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plot

The plot command is used to plot simulation output on-screen. Each execution of a plot command will bring up a window which displays the plot, along with several command buttons. Each plot will remain on-screen until dismissed with the Dismiss button.

plot [expr ... ] [vs x-expr]
The set of expressions can be followed with a vs x-expr clause, which will produce an x-y plot using the values of x-expr as the x scale.

If no arguments are given, the arguments to the last given plot command are used. If the argument list contains a token consisting of a single period (``.''), this is replaced with the vector list found in a .plot line from the input file with the same analysis type as the current plot. For example, if the input file contains

.tran .1u 10u
.plot tran v(1) v(2)
then one can type ``run'' followed by ``plot .'' to plot v(1) and v(2).

The plot style can be controlled by a number of variables (listed below), which can be set with the set command, which are listed in 4.7.3. These define default behavior, as the plot window contains buttons which also determine presentation. The Plot Defs tool from the Tools menu of the Tool Control window can also be used to set these variables. The Colors tool from the Tools menu can be used to change the colors used for plotting.

Variable _temp_name?
color  
combplot *
gridsize  
gridstyle  
group *
lingrid *
linplot *
loglog *
multi *
nogrid *
nointerp *
plotposn  
plotstyle  
pointchars  
pointplot *
polar *
polydegree  
polysteps  
scaletype  
single *
smith *
smithgrid *
ticmarks  
title *
xcompress *
xdelta *
xindices *
xlabel *
xlimit *
xlog *
ydelta *
ylabel *
ylimit *
ylog *
ysep *

For each of the variables above with an asterisk in the right column, if a variable named _temp_varname is set, its value will be used rather than that of varname. This allows temporary overriding of the nominal settings of the variables. In addition, there are certain variables such as gridstyle which can be set to one of several keywords. If the keyword itself is set as a boolean variable, it will override the string variable. For example, one could issue ``set gridstyle = lingrid'' to set a nominally linear grid. This can be changed by, for example, ``set loglog'' (or ``set _temp_loglog''), but it is an error to have two or more such keywords set as booleans at a time.

When a plot is read from a rawfile, defaults for the presentation attributes are set as specified in the rawfile. These can be overridden by reseting the attributes in WRspice, with the exception of the color specification in the rawfile. If given, that color will be used for a particular trace independent of the current setting within WRspice. WRspice never sets the color specification, when writing a rawfile, unless that color was indicated from a previous rawfile. If a certain unalterable color is desired for a trace, the rawfile can be edited with a text editor to specify that color.

Any text typed while the pointer is in the plot window will appear on the plot (and hardcopies). This is useful for annotation. Entered and existing text can be edited and moved. In addition, traces in the plot can be moved to change the order, or moved to other (x-scale compatible) plot windows. The description of the plot window (3.8) contains more information.


next up previous contents index
Next: xgraph Up: Graphical Output Commands Previous: mplot   Contents   Index
Stephen R. Whiteley 2006-10-23