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Add the ability to upload documents

Often repair information already exists in document form, such as parts lists, schematics, existing service manuals, etc. It would be good to have somewhere to upload such files to accompany a repair description.

It is of course possible to link to existing sources of such things on the web, but many are in vulnerable locations (such as attachments to forum posts) and may disappear without warning.

The copyright of these things is usually unclear, but maybe on a 'we host until the copyright owner complains' basis?

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It looks like now you can upload docs in pdf format.

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We have released PDF upload support. You can now upload documents to wiki pages and guides. Document support is still in its infancy, and we plan to make it more intuitive and add additional file formats in the future.

What document formats would you like us to support (in addition to PDF)?

Some of the file types we've been considering:

  • pdf - the common document format
  • tiff - for you high-resolution fans
  • eps/ps - postscript
  • jpg/gif/png - your favorite graphics formats
  • svg - as created by Inkscape, Illustrator, etc.
  • ai - Adobe Illustrator files (save as Version 9 or below!)
  • dxf - as created by QCad, Autocad, etc. 2D only
  • cdr - Corel Draw files
  • stl - nice renders of your 3d designs.
  • sch - Eagle schematic files
  • brd - Eagle board files
  • pov - Povray

We don't want to support every file format under the sun, and we only want formats that people will be able to work with. Should we limit it to just PDF?

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Are you going to enable attachment to questions/answers/comments? Or just limit to guides and wiki pages?

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I agree, limit it to PDF, there's already image support, it's not like people need to showcase hi-res images. Even so, they can still link to an external host.

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(Sorry, too long for a comment)

For me, PDF is definitely top of the list. Next would come bitmap formats (GIF/PNG/JPEG) because there's lots of existing schematics in those formats. Some kind of vector format is probably good too if there's a bitmap preview.

I don't like them, but I might add Word/Excel/Powerpoint too because OEMs have a habit of releasing stuff like this (eg the sales presentation that just happens to show the extra components fitted to the pre-production model, or the spreadsheet used to calculate the PLL settings). Word and Powerpoint can be usefully converted to PDF but Excel can't. Also it's useful to keep things in the original format because transcoding can mangle some information (for example, someone who wants to automatically translate a diagram needs to preserve the text ordering).

Perhaps also Zip for miscellaneous files like ROM images and firmware updaters?

I'm ambivalent about EDA formats, but if the OEM releases the chip or board layouts I really want them in a format where I can see the layers - PDF is a poor comparison. And they'll arrive in the format of whatever tool the OEM happened to use. Maybe Zip as a wrapper for miscellaneous other formats, with a suggestion that a PDF/etc copy should be provided too?

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I'd prefer to stick to open formats if at all possible. Open source tools to interpret Office file formats aren't super evolved. I understand the point about avoiding transcoding. I'd be inclined to start with PDF and then see how much demand there was for Office formats.

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The formats that I use most frequently are (in no particular order) .png, .docx, .doc, .pdf, .jpg .

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You can already upload most binary image formats (jpg, gif, png, eps, etc.).

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Theo Markettos will be eternally grateful.