need "connector" parts

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for parts that will themselves be off the pcb, but will be connected to the
pcb with wires

Original issue reported on code.google.com by irasc...@gmail.com on 19 Jan 2009 at 9:08

• Merged into: #581

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use a mystery part.  the footprints are just what you need.  do we want some 
other
parts that have wires in the breadboard view?  or something like a breakout 
board?

Original comment by brendan....@gmail.com on 9 Feb 2009 at 2:36

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I guess the students felt that it would be clearer what they meant if there were
actual connector-type parts that went onto the pcb.  right now they are using 
LEDs as
pseudo-connector parts because they have the right footprint, but I'm not sure 
that
using a mystery part in this case makes the intent any clearer

Original comment by irasc...@gmail.com on 9 Feb 2009 at 2:50

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We definitely need "connector" parts, they are on the list for some time now.
We need them as distinct parts because that's the way people are thinking about 
them. 

Connector parts are however tricky: E.g., a motor that is connected to a screw 
terminal doesn't need its own footprint on the board. So we need some kind of a 
special solution for this.
Some alternatives:
- Connectors are only available in PCB view and can be somehow attached to a 
part. 
E.g., every part gets a property "Connection" with the values "direct/female 
header/male header/screw terminal/..." (listing all available connector parts)
- Connector parts are available also in Breadboard view. But all parts that are 
plugged into them do not show their footprints in PCB view (or show in PCB view 
with 
their Breadboard look and jumper wires connected to them)

What do you think?

Original comment by andre.knoerig@gmail.com on 9 Feb 2009 at 3:09

• Added labels: Component-Parts, Type-Enhancement, Usability
• Removed labels: Type-Defect

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I think some combination of the two solutions Andre cites would be good.  I 
think
connector parts should be available in both breadboard and pcb view because some
people use connectors in their breadboard setups.  But i do like the idea of 
fritzing
doing some of the work in PCB view if i decide i want a connector here, but 
didn't
put one in my breadboard.

Original comment by jenn...@gmail.com on 9 Feb 2009 at 3:31

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This is exactly the problem that the mystery parts are supposed to address.  You
don't have the part in fritzing but you know that you are just going to wire up 
your
"wiz-o-matic 3000" with 3 wires that you solder onto your board.  Just take a 3 
pin
mystery part and it will give you a footprint for a 3 pin header.  Change the 
label
to say "Wizomatic" or whatever.

Jenny suggested that maybe the breadboard design for the mystery parts could 
change
so that this is conceptually clearer.  I vote for pink blocky shapes with the
question mark on them.

Real connectors, terminals and headers are a separate issue that we have to 
address
by making new parts.  

Original comment by brendan....@gmail.com on 9 Feb 2009 at 5:17

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Yes, we definitely need "connector" parts. And my choice would never be to make 
them pink blocky shapes ;-)

The biggest concern with connector parts is that the user doesn't understand 
what they are for, how they exactly work, and specifically: 
what is soldered to the board, and how this connects to what.
Therefore, I think the connectors should be visible parts in every view. In 
fact the connectors should be looking very real, like all the 
other breadboard parts we have. Only by making it obvious how they connect do 
we convey how the part would work as connector.

The issue is that most of the times, a connector doesn't come single. It often 
has some other connector attached to it. Sometimes that 
connector is just a cable end, often it is the opposite gender connector type. 
So connectors in the part library might have to be default 
available as modules: a screw connector and a cable, or a female socket and its 
male connector part.

The real issue then is how to tell that one part of the connection should not 
be exported for etching etc. But this issue is the same issue 
we have with modules in general: how to tell that you don't need the arduino 
etched and not the ethernet shield, but only the 
inbetween, ... or the arduino and the inbetween, but not the ethernet shield 
... or ... etc. So it becomes a matter of selecting parts for 
production (or selecting parts to be excluded from production ... though I 
would like to see these connecting parts on my BOM, so I 
remember to order them)

Furthermore, I would like to see additional wires to go with these new 
connectors, a double red-black power wire, attached to a 2 pole 
female power connector; a small coaxial cable like the ones going in your 
headphones; and a flat ribbon cable to be inserted in the 
female header connector socket thingie (or whatever they wanna name these)

Original comment by dirk.van...@gmail.com on 9 Feb 2009 at 7:00

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We now have basic connector parts, but some of the above side issues still need 
to be 
figured out.

Original comment by andre.knoerig@gmail.com on 19 May 2009 at 3:37

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Original comment by irasc...@gmail.com on 20 Sep 2009 at 6:44

• Changed state: PartlyDone

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that's my first comment here, so i hope not to say stupid stuff.
i have couple suggestions that working toghether may solve the problem:
-allow user to hide object in different views (like, "i don't want to se 
connectors
in my breadboard view, neither arduino in pcb view")
-add an object in pcb (hidden in other views) like generic hole(i'm using female
connectors for this now)
-add external wire in pcb view to route all the nets also with out of the pcb 
objects.
eg: motor transistor arduino
on the pcb i want screw connectors for the motor, i put the motor outside the 
pcb and
link it to the screw headers with external wire.
i want to connect the pcb with 3 pins in arduino troucht wires, i make three 
holes in
pcb and connect with external wires .
then i hide screw connectors and holes in other views(no usless header in 
breadboard)
and hide arduino and motor in pcb.

Now, that seems to me a way to fix this.. but since i'm not really sure on how
fritzing works, i'm not sure this can be simply implemented.

let me what you think.
Giovanni

Original comment by iosonolo...@gmail.com on 24 Jan 2010 at 11:57

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Not sure what the status of this is, or who owns it

Original comment by irasc...@gmail.com on 2 Jul 2011 at 8:22

• Changed state: Duplicate