README.md

Formatters

Formatters are what turn a list of components into a format that can easily be read by humans, or by computers.

By default, this program allows for the following output formats:

Name	Extension	Source
Excel	.xlsx	source
Comma Separate Value	.csv	source
JSON	.json	source

Responsibilities

When creating a new formatter, do not over-step your bounds and modify the list, this is the role of Middleware.

The only responsibilies of the formatter are:

1. Generate the output
2. Save a file

Formatters MUST return the absolute path to the file that was saved*

Creating a Formatter

Creating a formatter only takes 3 simple steps.

Step 1

The first step is to create a file in the Formatter folder (the same folder as this README)

The file MUST be in this format: "*_formatter.py" where * is the name of your formatter

Step 2

import the Formatter module

import Formatter

Step 3

Create a function for your formatter that has registers it using a decorator This function must accept a list of components, and must return the path to the file that it saved

@Formatter.Register("Extension-Of-Output-File")
def myformatter_formatter(components):
  """ A nice comment about what your formatter does """
  # Code for your formatter

Note: the formatter name is not case sensitive

Now, in KiCad specify Extension-Of-Output-File in the Command Line as the file extension of the second parameter "%O".

Example: "%O.Extension-Of-Output-File"