Re: [avrdude-dev] [patch #7931] Extended parameters to specify usbtiny USB VID/PID

[Rene Liebscher]

Hi,

reading it from the config file does not mean you have to patch 
avrdude.conf. The current version in svn supports the command line option 
-C+<filename> (note the '+') which lets avrdude read that file after the 
default system or user configuration. 

So if you create a new programmer with different VID/PID just put your 
single entry in a separate file and give its filename as command line 
option. (Also any update of avrdude and its conf won't destroy your entry 
as it is in a separate file.)


May be we should promote this -C+ feature (and parent classes in conf file) 
a little bit. If people do not need to patch avrdude.conf, but just write a 
single entry for new programmers (as long the existing code can handle it) 
or new device, one could think to collect these snippets at a webpage (a 
table/list in a wiki would be more comfortable to read and update than to 
check a lot of entries in the patch tracker) for easy download until they 
are included in the main avrdude.conf.


Kind regards

René Liebscher

>             
> -------- Original-Nachricht --------
> Datum: Wed, 23 Jan 2013 23:43:56 +0000
> Von: "Weddington, Eric" <address@hidden>
> An: "David A. Mellis" <address@hidden>
> CC: "David A. Mellis" <address@hidden>, Rene Liebscher 
> <address@hidden>, "address@hidden" <address@hidden>
> Betreff: RE: [avrdude-dev] [patch #7931] Extended parameters to specify 
> usbtiny       USB VID/PID
> 
>             
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: David A. Mellis [mailto:address@hidden
> > Sent: Wednesday, January 23, 2013 4:23 PM
> > To: Weddington, Eric
> > Cc: David A. Mellis; Rene Liebscher; address@hidden
> > Subject: Re: [avrdude-dev] [patch #7931] Extended parameters to specify
> > usbtiny USB VID/PID
> > 
> > Thinking about it more, as long as you guys will accept patches to the
> > avrdude.conf, that works for me. 
> 
> There's usually very little reason to NOT accept patches to avrdude.conf. 
> It's strongly encouraged. :-)
> 
> 
> > I'll do another patch that modifies
> > the usbtiny programmer type to pull its VID/PID from avrdude.conf
> > instead. Any suggestions / comments before I proceed?
> 
> Rene or Joerg Wunsch should comment if there's any reason to...
> 
> Thanks, David!
> 
> Eric
> 
> 
> > David
> > 
> > On Jan 23, 2013, at 5:59 PM, "David A. Mellis" <address@hidden>
> > wrote:
> > 
> > > Updating avrdude.conf is easier than updating the source code, sure,
> > but it's significantly more overhead than passing in command line
> > arguments. My patch would make it so that you wouldn't need to do
> > either one to use a usbtiny from a different vendor. (You only need to
> > patch the code once, not once per usbtiny-variant.) It's important to
> > note that the things I'm trying to support aren't really new
> > programmers (from the perspective of avrdude); they're functionally
> > identical to a usbtiny but made by a different company. Considering the
> > usbtiny is both open-source software and hardware, it seems perverse to
> > limit its reproduction just because of the USB VID and PID.
> > >
> > > What do you think?
> > >
> > > On Jan 23, 2013, at 5:51 PM, "Weddington, Eric"
> > <address@hidden> wrote:
> > >
> > >> Hi David,
> > >>
> > >> I understand where you're coming from, but it sounds like you're
> > going against the basic design of avrdude. The whole reason why
> > avrdude.conf was created was to be able to add programmers (and
> > devices) without having to recompile avrdude. That's a basic
> > characteristic of the design of avrdude that was adopted very early on
> > in its design.
> > >>
> > >> The point *is* for anyone who creates a new programmer to update
> > avrdude.conf *as an alternative* to adding new code to the program
> > itself.
> > >>
> > >> Eric Weddington
> > >>
> > >>> -----Original Message-----
> > >>> From: address@hidden
> > >>> [mailto:address@hidden
> > On
> > >>> Behalf Of David A. Mellis
> > >>> Sent: Wednesday, January 23, 2013 3:46 PM
> > >>> To: David A. Mellis; Rene Liebscher; address@hidden
> > >>> Subject: [avrdude-dev] [patch #7931] Extended parameters to specify
> > >>> usbtiny USB VID/PID
> > >>>
> > >>> Follow-up Comment #2, patch #7931 (project avrdude):
> > >>>
> > >>> Rene: interesting idea but that would require everyone who made a
> > new
> > >>> programmer to update avrdude.conf and, more significantly, to get
> > that
> > >>> updated
> > >>> avrdude.conf to everyone who wanted to use their programmer. That
> > >>> amounts to a
> > >>> significant overhead, particularly if you're trying to reach, for
> > >>> example,
> > >>> people getting their avrdude from WinAVR or CrossPack or similar
> > who
> > >>> may not
> > >>> even be aware of the existence of the avrdude.conf. The advantage
> > of
> > >>> command-line arguments is they can be specified after the fact,
> > meaning
> > >>> that
> > >>> avrdude (or, at least, avrdude.conf) doesn't have to know in
> > advance
> > >>> about
> > >>> every usbtiny-compatible programmer.
> > >>>
> > >>>   _______________________________________________________
> > >>>
> > >>> Reply to this item at:
> > >>>
> > >>> <http://savannah.nongnu.org/patch/?7931>
> > >>>
> > >>> _______________________________________________
> > >>> Message sent via/by Savannah
> > >>> http://savannah.nongnu.org/
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>> _______________________________________________
> > >>> avrdude-dev mailing list
> > >>> address@hidden
> > >>> https://lists.nongnu.org/mailman/listinfo/avrdude-dev
> > >
> 
>