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SparkFun Buzzard Label Generator

If you're looking for legacy buzzard, it is still live at github.io and the source can be found in the gh-pages branch of this repo. Below is the documentation for Buzzard.py. For extensive legacy documentation, see the wiki.

NEW! KiCad Support!

Thanks to Gregory Davill, Buzzard now generates tags in KiCad footprint format via the -o ki and -o ki5 argument.

Installation:

Run as Python Script

  • Windows: open folder where you download and extracted Buzzard (Buzzard-master), hold Shift and right-click on that folder and from context menu select "Open PowerShell Window Here". When the window is open, type: "pip install -r requirements.txt" and press Enter.

New! Run as Executable Binary

  • There is now a 64-bit Windows executable built with PyInstaller and automatically attached to each stable release. Simply download the buzzard.zip file attached to the latest release and use buzzard.exe just as you would buzzard.py. There are modified Eagle ULP scripts in the release archive that point to the executable as well.

Usage of makeLabelGUI:

  1. copy makeLabelGUI.ULP to the Eagle example folder (recommended), or somewhere else, so you can call it via command line or you can assign shortcut for it (Option -> Assign). You can also leave it at same folder as buzzard.py .
  2. call or open ULP script (id there is not config file, pop up window will show up) and in Settings set path to buzzard.py script and select folder and file name for generating labels. Optional: You can also add address to your managed library, if you have some. You can obtain it by right-click on it and select "Copy URN".
  3. select options which you want to save between sessions, write your label and click OK

FAQ and tips

  • script does not work if you will have "@" in your file path
  • saving to managed library does not work properly (I need to solve this)
  • you can not generate label with spaces!
usage: buzzard.py [-h] [-f FONTNAME] [-s SCALEFACTOR] [-l EAGLELAYERNUMBER]
                  [-v] [-o {b,ls,lib,ki,ki5}] [-n SIGNALNAME] [-u SUBSAMPLING]
                  [-t TRACEWIDTH] [-a {tl,cl,bl,tc,cc,bc,tr,cr,br}]
                  labelText

positional arguments:
  labelText             Text to write on the label

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -f FONTNAME           Typeface to use when rendering the label
  -s SCALEFACTOR        Text Height in inches (same as EAGLE text size value)
  -l EAGLELAYERNUMBER   Layer in EAGLE to create label into (default is tPlace
                        layer 21)
  -v                    Verbose mode (helpful for debugging)
  -o {b,ls,lib,ki,ki5}         Output Mode ('b'=board script, 'ls'=EAGLE library script,
                        'lib'=EAGLE library file, 'ki'=KiCad footprint 'ki5'=KiCad v5 footprint)
  -n SIGNALNAME         Signal name for polygon. Required if layer is not 21
                        (default is 'GND')
  -u SUBSAMPLING        Subsampling Rate (larger values provide smoother curves 
                        with more points)
  -t TRACEWIDTH         Trace width in mm
  -a {tl,cl,bl,tc,cc,bc,tr,cr,br}
                        Footprint anchor position (default:cl)
  -w {w,a}              Output writing mode (default:w)
  -d DESTINATION        Output destination filename (extension depends on -o
                        flag)
  -c                    If specified labelText is used as a path to collection
                        script (a text list of labels and options to create)    
  -stdout               If specified output is written to stdout

labelText

Label text should be enclosed in doublequotes in order to pass certain characters via the commandline. Note: If you're using Windows PowerShell you may need to escape certain characters using the "`" (backward apostrophe/grave)

Tag Shapes

By default, Buzzard.py will output plain text labels. If you want to make a flag label, you can surround your text with the following special characters: ()[]/\><

For example:

(capsule)
/forward-slash/
\back-slash\
>flagtail-pointer>
[square]

These tag shape indicators can be mixed and matched as well, i.e. (half-capsule]

Multiple Tags

When using the -o lib output format, multiple comma-separated tags can be generated. If you need multiple tags with individual formatting, try collections mode!

Overlining

Buzzard.py supports using "!" to overline tags in the same way that EAGLE does. For the most predictable results, overlined text should be surrounded by exclamation marks, i.e. in EAGLE, "!INT" will produce overlined text, but it is best practice to write "!INT!" instead.

Literal Exclamation Marks

If you want to use the literal "!" character in your tag, it should be escaped with a leading backslash, i.e. "\!"

Literal Backslashes

If you want to use the literal "\" character in your tag, it should be escaped with a leading backslash, i.e. "\\" A backslash in the first position of a tag string will always be interpreted as a tag shape indicator.

FONTNAME

Buzzard.py will attempt to use any TrueType font in the /typeface directory, but because buzzard cannot read the GPOS tables, it requires character offsets to be explicitly defined in an eponymous python module. Modules currently exist only for the included typefaces "Roboto" and "FredokaOne". If a module doesn't exist, but the font is present, buzzard will attempt to generate the tag without position information.

SCALEFACTOR

This argument controls the output size of the tag. Units are height of text in inches. The default is 0.04".

EAGLELAYERNUMBER

This argument controls which EAGLE layer the tag is written to. Default value is 21 (tPlace)

Verbose Mode

If something gets borked, try running again with -v to see what's happening under the hood

Output Mode

This argument controls which format the tag output is generated for

Board Script Mode

By default, buzzard.py will generate a file called output.scr which can be run in the EAGLE board editor.

Library Script Mode

Library script mode will generate a file called output.scr which can be run in the EAGLE library footprint editor.

Library Package Mode

Library package mode will generate a file called output.lbr which is an EAGLE library file containing the specified tag/tags

KiCad Footprint Mode

KiCad footprint mode will generate a file called 'output.kicad_mod' which is a KiCad footprint file containing the specified tag

SIGNALNAME

This argument defines the EAGLE signal name of the output, which is only required for metal layers. It is GND by default.

SUBSAMPLING

This argument essentially defines the resolution of the output. A smaller number will produce smoother curves but larger files. Note: Smaller scale factors require smaller subsampling factors

TRACEWIDTH

Tracewidth of output in mm

Anchor Position

In library package output mode, the position of the anchor point can be specified using the -a argument. The default value is cl The following values are permissible:

tl - top left
cl - center left
bl - bottom left
tc - top center
cc - center center
bc - bottom center
tr - top right
cr - center right
br - bottom right

Output Writing Mode

By default, buzzard.py with overwrite the output file. Running with the -w a option, however, will run buzzard.py in "append mode," adding the specified tag to the existing output file.

Destination Filename

Using the -d flag will allow you to specify the name of the output file. The file extension will automatically be selected based on the output format.

Generate Collections

Passing the -c flag will run buzzard.py in collection mode. Instead of passing a comma-separated collection of strings, you may pass the path to a text file containing the strings that you wish to generate. In collection mode, each tag can be generated with its own properties. An example collection.txt may be found in the ./tests/ directory

STDOUT Print Mode

If this argument is specified, the output will be written to stdout instead of a file. This is handy for piping to clipboard, etc.