Command-line utility

QEDA command line utility is installed by using NPM:

sudo npm install -g qeda

Run in order to list all available commands:

qeda --help

Command	Description	Example
add COMPONENT	Add component definition to configuration file (with preloading from remote repository if necessary)	qeda add ti/iso721
completion	Display completion script	source <(qeda completion)
config PARAM [VALUE]	Set/get configuration parameter (see Parameters list)	qeda config output kicad
generate LIBRARY	Generate libraries for EDA according to configuration file	qeda generate mylib
ground NET	Add ground symbol to configuration file	qeda ground GND_DC
load COMPONENT	Load component description from remote repository and caching to library subdirectory (without adding to configuration file)	qeda load ti/iso721
power NET	Add power supply symbol to configuration file	qeda power +5V_DC
reset	Delete current configuration file (use with attention!)	qeda reset
sort	Sort components and nets in configuration file alphabetically	qeda sort
test COMPONENT	Generate test library with one component only (does not affect current configuration file but can load some parameters from it)	qeda test ti/iso721

All configuration parameters and list of added components are saved in .qeda.yaml configuration file which is created by the utility. It is a good idea to add this file to your source version control system.

add

Firstly this command looks for COMPONENT's YAML-description in library directory (relatively to current working directory). In case of its absence utility tries to download correspondent description from remote repository. Successful downloading leads to caching this description file in library directory and add corresponding record to .qeda.yaml configuration file. When called for the second time, utility will use cached file instead of loading it from Internet.

If there is no appropriate description file in local library directory nor in remote library, utility will return an error.

Some components may be presented in several variations. In order to add only one variation to library you need to point this variation after @ character:

qeda add ti/sn74lvc1g07@sot-23

See also: load

completion

Generate completion script for shell and output it to stdout. Depending on Linux distribution one may save this script to system directory:

qeda completion | sudo tee /usr/local/etc/bash_completion.d/qeda
# or
qeda completion | sudo tee /etc/bash_completion.d/qeda

config

This command allow to tune individual configuration parameters of future library of electronic components (see Parameters list). To set PARAM you need to provide VALUE as second argument to command. To check the parameter set one should omit the VALUE argument.

generate

The final command which generates a library of electronic components according to settings found in .qeda.yaml configuration file.

ground

Add global ground symbol. There are three optional prefixes for ground net name:

• signal
• chassis
• earth

qeda ground GND
qeda ground signal/GNDS
qeda ground chassis/GNDC
qeda ground earth/GNDE

See also: power

load

This command loads and caches component description from remote repository regardless of its existence in library directory without adding to configuration file.

See also: add

power

Add global power symbol.

See also: ground

reset

This command completely deletes .qeda.yaml configuration file. It is good idea to use it after some experiments before creating release library.

Use this command with caution because it can erase all your work.

sort

This command sorts components and nets in .qeda.yaml configuration file in alphabetical order. This may be useful if you wish to edit this file manually in future. But sorting after starting schematic design may cause some direct annotation issues due to land pattern naming sequence.

It is strongly recommended to use this command only before starting schematic design.

test

This command will produce a library with the only COMPONENT. The purpose of this command is to check look and integrity of electronic component. Library will be named test_<conponent>.

This command does not use components list from .qeda.yaml configuration file nor affects it in any manner. But other parameters set by config command are taken into account during library generation.

Parameters list

General parameters:

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
connection.timeout	integer (ms)	5000	Maximum connection timeout for component description loading from remote repository
output	string	'kicad'	Output library format. The supported outputs are: 'kicad', 'geda', 'coraleda'

Schematic symbol related parameters:

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
symbol.gridSize	float (mm)	2.5	Grid cell size.
symbol.fill	string	'foreground'	Symbol contour filling type. Options: foreground, background, none
symbol.fontSize.default	float (mm)	2.5	Default font size
symbol.fontSize.name	float (mm)	2.5	Font size for component name
symbol.fontSize.pin	float (mm)	2.5	Font size for pin name
symbol.fontSize.refDes	float (mm)	2.5	Font size for reference designator
symbol.lineWidth.default	float (mm)	0	Default line width
symbol.lineWidth.thick	float (mm)	0.6	Thick line width
symbol.lineWidth.thin	float (mm)	0.2	Thin line width
symbol.shortPinNames	boolean	false	Do not use alternative pin names separated by / char
symbol.space.attribute	float (mm)	2	Space between symbol contour and attribute
symbol.space.default	float (mm)	2	Default space
symbol.space.pin	float (mm)	1.5	Space between symbol contour and pin number
symbol.style	string	'default'	Symbol style. Options: 'default', 'GOST'

Land pattern related parameters:

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
pattern.ball.collapsible	boolean	true	Collapsing option for BGA packages (according to IPC-7351)
pattern.clearance.leadToHole	float (mm)	0.1	Gap between through-hole lead and hole
pattern.clearance.padToMask	float (mm)	0.05	Gap between pad's metal and mask edges
pattern.clearance.padToPad	float (mm)	0.2	Gap between neighboring pads
pattern.clearance.padToSilk	float (mm)	0.2	Gap between pad's metal and silkscreen drawing
pattern.decimals	integer	3	Number of digits after decimal point (precision) in generated files
pattern.densityLevel	string	'N'	Component placement density level (according to IPC-7351). Options: 'L', 'N', 'M'
pattern.fontSize.default	float (mm)	1	Default font size
pattern.fontSize.refDes	float (mm)	1.2	Font size for reference designator
pattern.fontSize.value	float (mm)	1	Font size for value
pattern.lineWidth.assembly	float (mm)	0.1	Line width for drawing in assembly layer
pattern.lineWidth.courtyard	float (mm)	0.05	Line width for drawing in courtyard layer
pattern.lineWidth.default	float (mm)	0.2	Default line width
pattern.lineWidth.silkscreen	float (mm)	0.12	Line width for drawing in silkscreen layer
pattern.maximum.cornerRadius	float (mm)	0.2	Maximum pad corner radius. Applied only when pattern.smoothPadCorners is set to true
pattern.minimum.drillDiameter	float (mm)	0.2	Minimum drill diameter (according to PCB manufacturer capabilities)
pattern.minimum.maskWidth	float (mm)	0.2	Minimum mask strip width (according to PCB manufacturer capabilities). Has higher priority over pattern.clearance.padToMask parameter
pattern.minimum.ringWidth	float (mm)	0.2	Minimum ring width for vias and through-hole pads (according to PCB manufacturer capabilities)
pattern.minimum.spaceForIron	float (mm)	0	Minimum space between lead and its pad edges
pattern.preferManufacturer	boolean	true	Prefer component manufacturer's dimensions rather than IPC-7351 standard while land pattern calculating
pattern.polarityMark	string	'dot'	Shape of polarity mark (near to the first pad). Options: 'dot'
pattern.ratio.cornerToWidth	float	0.25	Pad's corner radius to its width ratio. Applied only when pattern.smoothPadCorners is set to true
pattern.ratio.padToHole	float	1.5	Proportion for pad size calculation from hole diameter
pattern.smoothPadCorners	boolean	false	Replace rectangle pads by rounded rectangles. Parameters are set by pattern.ratio.cornerToWidth and pattern.maximum.cornerRadius. Warning: Supported by nightly development build of KiCad only
pattern.style	string	'default'	Pattern style. Options: 'default'
pattern.tolerance.default	float (mm)	0.1	Default size tolerance
pattern.tolerance.fabrication	float (mm)	0.1	Fabrication tolerance (provided by component manufacturer)
pattern.tolerance.placement	float (mm)	0.1	Placement tolerance (provided by component placement equipment)