault Module Timestamp: 4bbbf098
  Exception Code: c0000005
  Exception Offset: 0000000000057a6a
  OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.1
  Locale ID: 1033
  Additional Information 1: 6875
  Additional Information 2: 687587cb1a50d6e37fd8f07c2ae412eb
  Additional Information 3: 9d77
  Additional Information 4: 9d775c40d8c2dfc9fb21e4826ad6296f

Read our privacy statement online:
  http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=104288&clcid=0x0409

If the online privacy statement is not available, please read our privacy statement offline:
  C:\Windows\system32\en-US\erofflps.txt

Then I tried https://www.freeduino.org/files/Freeduino_prototype_PCB_order.zip but it also had disallowed file extensions.

Changing the file extensions allowed those files to be imported as an archive and they looked fine.

Gerber archives from https://www.altera.com/support/support-resources/download/board-layout-test/gerber.html don't import nicely because of file extensions.

https://github.com/OSHChip/OSHChip_V1.0_Docs was the first ZIP archive I tried that worked fine without me having to do anything.

After that I stopped. Perhaps Gerbview could try to open any file and check if it's a Gerber file instead of being so strict with file extensions. Or, just allow more (seemingly common) Gerber file extensions.

[Jon Evans (craftyjon)]

Hi Evan,

Thanks for your testing. I want to move your latest info to some new bug reports to track it better.

I will open a bug report for the desire to detect Gerber files with other file extensions -- I think it's a good idea.

However, I cannot reproduce your crash -- I downloaded the same Maxim file and renamed the gerbers to .gbr and re-zipped it, and it opens fine for me on MacOS. I noticed that the crash module is listed as atio6axx.dll which I think is related to your graphics card driver, so I wonder if this is an OpenGL issue. Are you able to open other gerber files (outside of a zip file) in GerbView? Are you able to use the Modern (Accelerated) graphics mode in PcbNew?

Thanks

[Evan Shultz (evan-shultz)]

Hi Jon,

Thanks for answering! Would you like to continue this discussion here, or should I open a new bug. I understand this bug was to add ZIP import and now we're talking about something else. Let me know and I'll answer all your questions above.

[Jon Evans (craftyjon)]

Please open a new bug for your crash, and let us know if you also see the crash in PcbNew when trying to use OpenGL (Modern Accelerated) graphics. Thanks!

[Evan Shultz (evan-shultz)]

Thanks again Jon! I've created a new bug at https://bugs.launchpad.net/kicad/+bug/1755623 which details the crashes and other issues I had when opening the Gerber ZIP archives above.