> I haven't looked at what Cadsoft has done with the 7805 (the Cadsoft
> libraries are a waste of time), but I have a lot of identical devices that
> differ only in orientation of the schematic symbol.  This is to work around
> the problem that Eagle only allows a single schematic symbol per device.  It
> would be nice if multiple symbols were allowed, but they aren't.  Yes, you
> can rotate a symbol once you get it into the schematic.  But rotated symbols
> probably need the various labels in different places to look neat and be
> nicely readable.  You can smash the text then position it separately, but
> that's a pain.  I do the work up front and create multiple devices at
> different schematic orientations.

Plug for Labcenter's Proteus software.  First, the DRC works, and well.
Second, while they don't allow multiple schematic symbols per device,
they do allow you to independently scoot around the component name
and value to best fit the current orientation of the component, or to
supress them entirely.

You can include BoM data with each component (no idea how Eagle
handles that), creating custom field names (I use a manufacturer
field, distributor, man_part_num and dist_part_num.  My BoM gives
me a shopping list that I can plug into Digikey's multiple add page).
Pay a few bucks more, and you get the ability to simulate circuits
including microcontrollers.  Basic simulation is included with the
initial cost.

Upgrades are free for 1 year with initial purchase; after that you'll
need to pay to extend the contract.  They have a very reasonable
setup for that; I'm not sure what the contract price is but I doubt
it's too bad.  Also, if you upgrade later, say from level 1 (1000 pin
limit) to level 1+ (2000 pin limit), you only pay the difference in
cost, no matter how long the intervening time was.

The lowest level I'd consider professionally usable, Level 1, is
about $500US.  It's powerful, user-friendly, and far too often
ignored.

Mike H.

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