PCBWeb designer - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: transio
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: January 04, 2023, 02:02:34 pm
content: Hello and happy new year 2023.The PCBWeb designer ( Schematic and PCB design software) has been discontinued.The server where the component database (MyParts) that I had created was stored is no longer accessible. (I lost all my component database ).the components database server (Arrow) is always accessible and the components database (Generic) too.I decompiled the program PCBWeb 3.1.61.0 with dnSpy v6.1.8 everything goes well, and I can start debugging and after recompilation the program works fine.All the PCBWeb program works correctly but I cannot save new components in the component editor.It would be necessary to modify the component editor to be able to save the new components (MyParts) in a directory on the local hard disk.( Pcb & and schematic projects are already saved in a directory on the local hard disk by the PCBWeb Program.)My problem is that my programming skills date from the 1990s ... when I developed some small applications in "TURBO C" ...I can send the installer PCBWeb 3.1.61.0 and dnSpy v6.1.8 if anyone is interested in helping.Thank you.Translated by Google.

author: Doctorandus_P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 04, 2023, 02:21:33 pm
content: I don't understand why people step into the trap of web based applications. They are only good until the server rolls over, or somebody changes their mind and puts up a paywall, and such things happen far to often.I have started using KiCad some 7 or 8 years ago, and am quite happy with it. It is also a fully Open Source project and it has become very popular after the Eagle crashed. With KiCad that can simply never happen. You can always download the full source code and compile it yourself. But that is only for the enthusiasts. In the unlikely event all the current KiCad developers stop, the project will be forked and live on. Even if the lead developers wanted to shut the project down, they could not do it.All KiCad's design files are in an human readable S-expression format. Depending on whether you have some kind of backup of your libraries and can figure out how the file format works, it may be doable to create a converter to turn them into the KiCad data format.

author: transio
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: January 04, 2023, 02:32:20 pm
content: This is not the answer I expect.I had tried Kicad at the time but it often crashed,so I switched to PCBWeb, which has an ultra-fast learning curve and was enough for me.

author: Doctorandus_P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 04, 2023, 10:25:21 pm
content: Quote from: transio on January 04, 2023, 02:32:20 pmSee it as an advantage of asking questions to strangers. You can get answers from a different viewpoint.I don't know how much time and effort you have already invested in pcbweb, nor do I know how much effort would be required for you to get pcbweb going, but I would be apprehensive of investing more time in a program that has no support.KiCad has been growing rapidly in popularity for a few years, and development is also accelerating, but I won't lie, and it's not perfect.I also don't know if KiCad is a good match for you, but I still recommend to have some deep thoughts about whether you want to invest time in an abandoned program, or your time is better spent by changing to another program.

author: transio
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: January 05, 2023, 11:37:58 am
content: Quoteyes, I saw that Kicad has evolved a lot and has more functionality than PCBWeb.I will wait for version 7 to try to start again with.PCBWeb is not without bugs and crashes but it creates a .Back of the current project just before the crash which limits the time wasted.But with version 3.1.61.0 it is relatively stable.Although not at all a specialist in ASP.net programming, the advantage is that with a de-compiler you have access to the source code very easily.and maybe on EEVblog there are a few people to help.and this can be formative for me or other people who would be interested in reviving this software in a non-web version for the component editor.

author: Marathonman
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: March 04, 2023, 05:28:00 am
content: https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/news/exclusiveflux-ascends-out-of-beta-with-its-collaborative-pcb-design-tool/