On Sat, 22 Dec 2007 18:37:48 -0800 (PST), Carl M
wrote:

On Dec 22, 3:38*pm, Don Foreman wrote:
On Sat, 22 Dec 2007 13:48:32 -0800, "Carl McIver"

wrote:
* *So my lab has an EE who uses his own software to work out his own
circuit boards, and I have nothing to draw out all the external interface
and control systems I design and build. *A decision was made to find a
single software that he could use for circuit design and analysis, and for
which we could use outside the circuit board.

Why? *Would this be preferable to two programs that each does it's
task efficiently and well? * You need only pay for software once, but
you pay for inefficiency and difficulty of use every day. *

Well, that's got a couple answers. First off, I haven't found any
software that does the job for me well enough to make it worth my
while. The EE already has his software, and usually does PCB123 for
his circuit boards and Orcad PSpice for diagrams and evaluation.
Nothing that he has been able to find works very well outside the
confines of the circuit board, and we have a lot of oddball things far
away from the circuit boards. He'd like to be able to test my wiring
and systems off the board and I need a good solution for the non-
electronic stuff I do. I have no issue with two different systems,
but the time I spend doing drawings with a pencil that doesn't fit on
a server is no helpful for any of us, and we have no good system for
managing any of our electrical and electronic systems. Turns out that
we have very few wiring diagrams of our systems on the server, due in
main part to there not being a good method for developing and testing
those systems.

Many CAD packages enable one to capture graphics and schematics. I
use AutoCAD simply because I'm familiar with it and can "sketch" or
draw in ACAD faster than I can with a pencil -- and then share,
maintain and archive my drawings electronically. Other than quick
scribbles, I haven't made a drawing with a pencil for well over a
decade. Every drawing I've made, and there are certainly hundreds
and possibly thousands, is chronologically archived in folders on
this computer and in a backup archive. If I know about when I made it
and something about its purpose, I can find it in a couple of minutes.
I use programs similar to those used by your EE for circuit
simulations and circuitboards. I use ACAD when I just want a
schematic (no simulation), and/or to make drawings of mechanical
parts and devices. If I were an ME I would want something like
SolidWorks. I'd like it anyway, but it's way beyond this pensioner's
budget.

Many or most PWB (printed wiring board) programs make a netlist from
a schematic. If you enter a wiring diagram as a schematic, you can
get a netlist listing every "net" (set of things connected together)
and the nodes (terminals on devices) that are connected to each other.
It needn't be a single board, could easily be a panel or an entire
machine.

Electrical verification of wiring is easily done with any of the
various SPICE programs. They can "test" anything that can be
represented with a schematic. If you could check the real thing with
an ohmmeter or continuity tester, SPICE can certainly ohm out the
schematic. They also enable easy schematic capture, and they are
certainly not limited to circuit boards. They're of no use at all
for physical drawings of panels, wiring harnesses, etc, though. The
CAD packages do that, with a wide variety of capability, ease of
learning, ease of use and price.