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The subct Button: Set Subcircuit Connections

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The subct button, only available in electrical mode, allows electrical connection points to be added to a circuit. This is necessary if the circuit is to be used as a subcircuit in another circuit. The terminals are points at which electrical connections are defined, as in the SPICE subcircuit definition. These points are made visible with the terms button. While in physical mode, the Show Terminals button in the Extract Menu will also enable the display of terminals in electrical mode sub-windows.

Terminals can normally be located only at connection points of the underlying geometry. Clicking on an existing terminal will delete it, unless the Shift key is held while clicking, in which case the terminal can be dragged to a new location (also over a connection point).

When a new terminal is created, or if an existing terminal is double-clicked on with the Shift key held (i.e., moved nowhere), the user is prompted for a name for the terminal. Pressing Esc or Enter or clicking button 1 anywhere in the drawing window will accept the default name, which is an underscore followed by the internal index (the number shown in the marker). Otherwise, a short descriptive name can be entered. A non-default name will be displayed next to the terminal marker (the default name is assumed if the entry is an underscore followed by one or two digits).

To change the name of an existing terminal, press Shift and double click on the terminal (no need to press Shift if in symbolic mode). In physical mode, terminals can also be renamed with with the Edit Terminals command in the Extract Menu.

In symbolic mode, i.e., the symbl button is active, terminals can not be added or deleted, however they can be moved to new locations consistent with the symbolic representation. There is no need to hold the Shift key in this case. The terminal marks can be moved anywhere in symbolic mode, as the ``real'' location remains fixed at the point set in normal mode.



Subsections
next up previous contents index
Next: Terminal Ordering Up: The Side Menu: Geometry Previous: The style Button: Set/Change   Contents   Index
Stephen R. Whiteley 2012-04-01