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The plot result window

The plot result window displays transient, small-signal and dcsweep simulation results as curves with different colors. It also displays the results of the waveform calculator (see page [*]). The plot window has a pop-up menu attached which pops up when moving the mouse over the plot window and pressing the right button (see picture 3.8).

             

Additionally, the plot window has the option to create pulldown menus.

Due to a weakness in the XVIEW toolkit, SPICECAD sometimes crashes when a set of pulldown menus is created.

So, inside the plot window , you can try to create pulldown menus explicitly by selecting the 'create pulldownmenu' menu entry inside the plotwindow pop-up menu which pops up when pushing the right mouse button whne the mouse cursor is inside the plot menu.


  
Figure 3.8: The plot window menu
\fbox{
\includegraphics{plotwinmenu.ps}
}


 
Table 3.1: Continuation of plotwindow menu commands
Command Meaning
'calculator ...' : opens the calculator window (see page [*])
'update: û' : only useful when running the SIEMENS simulator TITAN. The command fetches the latest simulation results if there is a simulation ongoing in the background
'zoomin' : zoom in to get more detailed view
'zoomout' : zoom out (zoom to fit) to get less detailed view
'hori zoomin' : zoom in in horizontal direction to get a more detailed view The y-axis is left unchanged
'vert zoomin' : zoom in in vertical direction to get a more detailed view The x-axis is left unchanged
'zmout by 2 : zoom out by a size factor of 2
'zmout vert by 2': zoom out vertical by a size factor of 2 .The x-axis is left unchanged
'zmout hori by 2': zoom out horizontal by a size factor of 2.The y-axis is left unchanged
'zmin by 2': zoom in by a size factor of 2
'zmin vert by 2': zoom in vertical by a size factor of 2.The x-axis is left unchanged
'zmin hori by 2': zoom in horizontal by a size factor of 2.The y-axis is left unchanged
'redraw plot': Repaint currrent window

'measure' :

Clicking twice at a result curve in the plotting window will show you the (x1,y1) , (x2,y2) values of that curve at these points.

'hardcopy ps' :

plots the current plot window into a file 'tmp.ps' using POSTSCRIPT format.
'hardcopy hpgl' : plots the current plot window into a file 'tmp.hgl' using HPGL format.
'hardcopy table' : plots the current plot window into a file 'tmp.txt' in rows and columns for later post-processing.

 


 
Table 3.2: Plotwindow menu commands

'save as goal' :

saves the current plot as a goal file for later use in an optimization , which means, in a format x - y -y - w where x is the current x-axis (independent variable), y is the y-axis (dependent variable) and w is the weighting factor. y is saved twice, so that the lower and upper tolerance band for use inside an optimization are equal. The weighting factor w is set to one.
'tmp.ps to lpr' Sends the previously created plot file 'tmp.ps' to the default printer . The default printer can be defined inside the second option dialog (see chapter 'option -dialogs , page [*])

'xlog' :

logarithmic x-axis.
'ylog' : logarithmic y-axis.
'loglog' : logarithmic x -and y-axes.
'nolog' : linear axes.

'mult-y-axis':

This function displays each plotted curve is a separate sub-window.
'single-y-axis': This function displays all plotted curves is a single window.
'db': Displays results in dB.
'nodb': Stop displaying results in dB.
'save setup n' : save your current plotting setup (line style, ffft on/off) in buffer no. n
'plot setup n' : restoring the saved plotting setup from buffer no. n and plotting.
'style lines' : connecting the simulation points with lines.
'style points' : using symbols to display the simulation points
'style linespoints' : connecting the simulation points with lines and using symbols to display the simulation points
'groupdelay' : determines the group delay when displaying ac results.
'groupdelay off' : no further group delay calculation.
'fft on' :  
'fft off' :  

'fftopt' :

FFT- options. You can choose a starting point, and an ending point for the calculation of the FFT. You can also choose a window type. Available are triangular, Hanning and Hemming.

 


 
Table 3.3: Continuation of plotwindow menu commands

'grid' :

Displays a grid.
'nogrid' : No display of a grid.

'key' :

Displays information about plotted variables in the upper right corner of the plt window.
'nokey: Suppresses display of Information about plotted variables in the upper right corner of the plot window

'colored postscript' :

The plot file 'tmp.ps' will be written using colored postscript.

'b&w postscript' :

The plot file 'tmp.ps' will be written using black&white postscript. Different plot curves will be displayed using different line styles (patterns). This is the default setting

'colored plotwin' :

The plotted curves will be plotted using colors inside the plot window. This is the default setting.

'b&w plotwin' :

The plotted curves will be plotted using different line styles (patterns) inside the plot window. All curves will be plotted in black when using a white background.

'xlabel' :

Text output at the x-axis.
'ylabel' : Text output at the y-axis.
'title' : Output of a heading.
'noxlabel' : No text output at the x-axis.
'noylabel' : No text output at the y-axis.
'notitle' : No output of a heading.

'plot options' :

Pops up a dialog box where setting FFT and text options is possible.
'x enforce' : Enforce x axis range.
'y enforce' : Enforce y axis range.
'x noenforce' : Do not enforce x axis range.
'y noenforce' : Do not enforce y axis range.

'kill simulator' :

When using HSPICE or ADM, the simulator running in batch mode can be killed using this command.
'create pulldownmenu': This command creates a pulldown menu. On some machines, this works fine, on others, SPICECAD crashes.
'help': Switch into help mode. When selecting the next menu entry after going into help mode, online help will be displayed insted of executing the selected function.

 




 
next up previous contents
Next: Eye diagram plots. Up: First Steps Previous: The 'mousecommand' window
Martin Maschmann
1999-10-10