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Next: Simulation Up: SPICECAD The Schematic Entry Previous: Libraries and model paths

   
Setup, Customization and Colors

                                 

SPICECAD is widely customizable. Colors, hotkeys and two user defineable menus provide a flexibility that many users require.

A little bit of customization can be done in the 'setup.spi'-file. Some of the variables which are stored here can also be changed interactively when running SPICECAD. Other things like colors cannot be changed interactively, so, decide what you want SPICECAD SPICECAD to look like first, then start it later. Let's say, the net color is 'cornflower_blue'. On many machines, these so defined nets look nicely light blue. On some machines, this color is deep blue and almost invisible for the eye. Changing 'color_palette_2' from cornflower_blue to LightCyan1 will change the net color.

The actual (default) contents of this file are:


 
Table 11.1: Meaning of the entries in file 'setup.spi'

modelpath1 /usr1/kimtr/dsrfilt/titpar

model search path1
modelpath2 /usr1/kimtr/cad2 model search path2
modelpath3 /usr1/kimtr/dsrfilt model search path3
modelpath4 /usr1/kimtr/dsrfilt model search path4
modelpath5 /usr1/kimtr/dsrfilt model search path5
librarypath1 ./ library search path1
librarypath2 ./ library search path1
librarypath3 ./ library search path1
librarypath4 ./ library search path1
librarypath5 ./ library search path5
helpfile help_eng.spi file including short interactive help
linewidth 0 line width for drawing lines (nets)
plotwin_width 620 width of plotwindow
plotwin_height 420 height of plotwindow
doubleclickspeed 10 time distance of two mouse button clicks to be recognized as 'doubleclick'
mainwin_width 800 width of schematic window
   
mainwin_height 500 height of schematic window
color_palette_1 black color palette . SPICECAD uses 16 different colors.
color_palette_2 cornflower_blue The color names, which must consist of a single
color_palette_3 green word (colors like 'spring green'
color_palette_4 cyan can be used by typing 'spring_green'.
color_palette_5 red These names are converted internally.
color_palette_6 magenta You cannot use names which contain
color_palette_7 brown underscores.
color_palette_8 gray51  
color_palette_9 gray98  
color_palette_10 blue  
color_palette_11 spring_green  
color_palette_12 LightCyan1  
color_palette_13 OrangeRed1  
color_palette_14 magenta4  
color_palette_15 yellow  
color_palette_16 white  


 
Table 11.2: Meaning of the entries in file 'setup.spi', continued

plotwindow_color_palette_1 black

The 16 colors used in the plot window
plotwindow_color_palette_2 cornflower_blue can be chosen independently
plotwindow_color_palette_3 green from the colors in the schematic window.
plotwindow_color_palette_4 cyan  
plotwindow_color_palette_5 red  
plotwindow_color_palette_6 magenta  
plotwindow_color_palette_7 brown  
plotwindow_color_palette_8 gray51  
plotwindow_color_palette_9 gray98  
plotwindow_color_palette_10 blue  
plotwindow_color_palette_11 spring_green  
plotwindow_color_palette_12 LightCyan1  
plotwindow_color_palette_13 OrangeRed1  
plotwindow_color_palette_14 magenta4  
plotwindow_color_palette_15 yellow  
plotwindow_color_palette_16 white  

box_color 5

The color number of the contact boxes (5=red)
instance_color 3 The color which is used for devices and device properties (green)
net_color 2 (cornflower blue)
text_color 9 (light gray)
other_color 14  
symbol_color 13  
plottype eps plot type for schematics . eps or hpgl
eps_scalefactor 1.0 Factor with which an EPS plot is scaled with. By default, a plot of the schematic window is scaled up to the size of a DIN A4 (29cm x 21cm) page. You can reduce or increase the size of this scaled plot by this second scaling factor.
printoutfile tmp beginning of printout file (tmp.eps, tmp.hgl , tmp.ras ...).

 


 
Table 11.3: Meaning of the entries in file 'setup.spi', continued

simulatorhost wibke

Machine where HSPICE or TITAN will be executed on. SPICE3 will always run on the machine where you start SPICECAD.
simulatorhost1 susan not implemented yet
simulatorhost2 susan not implemented yet
simulatorpath /aiv_project/kimtr/cad2 Path where HSPICE or TITAN netlists and simulation results are stored.
plotwindow_background_is_white yes 'yes' for white plot window background, 'no' for black background
left_handed_mouse no 'no' if you have configured your mouse for a right-handed-person. 'yes' if you have configured your mouse for a left-handed-person.
sharedlists no no: all symbols create internal data during load. yes: symbols with the same name share their data The disadvantage is that backannotation of simulation data is not possible on lower hierarchy levels than toplevel.

want_pulldownmenus no

If you want a menu bar and pulldown-menus, type 'yes'.

warning_if_no_mos_l_or_w_given yes

If you forget to specify the geometry of a MOS transistor, you will receive an error message after netlisting. If you use the extended SPICECAD MOS models (only available under linux) wherein you can also specify the geometry, you should set this flag to 'no'.

preserve_spice3_files no

during parametric simulation, the SPICE3 netlist will be overwritten at each step. If you want SPICECAD to copy all netlists to directory /tmp and rename them, set this parameter to 'yes'.

netlist_geometry no

SPICECAD can generate MOS parameters AS,AS,PD,PS, NRD, NRS automatically. Depending on the parameters diff_width and cont_spacing, AS,AS,PD,PS, NRD, NRS will be calculated and netlisted if they are not set explicitly and if 'netlist_geometry' is set to 'yes'.

display_geometry_instead_properties no

during netlisting, property values are derived. You can display these values, which is useful when you have used variables excessively. Say 'yes' if you want these derived values, 'no' if you want to see property strings.
display_initial_condition yes Lets you display the 'initial condition' proterty at nets.

show_elembox_during_mousemove no

is only for debugging

 


 
Table 11.4: Meaning of the entries in file 'setup.spi', continued

want_digital_mos_symbols no

All those Digital designers out there, who find SPICECAD useful and who do not want to miss out on their beloved MOS transistor symbols should set this parameter to 'yes'.

want_mousecomwindow yes

Novice users will find it helpful to display this window where they can find information about the actual meaning of mouseclicks. Experienced users will consider this window as a waste of spare window area and will want it to disappear. Type 'no' and only the schematics window will appear when starting SPICECAD.

want_fine_pan_size

The screen viewport can be moved using the cursor keys. The default setting is that the screen is moved by 50% up or down, left or right. Some users think that this is too much. By setting want_fine_pan_size to 'yes', the viewport is shifted by 25% of the actual screen size only.

pop_titanready_window yes

every time HSPICE or TITAN have finished the simulation, a message is sent to SPICECAD. SPICECAD will pop up a window if this parameter is set to 'yes' upon receiving this message.

pop_menu_on_functionkeypress yes

enables the function keys

coordinates yes

shows the mouse position in the upper left corner of the screen. These coordinates are 'world' coordinates, which means that the physical mouse button coordinates are scaled into internal coordinates.

 


 
Table 11.5: Meaning of the entries in file 'setup.spi', continued

move_orthogonal yes

Moves can only be performed vertically or horizontally. This can be overridden in options1- Menu (F8)

copy_orthogonal yes

Copies can only be performed vertically or horizontally.This can be overridden in options1- Menu (F8).

diff_width 2.000000e-06

width of diffusion area of mos transistors. With this value, the source and drain diffusion areas are calculated if they are not specified explicitly in the property-menu.

diff_width_n 2.000000e-06

width of diffusion area of nmos transistors. Overrides diff_width for NMOS transistors.

diff_width_p 2.000000e-06

width of diffusion area of pmos transistors. Overrides diff_width for PMOS transistors.

resistive_area_width 5.000000e-07

distance between contact edge and poly gate at MOS transistors. With this parameter, the number of resistance squares is calculated if they are not specified explicitly in the property-menu.

bjtsatvolt 3.000000e-01

Lets you specify the saturation voltage of bipolar transistors. This value is used by the 'Bad Devices' function in the simulation menu.  

font fixed

used font.
default_editor emacs this editor will pop up when you execute 'lookat netlist'
default_printer theprinter when you execute 'send tmp.ps to printer', the printer 'theprinter' will be chosen (lpr -Ptheprinter)

stop stop

End of file

Some comments about colors: different colors are used for different elements in the schematic. Contact boxes are red, devices are green, selected nets become yellow, text labels are gray etc. If you do not like these colors, you can specify different colors. All you have to do is edit the 'color_palette' entries. But, which names can you choose? Simply look at file 'rgb.txt'   which can be found on your workstation on directory
/usr/openwin/lib/rgb.txt.
Or /usr/X11R6/lib/rgb.txt.
If you cannot find this file, simply look at the 'rgb.txt' file which is included in the spicecad.tar.gz file.

The background color of the schematics window cannot be changed. The background color of the plot window is white by default. If you can't work or don't want to work with this setup, you can set the background color of the plot window to black.
The appropriate entry is
'plotwindow_background_is_white yes'.
Set it to 'no', and you get a black background.

Due to SPICECAD user requests, a file '.spicecadrc'   can be stored in the user's HOME directory. When starting SPICECAD, it will load '.spicecadrc' first and it will then attempt to load 'setup.spi'. This feature is useful especially when starting a new design in an empty directory. Settings like default printer, model directory, color settings etc. should be stored in '.spicecadrc'. This file must be copied manually from a local working directory to your HOME directory, SPICECAD cannot do that for you.

More to customization:

Due to SPICECAD user requests, user-defined menus and hotkeys were introduced.

Two user-defined menus are available now, where each menu can contain up to 20 entries. The menus are defined in files 'userdef1.spi' and 'userdef2.spi' which have to be stored in directory $SPICECAD_HELPDIR .     The files have a very simple format. An example in case: file userdef1.spi is given below:

redraw window
help
gnd
nmos

This file, when installed properly on search path $SPICECAD_HELPDIR , will lead to a user defined menu with four entries 'redraw','help','gnd' and 'nmos'.

These entries must match the entries in the other, fixed menus, with the exception that hotkey definitions can be left away.

So, instead of typing

'redraw window:r' ,
'redraw window' is sufficient . Of course, if you want to see 'redraw window:r' in your user defined menu, you can type in that. Whatever you prefer.

Even more customization:

The menu entries which are not reachable by the pre-defined hard-coded hotkeys can now be reached using user-defined hotkeys. The hotkey definition is performed in file 'hotkeys.spi' which has to be stored in directory $SPICECAD_HELPDIR  

The file format once again is very simple and looks like this:

 x 
n4mos 
CTRL j 
gnd 
 p 
vdd 
 w 
vdd1

In lines with odd numbers, the key is defined , like 'x' ,'CTRL x' and 'ALT x'. (Please do not forget the leading blank when defining single characters, and do not forget the single! blank between CTRL/ALt and the key when defining CTRL and ALT hotkey sequences). In lines with even numbers, the menu entry is defined which is issued when hitting the hotkey. These menu entries must match the names in the fixed menus.

For example, 'CTRL j' starts the placement of a 'gnd' symbol.

Simple, yet efficient.

You will find example files 'userdef1.spi', 'userdef2.spi' and 'hotkeys.spi' in the file 'spicecad.tar.gz' which contains the manual and example files.

Please make sure that the new hotkeys that you define do not exist in the schematic window set of hotkeys as well as in the plotwindow set of hotkeys. If you get strange error or warning messages after defining and using your own hotkeys , it is very likely that you tried to define an already existing hotkey. There is no check whether a hotkey that you had teried to define is already in use.


next up previous contents
Next: Simulation Up: SPICECAD The Schematic Entry Previous: Libraries and model paths
Martin Maschmann
1999-10-10