~ubuntu-branches/ubuntu/trusty/xcircuit/trusty : revision 11

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.TH XCircuit 1 "January 5, 2000" "X11R6"

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.SH NAME

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xcircuit - Draw circuit schematics or almost anything; make

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circuit netlists from schematics.

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.SH SYNOPSIS

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.B xcircuit [\fIfilename\fP[,...]]

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.SH DESCRIPTION

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The program xcircuit is a generic drawing program tailored

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especially for making publication-quality renderings of

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circuit diagrams (hence the name). The output is pure

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PostScript, and the graphical interface attempts to maintain

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as much consistency as possible between the X11 window

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rendering and the final printer output.

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.sp

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\fIxcircuit\fP is mouse, menu, and keyboard\-driven, with the emphasis

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on single-character keyboard macros.

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.SH OPTIONS

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.TP 8

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.B \fIfilename\fP[,...]

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Begin running xcircuit by loading in the PostScript file

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filename. If filename does not have a .ps extension,

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xcircuit will attempt to look for both the filename

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as entered and, upon failure, with the .ps extension.

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The file must be in xcircuit format. \fIfilename\fP

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may also be a comma-separated list of files.

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.SH BASIC ELEMENTS

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There are five drawing elements. These are as follows:

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.TP 3

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.B a)

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polygon (multiple lines which may or may not be closed and filled)

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.TP 3

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.B b)

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arc (ellipse segment which may be closed and/or filled as above)

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.TP 3

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.B c)

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label (any text)

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.TP 3

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.B d)

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curve (based on the PostScript "curveto" algorithm)

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.TP 3

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.B e)

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object instance (see below)

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.PP

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There are two composite elements, which are:

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.TP 3

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.B f)

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path (a connected series of polygons, arcs, and curves)

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.TP 3

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.B g)

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object (something containing polygons, arcs, labels,

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curves, paths, and instances of other objects)

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.SH MOUSE BUTTONS

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The mouse button system, the object library, and the paged buffer

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system are loosely based on the

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Caltech circuit-simulation program "log" (either "analog" or "diglog").

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.sp

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The general idea is to make the most commonly-used functions the

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easiest to perform, and (to the extent possible) to scale (inversely)

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the complexity of performing a function with the frequency of that task.

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Because this program is tailored to circuit drawing, the most common

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functions are drawing lines and moving object instances. The next most

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common function is selection of elements singly or in groups.

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.sp

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Mouse button 1 can be tapped to start a connected chain of lines, the

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most common drawing function. In addition, button 1

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has a function called "grab", which occurs after the button has

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been continually pressed for a short length of time (about 1/5 second).

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As the name implies, "grab" grabs hold of an element which can then

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be moved around the screen.

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.sp

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Button 2 can be used to select an item if tapped, and if pressed

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and held down, a box will be drawn and everything inside that box

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selected when the button is released. In all other cases, button 2

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will complete a command. For users who have only two mouse buttons

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and do not emulate the middle mouse button with the combination of

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buttons 1 and 3, use the combination of the Shift key and mouse

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button 1 to emulate mouse button 2.

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.sp

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Button 3 will normally abort a command. During editing of an arc,

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spline, or polygon, button 3 will revert back to the previous form,

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or abort if there is no remaining edit history.

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.sp

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All other commands are

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available from the pulldown menus and/or from the keyboard using

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single-key macros (with easy-to-remember mnemonics).

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Keyboard commands are quicker, since they act on the present cursor

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position, whereas menu commands require an extra step.

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.SH BUILT-IN LIBRARY

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The library is intended to provide a convenient way to store and

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retrieve elements of a picture which will be used more than once.

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For the application of circuit drawing, a built-in library provides

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basic objects such as transistors, amplifiers, resistors, capacitors,

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arrows, circles, power and ground symbols, and the like. This file

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is a composite of several library files (such as "builtins.lps",

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"analog.lps", and "digital.lps") which are called by the startup

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script

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PYTHON ("xcstartup.py")

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TCL ("xcstartup.tcl")

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NOINTERP ("startup.script")

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The program first looks for the startup script in

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the current directory, and then searches in the directory given by

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the environment variable "XCIRCUIT_LIB_DIR", and finally, in the

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hard-coded global directory (LIBDIR) if it could not find it elsewhere.

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Thus each user can add to or modify the file of builtins to reflect

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personal taste. Since the PostScript output contains all object

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definitions, these changes to the built-in functions are inherently

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transferrable. Xcircuit will automatically resolve conflicts between

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objects having the same name but different contents.

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.sp

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The library is accesible from the pull-down menu or with the "l"

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keyboard macro. When inside the library, clicking the first mouse

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button on an object "grabs" that object and returns the graphics

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state immediately to the page being edited, so that the object

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will be placed when the mouse button is released.

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.SH ZOOMING

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Xcircuit has unconstrained zooming and snap-to positioning. Objects

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scale completely: line widths and text sizes will increase/decrease

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proportionally with the zoom, as well as dot/dash spacing and all

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other features. Xcircuit does have a minimum integer grid in

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coordinate space, which translates to 0.005 inches at an output scale

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of 1. The maximum zoom scale gives a screen size translating to

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about 100 by 100 inches at an output scale of 1. The effective

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scale can be varied by changing the output scale (reached from the

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"File/Write" menu selection) in order to fit a drawing to a page or

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to get a grid matched to a specific dimension. A separate scale

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parameter changes the scale of the reported position relative to

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the output scale (as it will appear on a printed page).

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.SH SNAP-TO GRID

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The snap-to grid is an all-important feature for circuit drawing,

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wherein it is critical that elements line up properly with one another.

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In \fIxcircuit\fP, there is no way to get off the snap-to grid except by

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turning the snap function off and physically pushing elements off

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the grid. Generally, it is most convenient to leave the snap functon

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on and use key macros "+" and "-" to double/halve it as necessary.

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In any case, objects can always be returned to the snap grid with

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the "snap" function (key macro "S").

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.SH SELECTION MECHANISM

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Objects are selected using a variety of search methods. The

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select box (formed by holding down mouse button 2 and dragging

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the pointer) uses the simplest method, searching for

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curve/polygon segment endpoints, arc centers, and label

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and object bounding boxes falling within the select box frame.

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General object selection is more complicated. Polygons, Arcs,

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and Curves are selected by their outer edges, not the interiors.

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Currently this is also true for filled instances of those types.

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A line is selected if the pointer is in a

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region describing a box around it, which is adusted according

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to the scale (zoom factor). Every object has an

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associated bounding box, which is rectangular but may be rotated

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with respect to the top level window. An object instance is

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selected if the pointer falls within its bounding box. Each

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label also has a bounding box carefully calculated from the width

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of the text string.

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.sp

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Often the selection mechanism will find multiple elements in

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range of the pointer. In this case, each object in turn will be

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presented, colored in blue (or the specified "querycolor" in the

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defaults file), and the user has the option of accepting the

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highlighted element for selection using the mouse button 1, or

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rejecting it with mouse button 3. When all the elements under

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consideration have been accepted or rejected, the program

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proceeds to execute whatever function was in progress. This

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selection method takes a little while to get used to, but is

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sensible and seems to work well.

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.SH COLOR

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Color in xcircuit is implemented with the idea of "color inheritance".

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Every page has a "default color" of black. All elements which have

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color value "Inherit" will inherit the default color, black. If an

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object instance is painted blue (for instance), all components in

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that object which have color value "Inherit" will inherit its color,

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blue. The reason for this is that it allows different object

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instances to be painted different colors (such as if one part of

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a circuit is highlighted for emphasis), while making it possible for

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object instances to be multicolored, if necessary. Changing the

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color of an object instance will have no observable effect on the

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drawing if none of the components of the object inherit that color.

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An object may have both normally colored components and components

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which inherit their color, in which case only those components with

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the "Inherit" value will change color when the color of the object

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instance is changed.

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.SH SCHEMATIC CAPTURE

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XCircuit implements a sophisticated schematic capture. Unlike

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virtually all schematic capture software currently available,

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xcircuit allows the designer to draw the circuit in a "natural"

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way, making use both of schematic hierarchies and simple

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hierarchies created simply by grouping elements together. If

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the chosen netlist format is hierarchical (like SPICE), both

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hierarchical forms will be retained in the output. For element

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grouping, input/output ports connecting into to the group will

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be determined automatically, from context. A schematic capture

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tutorial is available from the xcircuit website,

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.br

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http://opencircuitdesign.com/xcircuit/tutorial/tutorial2.html.

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.br

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Netlist types currently available are "SPICE", "sim", and "PCB".

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.SH KEYBOARD COMMANDS

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.br

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.PP

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\fBBasic keyboard commands:\fP

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.TP 12

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.B Z

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Zoom in by a factor of 3/2. If this key is pressed while a

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selection box is active (created with the middle mouse

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button), then acts like Zoom Box function.

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.TP 12

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.B z

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Zoom out by a factor of 3/2.

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.TP 12

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.B p

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Pan the screen so that the point under the mouse is brought

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to the center of the program window. This function can also

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be conveniently performed by clicking on the scrollbars.

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The scrollbars cannot be moved continuously due to the slow

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time for screen refresh.

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.TP 12

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.B cursors

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The arrow keys perform a pan of one-half window size in the

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direction of the arrow pressed.

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.TP 12

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.B l

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Go to the Library of built-in objects. From the library,

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use mouse button1 to grab an object and bring it back to

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the edit screen, or button3 to return without selecting

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an object instance. While in the library screen, the

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zoom and pan functions can be used to move around.

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.TP 12

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.B >

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Push into an on-screen object in order to edit that object

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.TP 12

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.B <

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Return from editing an object. Object pushes and pops can

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be stacked indefinitely.

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.TP 12

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.B space

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Refresh the screen.

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.TP 12

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.B digits 0-9

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Switch to one of the first ten editing pages. Pages greater

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than 10 can be reached from the "Window/Goto Page" menu

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selection.

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.TP 12

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.B + and -

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Change snap-to grid spacing by a factor of two up or down.

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.TP 12

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.B | : and _

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(Bar, colon, and underline) Change style on the currently

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selected object to dashed, dotted, and solid, respectively.

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.TP 12

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.B h or ?

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Print a help page summary of commands

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.PP

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.sp

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\fBCommands to create elements:\fP

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.TP 4

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.B a

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Arc. Center is fixed at the initial position of the cursor.

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The mouse position changes the radius of the circle.

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In snap-to mode the arc boundry will pass through the snap point

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closest to the cursor. Mouse button 1 cycles from controlling

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the radius to controlling the starting point, the ending point,

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and separately controlling the minor axis to create ellipse.

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Mouse button 2 completes the arc.

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.TP 4

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.B b

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Box. This is a convenience function for generating rectangular

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closed polygons. Creates a rectangle with one corner fixed at

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the position of the cursor. Subsequent movement of the cursor

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defines the point diametrically opposed. Mouse buttons 1 or 2

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complete the box.

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.TP 4

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.B s

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Spline curve. The first endpoint is defined by the initial cursor

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position. Mouse position adjusts the other endpoint of the curve.

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Mouse button 1 cycles from controlling position of the endpoint

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to controlling positions of the curve control points and the curve

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starting point. Mouse button 2 completes the curve.

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.TP 4

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.B t

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Text. Text starts out justified according to the styles chosen

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in the pull-down menu. Text can be rejustified using the menu

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or by typing the numbers on the keypad (\fBshift-keypad-1\fP through

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\fBshift-keypad-9\fP). The position of the keys on the keypad

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matches the justification. Subscripts, superscripts, font

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changes, text size changes, underlining, and overlining are all

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available from the pull-down menu. Text edit mode recognizes

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\fBHome\fP and \fBEnd\fP keys to move to the beginning and end

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of the string, respectively. If the X11 environment maps

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control key sequences to character encodings (such as ISO-Latin1),

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these may be used to insert non-ASCII text. Another method of

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inserting non-ASCII characters is the use of the backslash

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character, which duplicates the action of the

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Text/Insert/Character menu button.

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.TP 4

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.B M, m

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Make object. Takes all the elements currently selected and

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compiles them into an object. The object is then placed in the

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user library. The elements just selected are deleted from the

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screen and replaced by the new object. The center point of the

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resulting object is chosen as the closest snap-to point to the

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center of the object's bounding box; if another center is desired,

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then the object can be edited using the ">" command and its contents

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moved with respect to its origin. \fINote:\fP Objects cannot have

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the same name as PostScript commands or have the same name as any

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other object in memory. If such a name is found, an underscore ("_")

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will be prepended to the name as many times as is necessary to

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differentiate it from all other known objects.

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The name also cannot contain special PostScript characters such as

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slash; any such characters found will be replaced with underscores.

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.sp

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.PP

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\fBMajor editing commands:\fP

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.TP 4

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.B d

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Delete. Select the nearest element or elements and delete it/them.

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.TP 4

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.B u

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Undelete. Xcircuit saves up to 10 delete events to be recovered.

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Delete events are stored in order of occurrence, and the most

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recent delete event is the first to be recovered.

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When multiple elements are deleted at the same time, all of them

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are stored as one delete event, and restored together.

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.TP 4

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.B x

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Deselect. Elements which have been selected can be deselected on

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a per-item basis. In order not to be too confusing, deselect does

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not query if multiple items are found under the cursor; it just

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deselects them all.

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.TP 4

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.B c

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Copy. Make a copy of the object(s) nearest the cursor. Object

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is automatically grabbed for moving to a new position. The

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next button1 or button2 press will place the element. Button2

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will end the copy, and button1 will continue the copy function.

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.TP 4

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.B e

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Edit. The action of Edit is dependent on the type of element

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selected. These are detailed below:

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.TP 12

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.B Label

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Returns to text editing mode, starting with the cursor

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at the end of the string. Mode is like regular text entry

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except that Button 3 returns text to its original string.

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.TP 12

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.B Polygon

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Grabs one point of a polygon for repositioning. Button 1 cycles

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between points, button 2 accepts the new polygon, and button 3

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returns to the previous state, unless there is no remaining edit

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history, in which case it aborts the command.

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Key macros available during polygon edit are:

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.sp

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"x"---Breaks the polygon at the given point.

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.sp

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"e"---Moves edit position to the next point.

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.sp

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"i" or "Insert"---Inserts a new point at the position.

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.sp

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"d" or "Delete"---Deletes the current edit point.

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.sp

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There are four modes for polygon editing; see the

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"\fBPolygon Edit\fP" section below for details.

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.TP 12

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.B Arc

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Allows resizing of the radius. Mouse button 1 or the "e" key

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will cycle between control of the radius, the endpoint angles,

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and the ellipse minor axis. Mouse button 2 accepts the new

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arc. Button 3 returns to the previous editing state,

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unless there is no remaining edit history, in which case it

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aborts the command.

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.TP 12

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.B Curve

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Allows repositioning of one end of the curve.

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Originally, the starting angle of the curve is kept fixed.

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Mouse button 1 or the "e" key cycles between the four

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control points of the curve, allowing control over the

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angle of the curve at its endpoint and the shape of the

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curve. Mouse button 2 accepts the new curve. Button 3

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reverts back to the previous edit state

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unless there is no remaining edit history, in which case

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it terminates the command.

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.TP 12

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.B Object instance

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Object instances have no properties to change

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except scale, and do not respond to the "edit" command.

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Scale can be changed by selecting "Options/Other/Object Size"

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from the menu.

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.sp

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.PP

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\fBMinor editing commands:\fP

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.TP 4

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.B R

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Rotate the selected element(s) or element under the cursor

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counterclockwise in 15 degree intervals.

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.TP 4

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.B r

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Rotate the selected element(s) or element under the cursor

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clockwise in 15 degree intervals.

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.TP 4

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.B O

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Rotate the selected element(s) or element under the cursor

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counterclockwise by 5 degree intervals. This is currently

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the smallest angle resolution available to xcircuit.

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.TP 4

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.B o

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Rotate the selected element(s) or element under the cursor

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clockwise by 5 degree intervals.

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.TP 4

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.B f

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Flip an element around a vertical axis defined by an object's

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origin for an object instance, or across an axis defined by

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the pointer position for arcs, polygons, and curves.

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.TP 4

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.B F

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Flip an element around a horizontal axis defined

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similarly to the "f" command.

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.TP 4

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.B X

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If two elements are selected, their order is exchanged

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(this is only relevant if one element occludes another).

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If one element is selected, it is raised up one in the

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stack, and if it is already on top of the stack, it is

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shuffled to the bottom.

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.TP 4

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.B S

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Snap the nearest object to the snap-to grid. For

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curves the control and endpoints are snapped; for polygons, each

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point is snapped; for arcs, the centerpoint is snapped; for labels

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and object instances, the designated point of origin is snapped.

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.TP 4

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.B j

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Join polygons together. This only makes sense if it is possible

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to make a single continuous (open or closed) polygon from the

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selected parts. Otherwise a warning will be posted and the parts

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will remain separate.

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.TP 4

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.B A

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Attach an element to a polygon, arc, or curve.

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The element to be attached must be the one currently grabbed

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(either by a "drag", copy command, or edit command).

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Until it is released, it will be forced to align

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its center (object, arc), endpoint (polygon, curve), or

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position (label) with the closest polygon, arc, or curve.

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Note that this is a very powerful tool for generating, for

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example, lines tangent to a curve, or objects arranged in

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a circle or along a line.

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.sp

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.PP

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\fBLibrary editing commands:\fP

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.TP 4

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.B D

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Delete. The selected objects will be deleted from the library

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unless other library objects or pages contain references to that

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object. \fBNote:\fP Unlike deleting object instances with the

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"\fBd\fP" command, this command deletes the actual object and

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releases all memory associated with that object, so the

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object cannot be undeleted.

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.TP 4

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.B C

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Copy. Makes a copy of an object from either library page and

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places the new copy in the user library. The new object will

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be renamed to avoid naming conflicts.

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.TP 4

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.B M

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Move. If one object has been selected, it is moved to the

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position of the cursor. If two objects have been selected,

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their positions in the library are exchanged.

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.TP 4

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.B E

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Edit label. Edit the object name whose label is under the

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cursor. After editing, the object name will be checked for

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conflicts with other object names, and altered if necessary.

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.TP 4

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.B H

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Hide object. If the object is a sub-instance of another object,

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but is not meant to be used by itself, it can be "hidden" so

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that it will not appear by itself on the library page.

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.sp

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.SH MENU COMMANDS

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.sp

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.TP 4

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.B Write Postscript (W)

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This command brings up a popup menu with a number of options.

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First, it gives the name of the file if one exists, or else it

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gives the default name of the buffer (usually \fBPage\fP \fIn\fP,

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where \fIn\fP is the number of the buffer).

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Next, it gives a preview of the picture scale and output

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styles, which include Landscape/Portrait orientation and

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Encapulated/Unencapsulated (full page) PostScript modes.

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The former allows adjustment of the nominal size of the picture

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when drawn in PostScript. The default scale is 1.00, which

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makes the text scale of 1.0 about 14 points on the PostScript

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page. The width and height of the resulting

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picture are also given, in inches, and any of the three

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values can be changed. The values of the other two will

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be updated accordingly. Pages which have the same name

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will be grouped together into a single file, allowing

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multiple pages to be stored in the same PostScript file.

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However, as Encapsulated PostScript does not make sense

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for this kind of file, it is not an option.

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.sp

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The \fBWrite File\fP button writes the current page to an

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output file. If the page has a name other than the default,

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the file will automatically be saved under that name. Otherwise,

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it is necessary to change the name of the buffer. If a file of

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that name already exists on the disk, the button will read

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\fBOverwrite File\fP.

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.TP 4

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.B Read PostScript

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Reads in a file of Xcircuit format. The

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file name is requested by a popup prompt, and an extension

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of ".ps" will be added if necessary. The file is read

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into the current page, which is cleared first if anything

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is in it. If the file is a multiple-page file, the current

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page will be overwritten with the first page from the file,

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but other pages will be loaded into empty buffers.

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LGF Xcircuit can also read "lgf"-format files from

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LGF the Chipmunk CAD tools programs "analog" and "diglog".

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.TP 4

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.B Import PostScript

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Acts like "Read PostScript" except that the page is not

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reset first, so graphics are added on top of existing

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graphics on the page.

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.TP 4

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.B Clear Page

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Clears the current page of all elements and resets the

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name. The contents cannot be recovered.

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.TP 4

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.B Alt Color

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Switches between the two xcircuit color schemes. The

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color schemes can be redefined through XDefaults

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(see below). The default color schemes are black-on-white

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and white-on-black. The latter is less straining to the

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eyes, but the former matches the black ink on white paper

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PostScript output. Any color scheme other than black-on-white

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is not recommended for drawings with color, as the actual

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output does not match the observed xcircuit screen.

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.TP 4

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.B Grid

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Turns the grid lines on and off.

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.TP 4

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.B Axes

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Turns the axis lines on and off. The axes mark the

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origin (0,0) of the page. On the top level (TopObject),

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the origin has no particular relevance, since encapsulated

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output will define its own boundaries, and full-page

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(unencapsulated) output will be centered on the output

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page, not according to the Xcircuit coordinate system.

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.TP 4

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.B Grid spacing

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Changes the spacing of the grid lines.

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Default spacing is 1/6 inch, which is about

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the width of the letter 'W' in default text scale.

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.TP 4

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.B Grid type/display

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This is a submenu allowing the coordinates and coordinate

565

grid to be specified in alternate units. Listing of

566

coordinates in the top window can be in default fractional

567

inches, decimal inches, or centimeters. Default spacing

568

of grid lines is either one-quarter inch or one-half

569

centimeter. Selecting an A:B scale With option

570

"\fBDrawing Scale\fP" causes all listed coordinates to be

571

multiplied by the scale. \fINote:\fP Xcircuit will make

572

an attempt to keep objects on the snap/grid spacing when

573

switching between inch and centimeter scales. In order

574

to do this, it will change the output scale by the ratio

575

of 2.54 to 2.5, thus keeping a closer correspondence between

576

inches and centimeters. To get true centimeters on the

577

output page, the output scale (from the "File/Write Xcircuit PS")

578

can be reset to 1.0 at the expense of having all objects

579

intended for the inch grid displaced off of the snap grid.

580

.TP 4

581

.B Snap-to

582

Turns the snap-to grid on and off. When the grid

583

is on, movement and placement of elements is restricted

584

to points on the snap-to grid.

585

.TP 4

586

.B Snap spacing

587

Determines the spacing of the points in the

588

snap-to grid. Default is 1/12 inch, which is half

589

the grid line spacing.

590

.TP 4

591

.B Linewidth

592

Controls the default linewidth against which

593

all linewidths in the drawing are scaled.

594

.TP 4

595

.B Polygon Edit

596

The options in this submenu control how the position of

597

lines are affected when a point in a polygon is selected

598

for editing. "\fBRhomboid-X\fP" mode moves adjoining

599

points as necessary to keep all horizontal lines horizontal;

600

"\fBRhomboid-Y\fP" mode acts similarly to keep all vertical

601

lines vertical. "\fBRhomboid-A\fP" is similar to Manhattan

602

mode but also tracks non-Manhattan lines.

603

The default mode is "\fBManhattan Box Edit\fP",

604

which is a combination of Rhomboid-X and Rhomboid-Y. In

605

"\fBNormal\fP" mode, only the point being edited can be moved.

606

.TP 4

607

.B \fPArc/Box/Curve\fB Border

608

The options under this menu determine the

609

border style of arcs, polygons, and curves. If an element

610

is selected, it will be modified; otherwise, if

611

no objects are selected, the style chosen is made

612

default for all subsequent arcs, polygons, and curves.

613

Elements may be drawn with or without borders (but

614

for obvious reasons cannot be made both borderless

615

and unfilled, which would be invisible)

616

The borders may be closed or unclosed. For an arc,

617

closed means that a chord is drawn connecting the two

618

endpoints, if the beginning and ending angles do not

619

complete a full circle. Borders may be solid, dashed,

620

dotted, and of varying width.

621

.TP 4

622

.B \fPArc/Box/Curve\fB Fill

623

The options under this menu determine the

624

fill style of arcs, polygons, and curves.

625

Fill style may be solid, empty, or one of 7 stipple

626

patterns varying from light to dark, which are drawn

627

both in xcircuit and PostScript as stipple patterns.

628

Stipples can be transparent or opaque.

629

\fIWarning\fP: Transparent

630

stipples are NOT inherent to PostScript and the hacks

631

necessary to implement them cause slow rendering on

632

a printer or PostScript previewer. Due to the

633

device-dependent nature of the routines, patterns

634

will look abnormally large on PostScript previewers.

635

This transparancy feature has been added with the

636

expectation that most circuit schematics will not

637

rely heavily upon halftoning. Complicated color

638

patterns can be created using transparent colored,

639

stippled elements on top of solid-color elements.

640

\fINote\fP: Ordering of elements is according to

641

order created. A different ordering can be achieved

642

using the "\fBX\fP" (exchange) command. This method

643

is not especially easy to work with, and hopefully

644

something better will be implemented in the future.

645

.TP 4

646

.B \fPArc/Box/Curve\fB Color

647

See the COLOR section above for a discussion of color

648

inheritance. This menu shows all the colors available

649

to xcircuit with the option of adding more colors.

650

Currently the entry style for colors is by name or by

651

RGB content in the X11 style of #rrggbb where rr, gg,

652

and bb are hex values ranging from 00 to FF. The only

653

limit to the number of colors is the X Server's colormap

654

depth. If the colormap is full, xcircuit attempts to

655

allocate the closest possible color to the one requested.

656

.TP 4

657

.B Zoom Box

658

This zoom feature requests the user to create a box

659

(using either mouse button 1 or 2, expanding the box

660

while holding down the button). When the button is

661

released, the view will zoom to the area of that box.

662

.TP 4

663

.B Full View

664

This zoom feature calculates the bounding box

665

of the entire picture and adjusts the scale to make

666

it fit comfortably inside the program window.

667

.SH TEXT FEATURES

668

Xcircuit's ability to handle text is arguably the

669

most complicated part of the program, and also of

670

the PostScript output. Careful attention to text

671

justification and style is the key to a good drawing.

672

.TP 4

673

.B Text Size

674

Alters the size of the labels. The value is

675

a scale, with a default of 1.0 which translates to

676

14 points on the PostScript page if the default page

677

scale of 1 is used. If a label is selected, only that

678

label is affected. If a label is being edited, scale

679

changes starting at the edit position. Otherwise, it

680

becomes the default size for all subsequent labels. Size

681

affects the entire text string. Text size can be changed

682

anywhere inside of a string. However, text sizes inside

683

a string are all given relative to the label size, not as

684

an absolute point size. Sizes of subscripts and superscripts

685

are given relative to the natural size of the subscript or

686

superscript (2/3 the size of the text for which it is a

687

modifier).

688

.TP 4

689

.B \fPText\fB Font

690

Standard printer fonts Times-Roman, Helvetica,

691

Courier, and Symbol, are readily available.

692

"User-defined" fonts can also be added; however,

693

support is currently limited, and requires a font

694

object (.lps) file and encoding (.xfe) file,

695

examples of which are found in the fonts subdirectory

696

of the xcircuit library directory.

697

.TP 4

698

.B \fPText\fB Style

699

Four standard font styles are available,

700

matching the standard printer font variations: Normal,

701

Italic (or oblique), Bold, and BoldItalic.

702

PostScript matrix manipulation allows slanted versions

703

of any font, such as Symbol, for which none is otherwise

704

available.

705

.TP 4

706

.B \fPText\fB Insert

707

The Insert menu allows insertion of special characters

708

which are otherwise not (necessarily) allowed from the

709

keyboard. These include tab-stop, tab-forward, tab-backward,

710

kern, half-space, quarter-space, and "Character". The latter

711

option brings up a page showing the 256-character encoding

712

vector for the font, allowing point-and-click entry of any

713

character in the font. "Kern" instructions allow characters

714

to be offset vertically or horizontally relative to the rest

715

of the text.

716

.TP 4

717

.B \fPText\fB Encoding

718

Two standard font encodings are available by default,

719

Standard (Adobe) Encoding, and ISO-Latin1 encoding.

720

ISO-Latin2 and ISO-Latin5 encodings exist in the

721

library directory, but require the use of the program

722

"ogonkify" (not included) to produce correct output on

723

a printer.

724

.TP 4

725

.B Super and Subscripts

726

Superscript and subscript are

727

designed to closely match those in TeX output, though

728

they lack the proper context-dependent kerning and

729

other fancy features of TeX. A superscript following

730

a subscript results in a superscripted subscript.

731

To get a superscript on top of a subscript, use the

732

backspace character (see below).

733

The Normalscript style is the way to get

734

out of a sub or superscript and return to the normal

735

size and position.

736

Quick super/sub/normalscripting is available from the

737

keypad with the "\fB+\fP" (plus), "\fB-\fP" (minus),

738

and "\fBEnter\fP" keys, respectively.

739

.TP 4

740

.B Overline and Underline

741

Overlining and underlining styles

742

remain in effect until the next occurrence of a style

743

or font change. Overlining is

744

lower if all the characters are lowercase and do not

745

include the "tall" lowercase characters. Overlining

746

or underlining can be stopped at any time using the No

747

Line style. Over and Underlining is *always* preferable

748

to using a line. PostScript will adjust the over or

749

underline to the text size and extent and actually grab

750

the "_" character and compute its thickness in order to

751

draw the line.

752

.TP 4

753

.B Tabbing

754

From version 2.3, xcircuit allows embedded tab stops.

755

Tab stops must be defined before using tab-forward or

756

tab-backward. The "Tab" keyboard key inserts an

757

embedded tab-forward instruction into a label. Tab-stop

758

and tab-backward can be inserted using the Text->Insert

759

menu. A tab-forward instruction moves the cursor

760

to the first defined tab stop forward of the current

761

position. A tab-backward instruction moves the cursor

762

to the first defined tab stop backward of the current

763

position. If no appropriate tab stop exists, the

764

instruction has no effect.

765

.TP 4

766

.B Backspace

767

The use of the backspace character is deprecated from

768

xcircuit version 2.3. The effect of an embedded backspace

769

is more reliably produced using tab-stop and tab-backward.

770

.TP 4

771

.B Halfspace and Quarterspace

772

These options allow fine control over spacing, particularly

773

useful when writing equations.

774

.TP 4

775

.B Justification

776

Text justification always starts with the

777

default, chosen from the options in the menu, but may

778

be changed at any time using the numbers on the keypad.

779

The position of the keys on the keypad reflect the

780

point of justification: 1, 4, and 7 are right-justified,

781

7, 8, and 9 are bottom justified, 5 is centered in both

782

directions. Since the letters drawn by xcircuit are

783

optimized for the Helvetica font, correct justification

784

is the main way to get text to come out on the PostScript

785

page in the desired way, relative to objects or boxes or

786

whatever.

787

.SH .XCIRCUITRC FILE

788

Certain parameters of the xcircuit program can be

789

initialized from a file called \fB.xcircuitrc\fP, which

790

is first searched for in the current directory, and then

791

in the user's home directory as defined by the environment

792

variable $HOME.

793

PYTHON The XCircuitrc file is written in

794

PYTHON Python (see www.python.org), with certain commands whose

795

PYTHON main purpose is to transfer data structures between

796

PYTHON the Python interpreter and XCircuit.

797

PYTHON These commands are as follows:

798

PYTHON .TP 6

799

PYTHON .B library("\fIlibname\fP" [, \fInum\fP])

800

PYTHON Loads a library named \fIlibname\fP (with or without .lps

801

PYTHON extension) into the set of built-in objects. \fInum\fP,

802

PYTHON if specified, puts the specified library onto library page

803

PYTHON \fInum\fP (starts at 1).

804

PYTHON .TP 6

805

PYTHON .B override("library")

806

PYTHON Causes the default libraries defined in "builtins.lps"

807

PYTHON \fInot\fP to be loaded.

808

PYTHON .TP 6

809

PYTHON .B override("colors")

810

PYTHON Causes the default colors \fInot\fP to be loaded; this will

811

PYTHON not override the allocation of black and white, however,

812

PYTHON for obvious reasons.

813

PYTHON .TP 6

814

PYTHON .B font("\fIfontname\fP")

815

PYTHON Adds a font named \fIfontname\fP (as recognized by a

816

PYTHON printer) to the menu of selectable fonts.

817

PYTHON .TP 6

818

PYTHON .B color("\fIcolorname\fP")

819

PYTHON Adds a color named \fIcolorname\fP (standard X11

820

PYTHON conventions) to the menu of selectable colors.

821

PYTHON .TP 6

822

PYTHON .B bind("\fIkey\fP", "\fIfunction\fP")

823

PYTHON Binds the key (or button) named \fIkey\fP to the function named

824

PYTHON \fIfunction\fP. If only one argument is given, it can be

825

PYTHON either a key name or a function name, and bind() returns

826

PYTHON the associated binding(s). If no argument is given, then

827

PYTHON bind() returns a dictionary of all key bindings.

828

PYTHON Valid function names are listed in section "KEY BINDINGS" below.

829

PYTHON .TP 6

830

PYTHON .B unbind("\fIkey\fP", "\fIfunction\fP")

831

PYTHON Unbinds the key (or button) named \fIkey\fP from the function named

832

PYTHON \fIfunction\fP.

833

PYTHON Valid function names are listed in section "KEY BINDINGS" below.

834

PYTHON .TP 6

835

PYTHON .B set("\fItype\fP", "\fIvalue\fP")

836

PYTHON Sets internal xcircuit variables, where \fItype\fP can be one of:

837

PYTHON .sp

838

PYTHON \fBboxedit\fP

839

PYTHON .sp

840

PYTHON Where \fIvalue\fP is one of "manhattan", "rhomboid-x", "rhomboid-y",

841

PYTHON or "normal". Determines the default way manhattan-aligned polygon

842

PYTHON edges are manupulated during edits.

843

PYTHON .sp

844

PYTHON \fBlinewidth\fP

845

PYTHON .sp

846

PYTHON Where \fIvalue\fP is a real number indicating the default

847

PYTHON width of lines.

848

PYTHON .sp

849

PYTHON set("\fBbeep\fP", "on"|"off")

850

PYTHON .sp

851

PYTHON Where \fIvalue\fP can be \fBon\fP or \fBoff\fP, depending on

852

PYTHON whether or not you want the machine beeping at you when it

853

PYTHON gives critical warnings.

854

PYTHON .sp

855

PYTHON set("\fBcolorscheme\fP", "normal"|"inverse")

856

PYTHON .sp

857

PYTHON Where \fIvalue\fP is \fBinverse\fP to swap the two color schemes

858

PYTHON and make the second scheme appear as default.

859

PYTHON .sp

860

PYTHON \fIh\fP = newelement("\fIname\fP")

861

PYTHON .sp

862

PYTHON Creates a new element and returns a handle (pointer) \fIh\fP to it which

863

PYTHON can be used to get and set element attributes. Valid names are

864

PYTHON "Arc", "Spline", "Polygon", "Object Instance", "Label", and "Path".

865

PYTHON .sp

866

PYTHON \fId\fP = getattr(\fIh\fP)

867

PYTHON .sp

868

PYTHON Creates a dictionary \fId\fP of attributes for the element with handle

869

PYTHON \fIh\fP. Dictionary keys depend on the element.

870

PYTHON .sp

871

PYTHON setattr(\fIh\fP, \fId\fP)

872

PYTHON .sp

873

PYTHON Applies the dictionary \fId\fP key:value pairs to the element pointed to

874

PYTHON by handle \fIh\fP.

875

PYTHON .sp

876

PYTHON \fId\fP = getpage(\fIvalue\fP)

877

PYTHON .sp

878

PYTHON Returns a dictionary \fId\fP containing information about the page \fIvalue\fP.

879

PYTHON If \fIvalue\fP is not specified, returns information about the current page.

880

PYTHON The dictionary includes a list "\fIparts\fP" of handles to every element drawn

881

PYTHON on the indicated page.

882

PYTHON .sp

883

PYTHON \fId\fP = getlibrary(\fIname\fP)

884

PYTHON .sp

885

PYTHON Returns a dictionary of objects for the indicated library,

886

PYTHON referenced by \fIname\fP, or by page number. The dictionary contains a

887

PYTHON list "\fIobjects\fP" of names of every object in the library.

888

PYTHON .sp

889

PYTHON \fId\fP = getobject(\fIname\fP)

890

PYTHON .sp

891

PYTHON Returns a dictionary containing all information about an object, which

892

PYTHON is referenced by \fIname\fP. The dictionary contains keys "\fIname\fP",

893

PYTHON containing the object name, "\fIwidth\fP" and "\fIheight\fP", a

894

PYTHON list "\fIparts\fP" containing handles to each element comprising the

895

PYTHON object, and a list "\fIparameters\fP" containing all the parameters

896

PYTHON defined for the object and their default values.

897

PYTHON .sp

898

PYTHON zoom(\fIfactor\fP)

899

PYTHON .sp

900

PYTHON Zooms by amount \fIfactor\fP. Values greater than 1 indicate a zoom in;

901

PYTHON values less than 1 indicate a zoom out.

902

PYTHON .sp

903

PYTHON pan(\fIposition\fP)

904

PYTHON .sp

905

PYTHON Centers the screen on the (user) coordinate \fIposition\fP, which can be

906

PYTHON either a (X,Y) tuple or two integers X, Y.

907

PYTHON .sp

908

PYTHON refresh()

909

PYTHON .sp

910

PYTHON Refreshes the screen. The screen is automatically refreshed after every

911

PYTHON Python command, but the \fBrefresh()\fP function can be used along with the

912

PYTHON \fBpause()\fP function for animation effects.

913

PYTHON .sp

914

PYTHON pause(\fIdelay\fP)

915

PYTHON .sp

916

PYTHON Pauses for \fIdelay\fP seconds (is a floating-point number). Useful in

917

PYTHON conjunction with \fBrefresh()\fP for animation effects.

918

PYTHON .sp

919

PYTHON \fIt\fP = getcursor()

920

PYTHON .sp

921

PYTHON Returns a tuple \fIt\fP containing the current X and Y position of the cursor.

922

PYTHON .sp

923

PYTHON .sp

924

PYTHON \fIt\fP = getwindow()

925

PYTHON .sp

926

PYTHON Returns a tuple \fIt\fP containing the current window width and height.

927

PYTHON .sp

928

PYTHON popupprompt(\fIprompt\fP, \fIfunction\fP)

929

PYTHON .sp

930

PYTHON Generates a popup window with text entry. \fIprompt\fP will be printed above

931

PYTHON the text entry window. Python function \fIfunction\fP (referenced by name)

932

PYTHON will be called when clicking the "Okay" button or pressing the Return key

933

PYTHON ends the text entry. The function will be passed the contents of the text

934

PYTHON window as its (only) parameter.

935

PYTHON .sp

936

PYTHON filepopup(\fIprompt\fP, \fIfunction\fP)

937

PYTHON .sp

938

PYTHON Operates exactly like \fBpopupprompt()\fP, except that the window is a file

939

PYTHON browser instead of a simple text entry window.

940

PYTHON .sp

941

PYTHON .sp

942

PYTHON simplepopup(\fIprompt\fP, \fIfunction\fP)

943

PYTHON .sp

944

PYTHON Operates exactly like \fBpopupprompt()\fP, except that there is no text entry

945

PYTHON window, only a prompt string and the choice of "Okay" and "Cancel".

946

PYTHON .sp

947

PYTHON newbutton(\fIparent\fP, \fIname\fP, \fIfunction\fP)

948

PYTHON .sp

949

PYTHON Generates a new menu button under the menu cascade labeled \fIparent\fP.

950

PYTHON The new button will display the label \fIname\fP, and pushing the button

951

PYTHON will call the Python function \fIfunction\fP.

952

PYTHON .sp

953

PYTHON page(\fInumber\fP)

954

PYTHON .sp

955

PYTHON Go to the page numbered \fInumber\fP.

956

PYTHON .sp

957

PYTHON reset()

958

PYTHON .sp

959

PYTHON Erases the current page unconditionally, unless dependencies such as a link

960

PYTHON to a symbol exist.

961

962

NOINTERP Commands are:

963

NOINTERP .TP 6

964

NOINTERP .B library \fIlibname\fP

965

NOINTERP Loads a library named \fIlibname\fP (with or without .lps

966

NOINTERP extension) into the set of built-in objects.

967

NOINTERP .TP 6

968

NOINTERP .B override default library

969

NOINTERP Causes the default libraries defined in "builtins.lps"

970

NOINTERP \fInot\fP to be loaded.

971

NOINTERP .TP 6

972

NOINTERP .B override default colors

973

NOINTERP Causes the default colors \fInot\fP to be loaded; this will

974

NOINTERP not override the allocation of black and white, however,

975

NOINTERP for obvious reasons.

976

NOINTERP .TP 6

977

NOINTERP .B font \fIfontname\fP

978

NOINTERP Adds a font named \fIfontname\fP (as recognized by a

979

NOINTERP printer) to the menu of selectable fonts.

980

NOINTERP .TP 6

981

NOINTERP .B color \fIcolorname\fP

982

NOINTERP Adds a color named \fIcolorname\fP (standard X11

983

NOINTERP conventions) to the menu of selectable colors.

984

NOINTERP .TP 6

985

NOINTERP .B set \fItype\fP \fIvalue\fP

986

NOINTERP Sets internal xcircuit variables, where \fItype\fP can be one of:

987

NOINTERP .sp

988

NOINTERP \fBboxedit\fP

989

NOINTERP .sp

990

NOINTERP Where \fIvalue\fP is one of "manhattan", "rhomboid-x", "rhomboid-y",

991

NOINTERP or "normal". Determines the default way manhattan-aligned polygon

992

NOINTERP edges are manupulated during edits.

993

NOINTERP .sp

994

NOINTERP \fBlinewidth\fP

995

NOINTERP .sp

996

NOINTERP Where \fIvalue\fP is a real number indicating the default

997

NOINTERP width of lines.

998

NOINTERP .sp

999

NOINTERP \fBbeep\fP

1000

NOINTERP .sp

1001

NOINTERP Where \fIvalue\fP can be \fBon\fP or \fBoff\fP, depending on

1002

NOINTERP whether or not you want the machine beeping at you when it

1003

NOINTERP gives critical warnings.

1004

NOINTERP .sp

1005

NOINTERP \fBcolorscheme\fP

1006

NOINTERP .sp

1007

NOINTERP Where \fIvalue\fP is \fBinverse\fP to swap the two color schemes

1008

NOINTERP and make the second scheme appear as default.

1009

1010

TCL The startup file is written in Tcl. The command-line interface can

1011

TCL be found in the online documentation on the website

1012

TCL .sp

1013

TCL \fBhttp://www.opencircuitdesign.com/xcircuit/\fP.

1014

TCL .sp

1015

1016

.SH CRASH RECOVERY

1017

XCircuit implements a crash recovery system by which a copy of the current

1018

file is made every 15 minutes (see Xdefaults, below, for changing this

1019

value). XCircuit deletes this file upon a normal exit. If, however,

1020

XCircuit crashes or is terminated by Control-C or other sudden death,

1021

the backup copy will remain. On startup, XCircuit checks the /tmp

1022

directory for any XCircuit backup files belonging to the user. If one

1023

is found, XCircuit will prompt the user for recovery. Note that the

1024

backup is unique in that it contains a copy of the entire user space at

1025

the time of the crash. Filenames may get overwritten, as the backup

1026

will treat all pages as belonging to the same file.

1027

1028

.SH KEY BINDINGS

1029

As noted above, keys can be bound and unbound through command-line

1030

functions "bind" and "unbind". Default key bindings are used throughout

1031

this manual page. Key names use the notation of

1032

/usr/X11R6/include/keysymdef.h, but with the notation "XK_" being

1033

optional, and including the addition of prefixes "Shift_", "Control_",

1034

"Capslock_", and "Alt_", which may be used in any combination. Note

1035

that "Shift_" is not used for ASCII characters (e.g., "A" is used

1036

instead of "Shift_a") unless used in combination with other special

1037

keys (such as "Control_Shift_A" to distinguish from "Control_a",

1038

should that be desired). "Button1", "Button2", and "Button3" are

1039

also valid names indicating functions attached to the mouse buttons

1040

in normal drawing mode. Valid functions which may be bound are as

1041

follows, with their default values given:

1042

.br

1043

.sp

1044

1045

Function name Function performed Default key binding

1046

---------------------------------------------------------------------

1047

"Page", change page, Number keys 1-9 and 0

1048

"Justify", change text justification, Keypad keys 1-9

1049

"Superscript", set text superscript, Keypad +

1050

"Subscript", set text subscript, Keypad -

1051

"Normalscript", cancel sub/superscript, Keypad Enter

1052

"Nextfont", change to next font, Alt-f

1053

"Boldfont", change to bold font, Alt-b

1054

"Italicfont", change to italic font, Alt-i

1055

"Normalfont", cancel italic/bold, Alt-n

1056

"Underline", generate underline, Alt-u

1057

"Overline", generate overline, Alt-o

1058

"ISO Encoding", change to ISO encoding, Alt-e

1059

"Return", embedded return character, Alt-Enter

1060

"Halfspace", embedded half-space, Alt-h

1061

"Quarterspace", embedded quarter-space, Alt-q

1062

"Special", special character, Alt-c

1063

"Parameter", embedded parameter, Alt-p

1064

"Edit Break", break at point, x

1065

"Edit Delete", delete point, d, Delete

1066

"Edit Insert", insert point, i, Insert

1067

"Edit Next", go to next point, e

1068

"Attach", attach line to object, A

1069

"Next Library", go to next library, l

1070

"Library Directory", library directory, L

1071

"Library Move", arrange library objects, M

1072

"Library Copy", get object in copy mode, c

1073

"Library Edit", edit library name, E

1074

"Library Delete", delete library object, D

1075

"Library Duplicate", duplicate object, C

1076

"Library Hide", hide library object, H

1077

"Page Directory ", page directory, P

1078

"Library Pop", return from library, <

1079

"Help", generate help screen, h, ?

1080

"Redraw", redraw the window, space

1081

"View", fit page to window, v

1082

"Zoom In", zoom in, Z

1083

"Zoom Out", zoom out, z

1084

"Pan", center pan, p

1085

"Double Snap", increase snap space, +

1086

"Halve Snap", decrease snap space, -

1087

"Pan Left", pan left one-half page, Left arrow

1088

"Pan Right", pan right one-half page, Right arrow

1089

"Pan Up", pan up one-half page, Up arrow

1090

"Pan Down", pan down one-half page, Down arrow

1091

"Write", popup output window, W

1092

"Rotate", Rotate, r,R,o,O

1093

"Flip X", Flip horizontal, f

1094

"Flip Y", Flip vertical, F

1095

"Snap", Snap to grid, S

1096

"Pop", Return from object edit, <

1097

"Push", Edit object, >

1098

"Delete", Delete element, d

1099

"Select", Select element, Select

1100

"Box", Create box, b

1101

"Arc", Create arc, a

1102

"Text", Create label, t

1103

"Exchange", Exchange vertical order, X

1104

"Copy", Copy element, c

1105

"Join", Join into path, j

1106

"Unjoin", Split path into elements, J

1107

"Spline", Create spline, s

1108

"Edit", Edit element, e

1109

"Undelete", Undelete last deleted, u

1110

"Select Save", Make object from selected, M,m

1111

"Unselect", Unselect element, x

1112

"Dashed", Set line style to dashed, |

1113

"Dotted", Set line style to dotted, :

1114

"Solid", Set line style to solid, _

1115

"Prompt", Execute from command line, %

1116

"Dot", Place dot at location, .

1117

"Exit", Exit xcircuit Ctrl-Alt-q

1118

"Netlist", Generate a netlist, Alt-q

1119

"Swap", Swap schematic, symbol, /

1120

"Pin Label", Create pin label, T

1121

"Info Label", Create info label, I

1122

"Connectivity", Show wire connectivity, Alt-w

1123

"Sim", Generate sim netlist, Alt-s

1124

"SPICE", Generate SPICE netlist, Alt-S

1125

"PCB", Generate PCB netlist, Alt-p

1126

"SPICE Flat" Generate flattened SPICE, Alt-f

1127

------------------------------------------------------------------

1128

.br

1129

.sp

1130

2-Button mouse users may find it useful to forego the Shift-Button1

1131

combination and instead put the following commands in the startup

1132

script:

1133

.br

1134

.sp

1135

bind('Escape', 'Cancel')

1136

.br

1137

unbind('Button3', Cancel')

1138

.br

1139

bind('Button3', 'Finish')

1140

.br

1141

.sp

1142

This will move the 3rd mouse button bindings to the "Escape" key, and

1143

duplicate the 2nd mouse button bindings onto the 3rd.

1144

.br

1145

.sp

1146

.SH X DEFAULTS

1147

The color scheme of xcircuit has a default setup, but accepts

1148

alternate color schemes using the following keywords which can be put

1149

in the X Defaults (.Xdefaults, .Xresources) file, such as:

1150

.sp

1151

.EX 0

1152

!

1153

.br

1154

! Sample X defaults for xcircuit, black-on-white version

1155

.br

1156

!

1157

.br

1158

xcircuit*foreground : Black

1159

.br

1160

xcircuit*background : White

1161

.br

1162

xcircuit*gridcolor : Gray85

1163

.br

1164

xcircuit*snapcolor : Orange

1165

.br

1166

xcircuit*selectcolor : Blue

1167

.br

1168

xcircuit*querycolor : Green

1169

.br

1170

xcircuit*axescolor : NavajoWhite3

1171

.br

1172

xcircuit*offbuttoncolor : Gray30

1173

.br

1174

xcircuit*auxiliarycolor : MediumOrchid1

1175

.EE

1176

.sp

1177

Two color schemes are supported at a time, ostensibly for those people

1178

who prefer the lessened eye strain of a white-on-black scheme. The

1179

names of the secondary colors are the same as those for the primary

1180

colors, but followed by "2", e.g., "xcircuit*foreground2".

1181

.sp

1182

.sp

1183

One other resource defines the number of minutes between automatic saves

1184

to the temporary file (in case of a crash or emergency Ctrl-C exit):

1185

.sp

1186

.EX 0

1187

xcircuit.timeout : 15

1188

.EE

1189

.sp

1190

Xcircuit also recognizes the core resources, such as width and height:

1191

.sp

1192

.EX 0

1193

xcircuit.width : 600

1194

.br

1195

xcircuit.height : 500

1196

.EE

1197

.sp

1198

All xcircuit foreground and background colors are taken from the

1199

Xdefaults foreground and background. To get, for instance, white-on-black

1200

menus and buttons with a black-on-white drawing area, use the following:

1201

.sp

1202

.EX 0

1203

xcircuit*foreground : White

1204

.br

1205

xcircuit*background : DarkSlateGray

1206

.br

1207

xcircuit.foreground : Black

1208

.br

1209

xcircuit.background : White

1210

.br

1211

This will ensure that only the drawing area is black-on-white, but all other

1212

windows will appear in the less eye-straining white-on-black.

1213

.br

1214

Five different fonts can be specified in the Xdefaults. \fihelpfont\fp is

1215

the style of fonts on the help popup window. \fifilefont\fp is the style

1216

of fonts in the list of files in the file selection popup window. \fitextfont\fp

1217

is the style of font for entering text in the popup dialog boxes. \fititlefont\fp

1218

is the style of font for the cascade menu titles. All other fonts take the

1219

type \fifont\fp. For example:

1220

.br

1221

xcircuit*font : *times-bold-r-normal--14*

1222

.br

1223

xcircuit*helpfont : *times-medium-r-normal--12*

1224

.br

1225

xcircuit*filefont : *times-medium-r-normal--14*

1226

.br

1227

xcircuit*textfont : *courier-medium-r-normal--14*

1228

.br

1229

xcircuit*titlefont : *times-bold-r-normal--18*

1230

.SH FILES

1231

The file path used by xcircuit to find library files is system-dependent

1232

(i.e., can be changed at compile time), and can be overridden in many

1233

ways (in .xcircuitrc or by the XCIRCUIT_LIB_DIR environment variable),

1234

but by default is:

1235

.sp

1236

.TP 28

1237

.B LIBDIR

1238

.sp

1239

.TP 15

1240

.B xcircps2.pro

1241

PostScript prolog appended to each file

1242

.TP 15

1243

PYTHON .B xcstartup.py

1244

TCL .B xcstartup.tcl

1245

NOINTERP .B startup.script

1246

This startup script contains commands of the type

1247

PYTHON \fBlibrary\fP("\fIname\fP", \fInumber\fP

1248

TCL \fBlibrary\fP \fIname\fP \fInumber\fP

1249

NOINTERP \fBlibrary\fP \fIname\fP \fInumber\fP

1250

which cause the designated library \fIname\fP to be immediately loaded

1251

into library page \fInumber\fP. The startup script is also responsible

1252

for loading fonts, and may also be used to load colors on the color

1253

palette, set other options, and execute commands.

1254

.TP 15

1255

.B generic.lps, analog.lps, digital.lps, avlsi.lps, analoglib2.lps

1256

Files containing pre-compiled circuit elements. The \fB.lps\fP extension

1257

is unique for xcircuit libraries.

1258

.TP 15

1259

.B fonts

1260

This subdirectory contains font definition files for xcircuit's

1261

vector-drawn fonts. Characters are defined by xcircuit objects and

1262

stored in a \fB.lps\fP library. The encoding scheme and other font

1263

information is stored in a \fB.xfe\fP ("xcircuit font encoding")

1264

file.

1265

.TP 15

1266

.B ~/.xcircuitrc \fPor\fB ./xcircuitrc

1267

Personal xcircuit initializer; commands are outlined above.

1268

Libraries listed in this file will be appended to the builtin libraries.

1269

.SH ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

1270

\fBxcircuit\fP understands the following environment variables:

1271

.sp

1272

.TP 15

1273

.B TMPDIR

1274

Directory for temporary (e.g., backup) files (defaults to TEMP_DIR).

1275

1276

.TP 15

1277

.B XCIRCUIT_LIB_DIR

1278

Directory where xcircuit libraries and startup files can be found

1279

(defaults to BUILTINS_DIR).

1280

1281

.TP 15

1282

.B XAPPLRESDIR

1283

Directory where the xcircuit application defaults can be found

1284

(defaults to RESOURCES_DIR)

1285

1286

.TP 15

1287

.B HOME

1288

Directory where xcircuit will look for startup files, after searching the

1289

current directory.

1290

1291

.TP 15

1292

.B HOST, HOSTNAME, USER

1293

Environment variables which xcircuit uses to fill in header information

1294

in the PostScript output (HOST and HOSTNAME are equivalent).

1295

1296

.SH BUGS

1297

PostScript printers have device-dependent limits on the number of

1298

statements within a "def" definition. If an object definition has an

1299

unusually large number of components, xcircuit will flag a warning when

1300

writing the file. However, there is no way to ensure that a file will be

1301

accepted by a given printer. The best way to avoid the problem is to make

1302

sure that large drawings make good use of hierarchically nested user-defined

1303

objects. Note that printer errors arising from this problem have not been

1304

observed in practice, and given the typical size of on-board memory on most

1305

modern laser printers, probably never will be.

1306

.sp

1307

A list of bugs can be found in the Manifest file in the source directory.

1308

.SH ONLINE TUTORIAL

1309

Look for the xcircuit online tutorial at

1310

.sp

1311

http://opencircuitdesign.com/xcircuit/tutorial/tutorial.html

1312

.SH SEE ALSO

1313

xfig(1), another powerful freeware drawing program worthy of mention

1314

(see www.xfig.org).

1315

Another schematic capture package worth noting is "gschem" from the

1316

gEDA package (see www.geda.seul.org).

1317

.SH NOTES

1318

PostScript is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated.

1319

.br

1320

1321

under a generous public license. See the source distribution for details.

1322

.br

1323

1324

Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

1325

.SH AUTHOR

1326

Tim Edwards <tim@opencircuitdesign.com>. Thanks to Tomas Rokicki for

1327

the PostScript routine which manufactures a Symbol-Oblique font.

1328

Thanks to Dave Gillespie and John Lazzaro for the program "analog"

1329

on which the graphical interface of xcircuit is (roughly) based.

1330

Thanks to many beta-testers, some of whom were kind enough to send

1331

patches. Most contributors have been named in the Manifest file in

1332

the source distribution.