Structured Electronic Design Environment — Manual

A design environment for SLiCAP (Symbolic Linear Circuit Analysis Program, https://www.slicap.org) and NGspice. You draw a circuit and compose its analysis instructions through dialogs; the environment writes a plain Python instruction file that puts the full symbolic and numeric analysis of your circuit at your disposal — for design automation, verification and generated documentation. The same drawing serves as the runnable netlist and as the publication figure, so design and documentation stay one activity instead of two that must be kept in sync by hand.

Fig. 27 A finished schematic: components, wires, net labels, a parameter table and a hyperlink annotation — exported straight to the figure you are reading.

Note

This manual is a (far from completed) draft!

Contents

• Introduction
  • Why this environment exists
  • What it produces
  • How the pieces fit together
  • What you can rely on
  • Where to go next
• Getting Started
  • Requirements
  • Launching the GUI
• Projects
  • Create a new project
  • Open an existing project
  • Save and close the project
• Creating / editing schematics
  • Launching the schematic editor from the GUI
  • Launching the schematic editor from outside the GUI
  • The schematic menu bar at a glance
  • A first schematic in five steps
  • Sidecar files
  • Why sidecar files
• Placing Symbols
  • Opening the place dialog
  • Basic SLiCAP symbols
  • Extended SLiCAP Symbols
  • NGspice Symbols
  • Orienting a symbol
  • Parameter defaults
• Component Properties
  • Description and documentation link
  • Reference designator
  • Model
  • Parameters
  • Value notation (scale factors)
  • References
  • Showing and hiding labels
  • Orientation
  • DC operating-point annotation (NGspice)
• Wiring
  • Drawing a wire
  • Junctions
  • Unconnected-pin markers
  • Moving wires and parts keeps connections
  • Editing a wire
  • Net names
• Net Labels, Ports & Ground
  • Ground
  • Net labels
  • Ports
  • Parameter definitions
  • Designating source, detector and loop-gain reference
• Annotations
  • Free text
  • LaTeX fragments
  • Hyperlinks
  • Images
  • Drawing primitives
  • Borders and document properties
  • Renaming components
• Preferences
  • Per-schematic styling
  • What you can change
• Netlist & Export
  • From the GUI
  • From the command line
  • Running it in SLiCAP
  • What the netlist looks like
• Hierarchical Blocks
  • Design intent
  • Saving a schematic as a subcircuit
  • Placing a block
  • Descending into the hierarchy
• Instructions and Circuit Objects
  • The instruction file
  • Circuit objects
  • Composing an instruction
  • Editing an existing instruction
  • NGspice schematics
• Symbol Libraries
  • Where symbols come from
  • Frozen copies travel with the schematic
  • Custom and overriding symbols
• Program Design
  • Overview
  • Layer 1 — Symbol Definitions (symbol_library.py)
  • Layer 2 — Component Metadata Registry (component_item.py)
  • Layer 3 — Data Model (schematic_data.py)
  • Layer 4 — Canvas Scene (canvas.py + *_item.py)
  • Layer 5 — Interaction and Editing Modes (canvas.py)
  • Layer 6 — Connectivity (connectivity.py + canvas.py)
  • Layer 7 — Project and File Layout (project.py)
  • Layer 8 — Export (export.py, netlist.py)
  • Layer 9 — Application Window (window.py, canvas.py)
  • Layer 10 — Configuration (config.py, style.ini)
  • Data-Flow Summary

Indices

• Index

• Search Page