Android App to view Eagle V6.xx files

Lupo wrote:

It sounds interesting. Let us know your experience with the PRO version.

I bought the Pro version to try out on my Nexus 7, just for grins. Some of

my impressions:

- doesn't come with much documentation (a flaw of most Android apps).

- only works with V6 files - an error message pops up if you try to open

anything earlier.

- There are three initial icons: folder, layer, and a magnifying glass.

Nothing works until you click on the folder icon, and the folder icon then

opens to the download directory/folder of your device. So, the first order

of business is to download (V6) files to your device's download directory.

There doesn't seem to be a file dialog--just a view of the download

directory.

- Once you've downloaded a schematic and (matching) board file, clicking on

either will open the board/schematic. The magnifying glass doesn't do

search, it simply expands the sch/brd to full-screen. The standard

pinch/zoom works as expected. In fact, it appears you can zoom out all the

way to 4m square, with your schematic/board merely a few retina-pixels in

width by that point.

- A brd/sch icon appears which allows you to toggle between the board and

the schematic.

- The layer icon allows you to enable and disable the display of the various

layers of the schematic/board. The layer dialog seems 'bouncy' (ie doesn't

always register presses) but it does eventually work.

- Rotating the tablet between portrait/landscape view works fine.

- Board layers are not semi-transparent like they are in Eagle. Solid

ground/power fills will totally block the view of other layers. The layer

colors are fixed (odd red, even blue, power purple, gray for most others)

and I don't see any way to change them. Details like split planes and flash

don't appear on the power/ground layers. Pads, traces, vias and the like

appear to be drawn accurately.

- The schematic appears much like it does in Eagle. However, if the value

layer is on all values appear, even if you've deleted them from the

schematic in Eagle. For example, I typically delete the value from my test

points (things like >VERT_TESTPOINT) and just leave the name (TP100 for

example). In this viewer app all of those '>VERT_TESTPOINT' values re-

appear.

- A bigger issue with the schematic viewer is that it appears to only show

the first page. I downloaded a 5-page schematic, and I have no clue how to

scroll to the other four pages. There's no menu, and no amount of swishing,

pinching, squeezing or double-tapping pops up anything that gives a hint

that four more pages exist. The title block simply shows >SHEET where the

page number is supposed to be.

- The app never crashed, opens the files quickly, and is quite speedy. No

problems in that department. It seems to cache the schematic, as even after

I deleted the downloaded files it still shows page 1 of the schematic at

startup. Clicking on the sch/brd icon produces a 'File Not Found' error

however.

My overall impression is that it's an interesting novelty at the present

time, and might be useful for showing off simple two-layer boards. However,

the lack of proper representation of polygon-filled power/ground layers

makes it unsuitable for demonstrating more complex layouts. As for schematic

viewing, I find print-to-PDF works better, as the PDF viewer shows all 5

pages and allows searching. Hopefully a number of these issues will be

addressed in future updates. I can see this app being useful down the road

as an inexpensive way for those without Eagle Pro licenses to see and review

complex Eagle layouts.

I also feel this was money well spent insomuch as I am now more convinced

than ever in voting 'NEIN NEIN NEIN!' for CadSoft spending its limited

development resources on an Android/iOS version of Eagle at this time. I do

NOT want to do board layout on my tablet! At least not until they have

voice-input working flawlessly and I can simply speak my routing desires to

Eagle (and with an adjustable curse filter).