Cadence PSPICE SCHEMATIC, PSpice Schematics User Manual

PSpice Schematics

Schematic Capture Software

User’s Guide

Copyright © 1985-2000 Cadence Design Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

Trade mar ks

Allegro, Ambit, BuildGates, Cadence, Cadence logo, Concept, Diva, Dracula, Gate
Ensemble, NC Verilog, OpenBook online documentation library, Orcad, Orcad
Capture, PSpice, SourceLink online customer support, SPECCTRA, Spectre, Vampire,
Verifault-XL, Verilog, Verilog-XL, and Virtuoso are registered trademarks of Cadence
Design Systems, Inc.

Affirma, Assura, Cierto, Envisia, Mercury Plus, Quickturn, Radium, Silicon Ensemble,
and SPECCTRAQuest are trademarks of Cadence Design Systems, Inc.

Alanza is a service mark of Cadence Design Systems, Inc.

All other brand and product names mentioned herein are used for identification
purposes only and are registered trademarks, trademarks, or service marks of their
respective holders.

First online edition 30 November 1999

Second online edition 31 May 2000

Cadence PCB Systems Division (PSD) offices

PSD main office (Portland) [phone]
PSD Irvine office [phone]
PSD Japan office 81-45-682-5770
PSD UK office 44-1256-381-400

PSD customer support [phone]

PSD web site www.orcad.com
PSD customer support web page www.orcad.com/technical/technical.asp
PSD customer support email form www.orcad.com/technical/email_support.asp

Cadence PCB Systems Division
13221 SW 68th Parkway, Suite 200
Portland, OR 97223

Contents

Before you begin xv

Welcome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv

How to use this guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvii

Symbols and conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvii

Related documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xviii

Getting Started 1Chapter 1

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Using PSpice Schematics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Example—Drawing a Schematic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Starting a New Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Command Line Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Checking Symbol Libraries Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Selecting and Placing Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Drawing and Labeling Wires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Drawing and Labeling Buses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Changing Reference Designators and Part Values . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Moving Parts, Wires, and Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Placing Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Placing Power and Ground Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Saving Your Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Using Design Manager 19Chapter 2

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Understanding Design Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Managing Your Files in the Workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Design Manager Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Starting the Design Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Hints and Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Design Manager Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Contents

Using the Schematic Editor 27Chapter 3

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Components of a Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Annotations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Main Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Toolbars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Status Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Refreshing the Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Configuring PSpice Schematics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Configuring Symbol Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Changing Page Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Changing Page Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Changing Grid and Gravity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Setting the Autosave Interval . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Controlling the Display in PSpice Schematics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Changing Fonts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Configuring Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Changing Application Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Changing the Get Recent Part List Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Zooming and Panning in PSpice Schematics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Zooming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Setting Zoom Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Fitting to a Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Panning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Using the Message Viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Online Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Locating the Source of a Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Indicated Severity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Additional Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Closing the Message Viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Creating and Editing Designs 77Chapter 4

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Starting the Schematic Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

iv

Contents

Opening a File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Finding Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Getting Parts by Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Searching for Parts in the Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Placing and Editing Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Rotating and Flipping Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Editing Part Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Global Editing of Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Editing the Default Attributes of a Symbol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Repeating Part Placements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Automatically Assigning Reference Designators . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Example—Using Auto-Repeat and Auto Naming . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Replacing Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Placing Power and Ground Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Placing Power and Ground Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Creating Custom Power and Ground Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Using Wires and Buses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Drawing and Labeling Wires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Drawing and Labeling Buses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Automatically Labeling Wires and Buses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Specifying Drawing Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Using Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Selecting and Moving Objects and Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Selecting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Moving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Searching for and Selecting Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Cutting, Copying, and Pasting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Creating and Editing Title Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Editing Page Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Entering Information into the Title Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Creating a Custom Title Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Adding Non-Electrical Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Annotation Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Moving Non-Electrical Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Creating and Editing Multi-sheet Designs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Adding a Page to a Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Creating Connections Between Pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Viewing Multiple Pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Cutting, Copying and Pasting Between Pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Deleting a Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

v

Contents

Printing Your Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Scaling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Closing the Schematic Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Using the Symbol Editor 147Chapter 5

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Packaging Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Footprints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Simulation Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Starting the Symbol Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Loading a Library for Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Saving your Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Returning to the Schematic Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Starting Automatically . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Symbol Editor Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Refreshing the Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

Title Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Changing Text Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

Attribute Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

Pin Name and Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

Free-Standing Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Changing Grid and Gravity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Grid On . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Stay-on-Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Snap-to-Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Grid Spacing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Gravity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Text Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Zooming and Panning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

Printing Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

Creating and Editing Symbols 169Chapter 6

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Creating New Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Using the Symbol Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Creating a Symbol by Copying Another Symbol . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

vi

Contents

Making a Copy of a Symbol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Importing a symbol definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

Using AKO Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

Drawing Symbol Graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

Elements of a Symbol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

Selecting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

Filling Shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

Ordering Drawing Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184

Rotating and Flipping Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Moving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

Resizing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

Editing Existing Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

Accessing Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

Cutting, Copying, and Pasting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

Defining and Editing Pin Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Specifying Pin Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Defining and Editing Hidden Power and Ground Pins . . . . . . . . 194

Changing Symbol Origin and Bounding Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

Editing Symbol Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

Using Symbol Aliases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

Specifying Part Packaging Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

Pin Assignment Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

Packaging Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Creating a New Package Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Copying a Package Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

Editing a Package Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204

Deleting a Package Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

Configuring Package Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212

Configuring Custom Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214

Example—Creating Symbols from Scratch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

Diode Bridge Rectifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

Creating and Editing Hierarchical Designs 225Chapter 7

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

Hierarchical Design Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Creating and Editing Hierarchical Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

Associating an Existing Schematic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232

Creating and Editing Hierarchical Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

Creating a Hierarchical Symbol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

Converting Hierarchical Blocks to Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

Using Interface Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236

vii

Contents

Setting Up Multiple Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

Translators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

Navigating Through Hierarchical Designs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239

Assigning Instance-Specific Part Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

Passing Information Between Levels of Hierarchy . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242

Example—Creating a Hierarchical Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244

Drawing the Top-Level Schematic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244

Drawing the Lower-Level Schematic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248

Preparing Your Design for Simulation 253Chapter 8

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253

Creating Designs for Simulation and Board Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

Specifying Part Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

Handling Unmodeled Pins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256

Specifying Simulation Model Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257

Editing Simulation Models from PSpice Schematics . . . . . . . . . . . . 258

Adding and Defining Stimulus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259

Placing Stimulus Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259

Using the Stimulus Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259

Setting Up Analyses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260

Creating a Simulation Netlist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260

Starting the Simulator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266

Viewing Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267

Viewing Bias Point Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267

Viewing Results as You Simulate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267

Using Markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

Configuring Probe Display of Simulation Results . . . . . . . . . . . 269

Using Design Journal 271Chapter 9

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

Understanding Design Journal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272

Design Journal Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

Preparing Your Design for Board Layout 275Chapter 10

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

Placing Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

Creating Single-Pin Connector Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

Packaging the Parts in Your Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280

Assigning Reference Designators Manually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

Assigning Reference Designators Automatically . . . . . . . . . . . . 283

viii

Contents

Setting Package Class Priorities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284

Generating a Bill of Materials Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286

Printing and Saving the Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

Customizing the Format of the Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288

User Defined Component Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

Exporting to a Spreadsheet or Database Program . . . . . . . . . . . 290

Swapping Pins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291

Interfacing to Board Layout Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292

Layout Mapping Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294

Back Annotation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298

Exporting DXF Files 301Appendix A

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

Exporting DXF Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302

Exporting from the Schematic Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

Exporting in the Symbol Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304

Library Expansion and Compression Utility 305Appendix B

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305

Using the Library Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306

Expanding Library Definitions into Text Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307

Compressing Definition Files into a Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307

Salvaging a Corrupted File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308

Reorganizing a Library File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308

lst File Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308

.

Running LXCWin Using Command Line Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309

Advanced Netlisting Configuration Items 311Appendix C

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311

Specifying PSpice Node Name Netlisting Preferences . . . . . . . . . . 312

Specifying Board Layout Node Name Netlisting Preferences . . . . . . 313

Customizing EDIF Netlists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314

Attribute List 315Appendix D

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315

Symbol Libraries 321Appendix E

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321

Using Symbol Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322

ix

Contents

Glossary 331

Index 337

x

Figures

Figure 1 Interaction of Sim Software Programs and Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Figure 2 Opto-isolated, Addressable Serial-to-parallel Converter Circuit . . . . . . 5

Figure 3 Border Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Figure 4 Placing Resistors with Various Vertical and Horizontal Offsets . . . . . . 96

Figure 5 Auto Naming for Bus Labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Figure 6 Orthogonal Wire Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Figure 7 Rubberbanding with Orthogonal enabled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Figure 8 Rubberbanding with Orthogonal disabled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Figure 9 Rubberbanded path showing a potential connection . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Figure 10 Off-page Port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Figure 11 Global Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Figure 12 Selection rectangle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Figure 13 Printing with Auto-Fit Enabled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Figure 14 Zoom Factor Set to 100% with Printer Configured in Portrait Mode . . 142
Figure 15 Zoom Factor Set to 200% with Printer Configured in Portrait Mode . . 143

Figure 16 User-definable Zoom Enabled in Portrait Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Figure 17 User-definable Zoom Enabled in Landscape Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Figure 18 Pin Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Figure 19 Example of Diode Bridge Rectifier Symbol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

Figure 20 Top-level Schematic Drawing for CMOS Inverter . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244

Figure 21 Schematic of CMOS Inverter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248

Figure 22 A Working Schematic and Two Checkpoint Schematics . . . . . . . . . 273

Figure 23 Entire Connector Symbol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278

Figure 24 Single Pin Symbol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278

Figure 25 Bill of Materials Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286

Figures

xii

Tables

Table 1 Remaining Parts to be Placed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Table 2 Standard Schematics Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Table 3 Drawing Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Table 4 Simulation Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Table 5 Annotation Graphics Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Table 6 Schematic Editor Function Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Table 7 Zoned Border Default Decimal Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Table 8 Zoned Border Default Metric Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Table 9 Attribute Text Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Table 10 Symbol Editor Toolbar Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

Table 11 Symbol Editor Function Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Table 12 Display Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Table 13 Content Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

Table 14 Distinctions Between Connectors and Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

Table 15 Supported Layout Packages and File Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292

Table 16 .

lst File Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308

Before you begin

Welcome

Orcad family products offer a total solution for your core
design tasks: schematic- and VHDL-based design entry;
FPGA and CPLD design synthesis; digital, analog, and
mixed-signal simulation; and printed circuit board layout.
What's more, Orcad family products are a suite of
applications built around an engineer's design flow—not
just a collection of independently developed point tools.
PSpice Schematics is just one element in our total solution
design flow.

PSpice Schematics is a schematic capture front-end
program with a direct interface to PSpice.

In one environment, you can do all of the following using
PSpice Schematics:

• design and draw circuits

• simulate circuits using PSpice

• analyze simulation results using Probe

Chapter Before you begin

• graphically characterize simulation stimuli using the

fully integrated PSpice Stimulus Editor, so stimulus
definitions are automatically associated with the
appropriate symbols

• graphically characterize simulation models using the

fully integrated PSpice Model Editor utility, so model
definitions are automatically associated with the
appropriate symbols

• interface to PSpice Optimizer for analog circuit

performance optimization

• interface to PCB programs for printed circuit board

layout

PSpice Schematics is fully integrated with PSpice, giving
you the flexibility to work through your circuit design in
a consistent environment.

16

How to use this guide

This guide is designed so you can quickly find the
information you need to use PSpice Schematics. To help
you learn and use PSpice Schematics efficiently, this
manual is separated into the following sections:

• Chapter 1 - Getting started

• Chapter 2 - Using Design Manager

• Chapter 3 - Using the schematic editor

• Chapter 4 - Creating and editing designs

• Chapter 5 - Using the Symbol Editor

• Chapter 6 - Creating and editing Symbols

• Chapter 7 - Creating and editing hierarchical designs

• Chapter 8 - Preparing your design for simulation

How to use this guide

• Chapter 9 - Using Design Journal

• Chapter 10 - Preparing your design for board layout

Symbols and conventions

Our printed documentation uses a few special symbols
and conventions.

Notation Examples Description

C+r Press C+r. Means to hold down the C key while

pressing r.

A, f, o From the File menu, choose Open (A, f,

o).

Monospace font

In the Part Name text box, type PARAM. Text that you type is shown in

Means that you have two options. You
can use the mouse to choose the Open
command from the File menu, or you
can press each of the keys in
parentheses in order: first A, then f,
then o.

monospace font. In the example, you
type the characters P, A, R, A, and
M.

17

Chapter Before you begin

UPPERCASE In Capture, open CLIPPERA.DSN. Path and filenames are shown in

uppercase. In the example, you open
the design file named CLIPPERA.DSN.

Italics In Capture, save design_name.DSN. Information that you are to provide is

shown in italics. In the example, you
save the design with a name of your
choice, but it must have an extension of
.DSN.

Related documentation

In addition to this guide, you can find technical product
information in the online help, online books, and our
technical web site, as well as in other books. The table
below describes the types of technical documentation
provided with PSpice Schematics.

This documentation component . . . Provides this . . .

This online guide—

PSpice Schematics User’s Guide

Online help Comprehensive information for understanding and using

An online, searchable version of this guide, available when
choosing Online Manuals from the Orcad family program
group (on the Start menu).

the features available in PSpice Schematics.

You can access help from the Help menu in PSpice
Schematics, by choosing the Help button in a dialog box, or
by pressing 1. Topics include:

• Explanations and instructions for common tasks.

• Descriptions of menu commands, dialog boxes, tools on

the toolbar and tool palettes, and the status bar.

• Error messages and glossary terms.

• Reference information.

• Product support information.

You can get context-sensitive help for a error message by
placing your cursor in the error message line in the session
log and pressing 1.

18

This documentation component . . . Provides this . . .

How to use this guide

Orcad family customer support at
www.orcad.com/technical/technical.asp

An Internet-based support service available to customers
with current support options. A few of the technical
solutions within the customer support area are:

• The Knowledge Base, which is a searchable database

containing thousands of articles on topics ranging from
schematic design entry and VHDL-based PLD design to
PCB layout methodologies. It also contains answers to
frequently asked questions.

• The Knowledge Exchange, which enables you to share

information and ideas with other users and with our
technical experts in a real-time online forum. You can
submit issues or questions for open discussion, search
the Knowledge Exchange for information, or send email
to another participant for one-on-one communication. A
list of new postings will appear each time you visit the
Knowledge Exchange, providing you with a quick
update of what's been discussed since your last visit.

• The Technical Library, which contains online customer

support information that you can search through by
category or product. You can find product manuals,
product literature, technical notes, articles, samples,
books, and other technical information. Additionally,
technical information can be obtained through
SourceLink, which is an online customer support
information service for users of Cadence software other
than Capture, Component Information System (CIS),
Express, Layout, or PSpice.

• The Support Connection, which allows you to choose to

either view and update existing incidents, or create new
incidents. The information is delivered directly to us via
our internal database. This service is only available to
customers with current maintenance or Extended
Support Options (ESOs) in the United States and
Canada.

• The Live Connection, which enables you to open access

to your computer to a Customer Support person, who
can then view your actions on your computer monitor
as you demonstrate the problem you're having. Live
Connection's two-way transmission can also let you
view the actions on the Customer Support person's
computer monitor, as he or she demonstrates a method
or procedure to help you solve your problem. To
participate in Live Connection, you need to contact a
Customer Support person, in order to obtain a support
number to grant you access to the Live Connection site,
and to set up a time to “meet online” using Live
Connection.

19

Chapter Before you begin

20

Getting Started

Overview

1

This chapter describes Schematics: what it is, what it can
do, and how you can use it.

This chapter has the following sections:

Using Schematics

and describes various functions.

Example—Drawing a Schematic

step-by-step example of creating a schematic.

on page 1-2 provides a broad overview

on page 1-4 provides a

Chapter 1 Getting Started

Using Schematics

Schematics is a schematic capture front-end program that
provides a convenient system for:

• creating and managing circuit drawings.

• setting up and running simulations.

• evaluating simulation results using MicroSim Probe.

• creating netlists for external PCB layout packages.

An important prerequisite to building a schematic is
availability of proper symbols for assembly. Schematics
has extensive symbol libraries and a fully integrated
symbol editor for creating your own symbols or
modifying existing symbols.

The main functions of Schematics are:

• creating and editing designs

• creating and editing symbols

• creating and editing hierarchical designs

• preparing a design for simulation

• preparing a design for board layout

These primary functions are described in the following
chapters.

2

Using Schematics

packages

symbols

models

package definitions

symbol
definitions

circuit

file

netlist &
simulation
directives

layout
netlist
file

PSpice
Schematics

component
description
file

PCB Layout

netlist &
packaging
information

footprints

layout ECO file

back
annotation

Probe

Probe
markers

Figure 1 Interaction of Sim Software Programs and Files

PSpice A/D

Bill of
Materials
reports

simulation

audit

Probe
data
file

simulation results

simulation
output file

3

Chapter 1 Getting Started

Example—Drawing a Schematic

The following example demonstrates the basic drawing
features for drawing a schematic. It shows you how to:

• start the schematic editor and begin a new design.

• find out which libraries are configured for Schematics.

• place parts on a schematic.

• connect the part using wires and buses.

• label wires and buses.

• change reference designators and part values.

• move parts, wires and text.

• use ports on a schematic.

• place power and ground symbols on a schematic.

• save your design.

Follow this example to create the circuit shown in
Figure 2.

4

Example—Drawing a Schematic

Figure 2 Opto-isolated, Addressable Serial-to-parallel Converter Circuit

5

Chapter 1 Getting Started

Starting a New Design

Start the schematic editor by double-clicking on the
Schematics icon in the Orcad program group. An empty
schematic page displays.

If you already have Schematics running with another
schematic displayed, click the New File icon to start a new
schematic.

Command Line Options

PSpice Schematics supports a number of command line
options that enable you to customize the start-up mode.
You can add one or more of these options to the
Command Line text box of the Program Item Properties
dialog box (File/Properties from within the Program
Manager) for the Windows Schematics program icon.

The command line options are:

Option Description

-i <filename.ini> activates Schematics using a specific file

(specified by <filename.ini>) for
configuration settings, rather than the
default: pspice.ini

-sym activates Schematics with a new Symbol
Editor document window

<filename> activates Schematics and loads the

schematic file specified by <filename.sch>

6

Checking Symbol Libraries Configuration

When you installed Schematics, you selected a set of
libraries to be installed. These are global libraries, which
means the symbols contained in them are available to be
used in any new or existing schematic.

Check to see that you have the correct symbol libraries
configured for this example:

1 From the Options menu, select Editor Configuration.

Example—Drawing a Schematic

2 Check that the following libraries are included in the

Libraries list box:

7400 [.slb,.plb]
analog [.slb,.plb]
opto [.slb,.plb]
port [.slb]
1_SHOT [.slb]

Note If you are using the evaluation

version of Schematics, you will be using
“eval.slb”.

7

Chapter 1 Getting Started

Th

One of two Part Browser dialog boxes may
appear: the Part Browser Advanced or the
Part Browser Basic. If in the Part Browser
Advanced dialog appears, click <<Basic to
display the Part Browser Basic.

e Full List in the Part Browser dialog box
represents all the parts in the configured
symbol libraries that are available for your
use.

Selecting and Placing Parts

1 From the Draw menu, select Get New Part to display

the Part Browser dialog box.

Another method of selecting a part is to use
the Get Recent Part list box on the toolbar.
You can scroll and select a previously
placed part, or you can type the name of
the part you want to place.

2 There are several ways to select a part in the Part

Browser dialog box:

• If you know the name of the part, type the name in

the Part Name text box.

• Select the part name from the Full List of part

names.

• Click Libraries to view the Library Browser dialog

box, select a library, and select the part name from
that library’s list of parts.

3 Click Place to place the part (with the browser

remaining open) or click Place & Close (to place the
part and close the browser). If you leave the browser
open, click the title bar of the dialog box and drag it to
a new location.

8

Placing resistors R1 and R2

1 From the Draw menu, select Get New Part to display

the Part Browser dialog box (shown on 1-8

).

Example—Drawing a Schematic

2 Type

R in the Part Name text box.

3 Click Place & Close.

The outline of the resistor becomes attached to the
pointer.

Note that as you move the pointer, the X and Y
coordinates at the left of the Status Bar (bottom of the
window) change. These coordinates show the location
of the pointer from origin 0,0 (upper left corner) to the
closest 0.01 inch (or closest mm if you are using a
metric page size).

4 Press C+R to rotate the resistor before placing it.

5 Move the pointer to the 2.40, 1.80 coordinates (within

a few hundredths of the inch is close enough) and click
to place the resistor on the schematic. If the
Stay-on-Grid option is enabled, parts are
automatically placed on the nearest grid point.

6 Move the pointer to 2.40, 3.90 and click again to place

the second resistor on the schematic.

7 Right-click to stop placing the part.

Placing resistors R3 through R6

You can quickly place resistors R3 through R6 using the
Auto-Repeat function.

1 From the Options menu, select Auto-Repeat to display

the Auto-Repeat dialog box.

a Set Horizontal Offset to 00.00 and Vertical Offset

to -00.20.

b Select the Enable Auto-Repeat check box.

c Click OK.

2 From the Get Recent Part list box on the toolbar, select

R.

As you place parts, the numerical portion of
the reference designator is automatically
assigned. For instance, if you place resistor
R2, the next resistor you place will be
designated R3.

9

Chapter 1 Getting Started

Tabl

e 1 Remaining Parts to be

Placed

3 Place the pointer in the approximate position for the

placement of R3 and click to place the part.

4 Press M three times to place three more resistors

above the first.

Placing resistors R7 through R10

1 From the Get Recent Part list box on the toolbar, select

R.

2 Press C+R to rotate the resistor before placing it.

Reference
Designator

C1

U1

U2 A4N25

U3 74164

U4 74164

U5 74174

U6 74174

U7 7485

Part
Name

C

A4N25

3 Place four resistors in the approximate locations of R7,

R8, R9, and R10.

4 Right-click to stop placing resistors.

Placing the remaining parts on the schematic

1 Click the Get New Part button.

2 In the Part Browser dialog box, select each part listed

in Table 1 from the Part list box.

3 Place the part on the schematic in the approximate

location shown in Figure 2.

10

Drawing and Labeling Wires

Draw the wire labeled dataclk to connect pin 8 (CLK) on
U3 and pin 1 (A) on U8A.

Drawing the dataclk wire

1 Click the Draw Wire button.

The pencil pointer indicates that you are ready to
draw a wire.

2 Click pin 8 of U3 to begin the wire.

3 Following the illustration in Figure 2, click where you

want each vertex of the wire. Each click ends a wire
segment and starts a new one.

4 Click pin 1 of U8A

Notice that the wire is now ended where you clicked
to place a pin. The pointer remains in the shape of a
pencil and you are ready to start another wire.

Example—Drawing a Schematic

5 Wire the rest of the schematic to the bus, except for the

wires of the right sides of U5 and U6.

6 Right-click to stop drawing wires.

Labeling the dataclk wire

Label the wire connecting the CLK pin of U3 to the A pin
of U8A.

1 Double-click any segment of the wire to display the

Set Attribute Value dialog box.

2 Type

3 Click OK.

dataclk in the LABEL text box.

11

Chapter 1 Getting Started

Buses must be labeled. Examples of legal
bus names are:

DB[0-12]
DB[0:12]
DB[0..12]
DB0, DB1, CLK

Drawing and Labeling Buses

Draw the bus labeled DB[1-12].

Drawing the bus

1 Click the Draw Bus button.

The pointer is now shaped like a pencil (as it was when
you were drawing wires).

2 Click where you want to start the bus.

3 Click the pointer where you want to end the bus.

4 Right-click to stop drawing buses.

Labeling the bus

1 Double-click any segment of the bus to display the Set

Attribute Value dialog box.

2 Type DB[1-12] in the LABEL text box.

You can use the Auto-Repeat function to
place the wires that connect the pins to the
bus because the wires will be the same
length and fixed distances.

3 Click OK.

Connecting wires to the bus

1 From the Options menu, select Auto-Repeat to display

the Auto-Repeat dialog box.

a Set the Vertical Offset to 00.10.

b Ensure that Enable Auto-Repeat is enabled.

c Click OK.

2 Click the Draw Wire button and draw a wire from pin

2 of U5 to the bus.

3 Press M five times to place five more wires.

4 Click the Draw Wire button and draw a wire from pin

2 of U6 to the bus.

5 Press M five times to place five more wires.

12

Example—Drawing a Schematic

Labeling the wires connected to the bus

You can use Auto-Naming to label a uniform collection of
wires.

1 From the Options menu, select Auto-Naming to

display the Auto Naming dialog box.

a In the Wire/Port Labels frame, select the Enable

Auto-Increment check box.

b In the Label Template text box, type

the label for the first wire in the series.

Wires will be labeled incrementally from DB1 and
up.

c Click OK.

2 Select the first (lower-most) wire to be labeled.

3 Press C+E to label the wire.

4 Repeat steps 2 and 3 for each wire segment, in the

order they are to be labeled (from bottom to top).

DB1, which is

Note Each wire connecting to a bus must

be labeled with the name of one of the
signals on the bus.

13

Chapter 1 Getting Started

Changing Reference Designators and Part Values

Change part values and reference designators by
double-clicking them and typing a new value in the dialog
box.

Changing U8A to U9B

When you place a part on the schematic,
the part is automatically assigned a
reference designator and a gate (if it is a
multi-part component). For instance, when
you placed the 74123 part, it was assigned
something like U8A (that is, reference
designator U8 and gate A).

If you placed any of the components in an
order other than the sequential order
shown in Figure 2, use this feature now to
change the reference designators to match
the schematic in Figure 2.

1 Double-click U8A to display the Edit Reference

Designator dialog box.

2 Type

3 Type

4 Click OK.

U9 in the Package Reference Designator text box.

B in the Gate text box.

Changing R9 from 1 kohm to 100 kohm

1 Double-click 1k (next to resistor R9) to display the Set

Attribute Value dialog box.

2 Change 1k to 100k.

3 Click OK.

Now, change the value of R10 to 100k and the values of R3
through R8 to 10k.

14

Moving Parts, Wires, and Text

Th

Move parts, wires, buses, and text by clicking to select
them, and dragging them to a new location. To maintain
connectivity when moving parts, wires, or buses, enable
the rubberbanding option.

Moving resistor R1 up one grid

Example—Drawing a Schematic

For information on how to enable the
rubberbanding option, see

Rubberbanding

on page 4-111.

1 Click the resistor to select it.

2 Drag the resistor up one grid.

3 Place the resistor at the new location.

Part values, reference designators, and other text can be
moved in the same way.

Moving the value of R10

1 Click the 100k value of the resistor.

The box outline around the value indicates that it is
selected.

The box outline around the resistor shows that the
resistor is the owner of the selected value.

2 Drag the value of the resistor to a new location.

The box representing the 100k value follows as you
move the pointer.

e color of the selected resistor is the color
specified for the Selection display layer in
the Display Preferences dialog box (see

Configuring Colors
page 3-63).

on

15

Chapter 1 Getting Started

Placing Ports

Ports in Schematics identify signals that are inputs or
outputs to a schematic. Place ports in the same way that
you place other parts.

Placing the port

1 From the Draw menu, select Get New Part to display

the Part Browser dialog box (shown on page 8).

2 Click Libraries to display the Library Browser dialog

box.

16

3 In the Library list box, select port.slb.

4 In the Part list box, select GLOBAL (which is the name

of a global port symbol).

5 Click OK.

6 In the Part Browser dialog box, click Place & Close.

7 Move the pointer to the location for the DAT port and

click to place the part.

8 Right-click to stop placing ports.

Labeling the port

1 Double-click the port symbol to display the Set

Attribute Value dialog box.

Example—Drawing a Schematic

2 Type

3 Click OK.

Now place two more ports and label them CLK and RTN
as shown in Figure 2.

DAT in the LABEL text box.

Placing Power and Ground Symbols

Power and ground symbols are types of global port
symbols in Schematics. The label on the port defines the
name of the power supply.

Placing +5-volt power supplies

1 Type +5V in the Get Recent Part list box on the toolbar.

2 Press R to select the part.

3 Move the pointer to the location of the +5V symbol

and click to place the symbol.

4 Move the pointer and click to place the other nine +5V

symbols.

5 Right-click to stop placing parts.

All signals tied to power supplies of the same name are
connected.

17

Chapter 1 Getting Started

Placing ground symbols

1 In the Get Recent Part list box on the toolbar, type

EGND.

2 Press R to select the part.

3 Move the pointer to the location of the ground symbol

and click to place the symbol.

4 Move the pointer and click to place the other four

ground symbols.

5 Right-click to stop placing parts.

Saving Your Work

Click the File Save button, or select Save (or Save As) from
the File menu to save the schematic.

If this is a new design, you are prompted to enter a file
name where the new schematic will be saved.

18

Using Design Manager

Overview

2

This chapter provides introductory information about the
Design Manager.

This chapter has the following sections:

Understanding Design Manager

purpose and uses for Design Manager.

Managing Your Files in the Workspace

what a workspace is and how to manage your files within
it.

Design Manager Functions

Manager functions and activities.

Starting the Design Manager

start the Design Manager.

Design Manager Help

Design Manager Help.

on page 2-25 describes where to find

on page 2-20 describes the

on page 2-22 explains

on page 2-23 describes Design

on page 2-25 describes how to

Chapter 2 Using Design Manager

Understanding Design Manager

Design Manager allows you to browse, manage, archive,
and restore your design files.

When you open a design file, Design Manager searches
the Windows Explorer for the following information:

• the name of the top-level folder where the file is stored

• the names of all files within the top-level folder and its

sub-folders

• the names of files in folders outside the top-level

folder that are linked to files within the top-level
folder

Design Manager gathers this information, arranges and
displays it in categories that show the relationships of the
files to one another. For instance, all PSpice Schematics

.sch files are listed in the Design Entry Files category,

while all simulation
Simulation Results category. Hierarchical schematics are
shown as child schematics to the parents.

.dat and .out files are listed in the

20

Understanding Design Manager

21

Chapter 2 Using Design Manager

Managing Your Files in the
Workspace

Multiple workspaces, in their own windows,
can be open simultaneously for browsing
and file management activities.

Because categories are for display purposes
only, you cannot move or copy files from
one category type to another category
type.

Design Manager views a file’s top-level folder (as seen in
Windows Explorer) as a workspace and assigns it the name
of the top-level folder.

Although workspaces are actual folders, categories are
not. Categories only display files found after Design
Manager searches the top-level folder and its sub-folders,
making it easy for you to identify and manage them.
Dependent files (such as hierarchical sub-schematic and
symbol library files) that are stored outside the
workspace, show a reference to their location.

You can copy and move all files, or a selected sub-set, from
one workspace to another workspace. This principle
applies to deleting files as well. Because categories are for
display purposes only, you cannot move or copy files
from one category type to another category type.

Design Manager also provides cut, copy, paste, and delete
operations at an individual file level, that work similar to
the same functions in Windows Explorer.

When files are copied, moved, or saved to a workspace,
Design Manager automatically arranges their display into
the appropriate file-type categories. Windows Explorer
(when opened or refreshed) reflects the action taken in the
workspace.

22

Note To get the optimal use of Design Manager, it is recommended that

only files related to one design be stored in one top-level folder,
and therefore in one workspace. Also, because Design Manager can
perform operations on a design file and all of its dependent files
simultaneously, perform file management functions within Design
Manger, rather than Windows Explorer.

Design Manager Functions

The following describes Design Manager functions and
activities:

General characteristics

• availability for use without other Orcad programs

running

• automatic categorization of design-related files, sorted

into file-type categories, within a workspace

• ability to have multiple workspaces, in their own

windows, open simultaneously

• two methods (view by Category and view by Name)

with which you can view and manage all files within
a selected workspace, as well as external references to
files outside the selected workspace

Design Manager Functions

File management

• copy, move, and delete all files (or optionally a

selected sub-set), from one workspace to another

• optionally cut, delete, copy, and archive all dependent

files

• cut, delete, copy, and paste files as similarly done in

Windows Explorer

• drag-and-drop functionality

• acceptance of files from Windows Explorer, through

commands or drag-and-drop

• ability to create top-level folders in Windows Explorer

from Design Manager

23

Chapter 2 Using Design Manager

Archive and restore

• archive and restore to save a design and all of its

references, package files for shipment to another
location, save disk space, and localize externally
referenced and shared files into a selected workspace

24

Starting the Design Manager

The Design Manager is automatically opened and
minimized when you open PSpice Schematics. You can
also open Design Manager to view and manage files
without first opening Schematics.

Opening the Design Manager outside of Schematics

1 On the task bar, click the Start button.

2 Point to Programs.

3 Point to the Orcad folder.

4 Click Orcad Design Manager.

Design Manager opens with the Category view in effect.

Starting the Design Manager

Hints and Tips

• To get optimal use of Design Manager, place only files

related to one design in one workspace.

• It is beneficial to perform file management functions

within Design Manger, rather than Windows
Explorer. Design Manager can perform operations on
a design file and all of its dependent files
simultaneously.

Design Manager Help

Refer to PSpice Schematics Help and Design Manager
Help for procedures on how to use Design Manager.

25

Chapter 2 Using Design Manager

26

Using the Schematic Editor

Overview

3

This chapter provides background information about the
schematic editor. To see specific step-by-step instructions
for creating a design, see Chapter 4,

Designs.

This chapter has the following sections:

Components of a Design

explains the components of a design.

Main Window

the schematic editor. This section describes the uses of
menus, the toolbar and toolbar buttons, the status line and
the keyboard.

Configuring PSpice Schematics

information on configuring the schematic editor to suit
your requirements.

Controlling the Display in PSpice Schematics

describes how to control the display and printing of layers

on page 3-32 describes the user interface to

on page 3-29 introduces and

on page 3-41 provides

Creating and Editing

on page 3-60

Chapter 3 Using the Schematic Editor

of your schematic, in addition to specifying colors and
sizes.

Zooming and Panning in Schematics

on page 3-68 tells how to

zoom in and out of the drawing, refresh the screen
display, pan to various sections of the drawing and fit the
drawing to the page.

Using the Message Viewer

on page 3-73 describes the

Message Viewer that displays system messages and
explains the various displays and controls.

28

Components of a Design

A schematic consists of:

• symbols

• attributes

• wires

• buses

• text items

Schematics can have either a flat or hierarchical structure,
depending on the way you decide to implement your
design.

Components of a Design

PSpice Schematics uses two basic types of
parts: primitive and hierarchical.

Parts

Parts are electrical devices that make up a circuit, such as:

• resistors

• operational amplifiers

• diodes

• voltage sources

• digital gates

The graphical representation of a part is a symbol.
Symbols are stored in symbol libraries.

Primitive parts are at the lowest level and
explicitly contain all of the information
required by the netlister. Most symbols in
the symbol libraries are primitive parts.

Hierarchical parts have the same
appearance as primitive parts. The
difference is that hierarchical parts
represent one or more levels of schematics
and primitive parts do not.

A hierarchical part is modified by pushing
into it from within the schematic editor or
symbol editor and editing the associated
schematic.

A primitive part is modified by editing its
graphics, pins, and attributes.

29

Chapter 3 Using the Schematic Editor

w

T

Symbols

Symbols are the graphical representation of parts, ports,
and other schematic elements. They are grouped by
functionality into symbol libraries. Each symbol contains
a specific set of attributes that define the symbol. You can
edit these attributes as well as create new attributes.
Symbols can share similar attributes and graphics.
Hierarchical symbols represent schematics and are the
mechanism that you use to create hierarchical designs.

Ports

Ports are not physical connectors. If you

ant a specific pin (such as a DB25 pin) you
must use a symbol for such a connector
from the “connect.slb” symbol library.

Ports are symbols that form connecting points leading into
or out of the schematic page. Ports provide connectivity
between schematic pages and between levels of hierarchy.
They play an important role in determining names of
electrical nets.

Attributes

wo attributes of a resistor are PKGTYPE

(package type) and VALUE.

Attribute
Name

PKGTYPE = RC05

VALUE = 1K

Value

Parts, ports, wires (nets), buses, and most other symbols
have associated attributes. An attribute consists of a name
and an associated value. Attributes are used for Bill of
Materials reports, and simulation and layout netlists.

Annotations

Text, graphics, and annotation symbols are used to show
non-electrical information on the schematic, such as
comments and tables. Annotation symbols primarily
consist of text and graphics. Title blocks and page borders
are considered annotations. For more information on
adding annotations to your schematic, see Adding

Non-Electrical Information on page 4-126.

30

Connections

Parts and ports contain one or more pins where
connections are made. Electrical connections are formed
by wire and bus segments joining pins and other wire and
bus segments. Connections are also formed by attaching
pins directly to pins. PSpice Schematics represents each
such electrical connection by a junction. Junctions are
made visible when three or more connected items
converge at the junction. Junctions are created and
removed automatically.

Some parts have hidden pins. Hidden pins are most often
used for power and ground connections to digital parts.
Hidden pins are not connected by wires and buses, but
rather through an attribute that names the net, which they
belong (the

IPIN(<pinname>)=<netname> attribute) to.

Components of a Design

31

Chapter 3 Using the Schematic Editor

Main Window

When you start PSpice Schematics, a schematic editor
window opens and displays a single schematic page. You
have the option of opening additional schematic editor
windows. Use these windows to:

• display different schematics.

• display different portions of a single schematic page.

• display different pages of the same schematic.

• display different levels of hierarchy from the same

schematic.

• display a separate symbol editor window.

Note Drop-down menu items sometimes

appear dimmed. In some cases, you must
select an object first or perform some other
operation before you can choose
unavailable items.

Menus

The display and operation of the menus and submenus in
PSpice Schematics follows a standard Windows layout
and operation.

32

Toolbars

T

T

T

Toolbar buttons provide shortcuts for performing
common actions. All toolbars are dockable, so they may
be moved to any location on the schematic.

Main Window

o “dock” toolbars:

1 Click anywhere on the toolbar (except

on the buttons).

Standard Schematics

The Standard Schematics toolbar provides shortcuts to
standard Windows commands.

Table 2 Standard Schematics Toolbar

Button Name Function Page

New File opens a new schematic file

Open File opens an existing schematic

file

Save File saves a schematic file 4-14

Print
(immediate)

Cut deletes a selected object and

Copy copies a selected object to the

prints the active schematic 4-14

copies it to the clipboard

clipboard

4-79

4-79

6

0

4-11
9

4-11
9

2 Drag it to the desired location in the

schematic window or on your desktop.

he next time you open Schematics, the

toolbars will be where you last placed them.

o display toolbars:

1 From the View menu, select Toolbars.
2 Select or clear the check box for each

toolbar to enable or disable its display.

3 Click Close and the selected toolbars

will display.

Paste pastes the most recently cut

or copied object from the
clipboard

Undo undoes the previous action 4-12

Redo redoes what was just undone 4-12

4-11
9

0

0

33

Chapter 3 Using the Schematic Editor

Table 2 Standard Schematics Toolbar

Button Name Function Page

Redraw refreshes the active schematic

page screen display

Zoom In views a smaller area of

schematic

Zoom Out views a larger area of

schematic

Zoom Area views a selected area of

schematic

Zoom to Fit Page fits the view to show all items

on the page

3-41

3-68

3-69

3-68

3-70

34

Drawing

The Drawing toolbar provides shortcuts for drawing and
editing items on your schematic.

Table 3 Drawing Toolbar

Button Name Function Page

Main Window

Draw Wire enables drawing of wires

on the schematic

Draw Bus enables the drawing of

buses on the schematic

Draw Block enables the placing of

blocks on the schematic

Get New Part displays Part Browser

dialog box for selecting
parts for placement

Get Recent
Part

Edit Attributes edits the attributes of

Edit Symbol opens the symbol editor

drop-down list box to
select and place a recent
part without having to
open the part browser

selected objects

for the selected symbol

4-10
4

4-10
7

7-22
8

4-82

4-85

4-93

5-15
1

Note You can also type the name of the

part directly into the text box.

35

Chapter 3 Using the Schematic Editor

Simulation

The Simulation toolbar provides shortcuts for setting up
analyses, running a simulation, and viewing results.

Refer to the Viewing Results on the Schematic chapter of
your PSpice A/D User’s Guide for further information on
simulation in Schematics.

Table 4 Simulation Toolbar

Button Name Function Page

Analysis Setup sets up simulation

analyses for the active
schematic

Simulation starts a simulation of the

current schematic

Marker Color drop-down list box to

change marker colors on
an instance basis

Voltage/Level
Marker

Current Marker enables placing of

enables placing of
voltage/level markers
on the schematic

current markers on the
schematic

8-2
60

8-2
66

*

*

*

36

Table 4 Simulation Toolbar

Button Name Function Page

Main Window

Enable Bias
Voltage Display

Show/Hide
Voltage on
Selected Net(s)

Enable Bias
Current Display

Show/Hide
Currents on
Selected Part(s)

* Refer to the Viewing Results on the Schematic chapter in your PSpice user’s

guide for information about how to use these toolbar buttons.

toggles the display of
bias voltage

toggles the display of
voltages for selected
wires

toggles the display of
bias current

toggles the display of
currents for selected
device pins

*

*

*

*

37

Chapter 3 Using the Schematic Editor

Annotation Graphics

The Annotation Graphics toolbar provides shortcuts for
drawing or inserting non-electrical information onto your
schematic.

Table 5 Annotation Graphics Toolbar

Button Name Function Page

Draw Arc draws an arc shape on the

page

Draw Box draws a box on the page 6-17

6-17
8

8

Draw Circle draws a circle on the page 6-17

9

Draw
Polyline

Draw Text places of a single line of

draws a polyline on the
page

text on the page

6-17
9

4-12
9,6-1
80

Draw Text
Box

Insert
Picture

places multiple lines of text
on the schematic

places a bitmap (.bmp,
.dib) or Windows metafile
(.wmf) on the page

4-12
6

4-13
3

38

Status Bar

The status bar is located at the bottom of the schematic
editor window and provides the following:

• X and Y coordinates of the pointer.

Use the Display Options selection under the Options
menu to toggle display of X and Y coordinates.

• A message area that provides:

• a brief description of the function that will be

performed if you click the toolbar button at the
present pointer location.

• a brief description of the function to be performed.

The description will display by selecting the menu
item at the present pointer location.

• prompts and warning messages that only appear

when it is necessary for you to take a specific
action.

Main Window

If anything must be done by the user or if there is
a warning, the prompt will display in the status
bar.

• the name of the function to be performed when you

use the Repeat command (the name of the function
will display when you use the Repeat function).

Use the Status Bar selection from the View menu to enable
or disable the status bar.

Refreshing the Screen

To refresh the screen, click the Redraw button on the
toolbar.

Keyboard

Table 6 lists the function keys in the schematic editor that
permit you to enable or disable specific commands.

39

Chapter 3 Using the Schematic Editor

Table 6 Schematic Editor Function Keys

Key Action Menu Selection

1 Online Help Help Help

Function keys 4 through 9 are
toggle keys. Pressing the key enables the
feature, and pressing S plus the
key disables the feature.

2 Move to lower level in

the schematic hierarchy

3 Move up one level

in the schematic
hierarchy

4 Text stay-on-grid Options Display

5 Orthogonal Options Display

6 Stay-on-grid Options Display

7 Auto-increment Options Auto-Na

8 Auto-repeat Options Auto-Rep

9 Rubberbanding Options Display

Navigate Push

Navigate Pop

Options

Options

Options

ming

eat

Options

40

0 View errors, warnings,

and messages

! Start the simulator Analysis Simulate

@ Start MicroSim Probe Analysis Run

File View

Messages

Probe

Configuring PSpice Schematics

The following list summarizes the different types of
options you can configure in PSpice Schematics.
Customizing configurable options allows you to use
PSpice Schematics in the way that best suits your needs
and requirements.

Library settings

• changes the set of configured symbol libraries

Page settings

• sets the page size for your schematic

• specifies other page settings such as paper size, pin

spacing, and borders

Configuring PSpice Schematics

Display options and preferences

• changes the grid and gravity settings of the schematic

editor

• sets the time interval between automatic saves of your

schematics

• changes the font used for displaying and printing text

on your schematics

• determines which elements of a schematic are to be

displayed and printed

• changes the colors used for drawing and displaying

objects

Application settings

• specifies the number of items in the Get Recent Part

list box on the toolbar

• changes where to find the .exe files for programs that

interface with PSpice Schematics and which
initialization file to use other than the installed default
initialization file (pspice.ini)

• specifies the use of a different text editor

41

Chapter 3 Using the Schematic Editor

Configuring Symbol Libraries

There are two major elements that work together in
Schematics that let you place symbols into your design:

• symbol libraries

• library search list

Symbol libraries are located in library directories. The
library search list is in the Part Browser and the Editor
Configuration dialog box under the Options menu.

A library name must be in the library
search list to be available for placing its
symbols.

It is important to remember that libraries and the search
list have two distinct functions. You can create a symbol
library, but if the library name is not in the library search
list, it is not available to the design for placing symbols.
Conversely, you can inadvertently create an error
condition by having a library name in the search list, for a
library that doesn’t exist.

Configuring a symbol library is adding a library name to
the library search list.

Note When adding a symbol library to the library search list, placement

in the list is important. If more than one library contains the same
symbol name, Schematics uses only the first one it encounters.

You must ensure the library actually exists in the location
specified during the configuration procedure.

42

Types of Libraries

Schematics recognizes two types of libraries:

This library... Is available...

global to all schematic designs. They are listed

in the pspice.ini file and are
automatically loaded into the library
search list for every design.

Global libraries appear in the library
search list with an asterisk (*) preceding
the library name.

local to designs within which they are saved.

Schematics always places local library
names at the top of the library search
list. Local libraries are always searched
first.

Configuring PSpice Schematics

Default Library Directory

Schematics includes a default library directory where all
the symbol libraries (.
reside. It is not required to configure these libraries. They
are already configured in the search list as global libraries.

However, if you prefer, you can:

• change the order in which libraries appear in the

search list, thereby changing the order in which they
are searched

• remove library names from the search list (without

deleting the libraries)

• add new libraries

• delete libraries

• reconfigure libraries from global to local

slb) you selected during installation

Note To maintain the integrity of your

default symbols, we recommend making a
copy of the default symbol libraries. If you
use the symbol editor to make changes to a
default symbol, it will overwrite the default
symbol if you save using the default file
name. Also, if you import symbol files into
the default library and an imported file has
the same name as the default file, the
imported file will overwrite the default file.

43

Chapter 3 Using the Schematic Editor

User-Defined Symbol Libraries

You can create global and local symbol libraries, and add
them to the default directory or to another directory of
your choice. Once created, you can perform all the same
actions as listed in Default Library Directory

on page 3-43.

Note When adding a symbol library to the library search list, placement

in the list is important. If more than one library contains the same
symbol name, Schematics uses only the first one it encounters.

If you add local library names to the library search list,
Schematics places them before global library names,
because they are searched first. You can control their
placement within a group of local library names, but you
cannot integrate them into the global names.

Adding a library

Options Menu

1 From the Options menu, select Editor Configuration

to display the Editor Configuration dialog box.

2 Click Library Settings to display the Library Settings

dialog box.

44

3 In the list of libraries, select the location for the new

library.

A new global library will be added directly above the
library you select. A new local library will be placed
above the first global library name in the list.

Configuring PSpice Schematics

4 If the library you are adding is a symbol library, select

the Symbol check box. If the library you are adding
has an associated package library, select the Package
check box.

5 In the Library Name text box, type the name of the

library.

Do not type a file name extension if the library you are
using is listed in the dialog box; the file name
extension is appended automatically.

6 Click Add* for a global library, or click Add Local for

a local library.

If you are adding a global library, Schematics writes
the library name to the pspice.ini file so it is
available to all schematic designs.

7 Click OK to exit the Library Settings dialog box.

8 In the Editor Configuration dialog box, click OK.

If the library you are using is stored
elsewhere, the full path must be entered.

45

Chapter 3 Using the Schematic Editor

T

Removing Library Names

When removing a library name, it is only
removed from the configured libraries list.

he library is not deleted.

Options Menu

If you no longer need a library name in the list of
configured libraries, you can remove it from the list of
configured libraries.

Removing a library name

1 From the Options menu, select Editor Configuration

to display the Editor Configuration dialog box (shown
on 3-44

2 Click Library Settings to display the Library Settings

dialog box (shown on 3-45).

3 In the list of libraries, select the library name that you

want to remove.

The selected library name is displayed in the Library
Name text box.

4 Click Delete.

5 Click OK to exit the Library Settings dialog box.

6 In the Editor Configuration dialog box, click OK.

).

46

Correcting Library Names

If you type a library name incorrectly, you can change the
name as it appears in the list of configured libraries.

Correcting a library name

1 From the Options menu, select Editor Configuration

to display the Editor Configuration dialog box (shown
on 3-44

2 Click Library Settings to display the Library Settings

dialog box (shown on 3-45

3 In the list of libraries, select the library that you want

to change.

The name of the selected library displays in the
Library Name text box.

4 In the Library Name text box, type a new name for the

library.

).

).

Do not type a file name extension; the file name
extension is appended automatically.

5 Click Change.

6 Click OK to exit the Library Setting dialog box.

7 In the Editor Configuration dialog box, click OK.

Changing the Search Order

The way that PSpice Schematics searches libraries for a
symbol follows the order in which the libraries are
configured in the list. You can change the position of a
library in the list.

Configuring PSpice Schematics

Changing the position of the library in the list

1 From the Options menu, click Editor Configuration to

display the Editor Configuration dialog box (shown
on 3-44

2 Click Library Settings to display the Library Settings

dialog box (shown on 3-45).

3 In the list of libraries, select the library name that you

want to move.

The name of the selected library displays in the
Library Name text box.

4 Click Delete.

5 In the list of libraries, select the name above which the

repositioned name will be inserted.

6 In the Library Name text box, type the name of the

library you want to reposition.

Do not type a file name extension; the file name
extension is appended automatically.

).

Options Menu

7 If the library is a symbol library, select the Symbol

check box. If the library has an associated package
library, select the Package check box.

8 Click Add* for a global library or click Add Local for a

local library.

47

Chapter 3 Using the Schematic Editor

The repositioned library name is inserted above the
selected name.

9 Click OK to exit the Library Setting dialog box.

10 In the Editor Configuration dialog box, click OK.

Changing the Search Path

Note Local libraries are first looked for in

the directory where the schematic resides.

PSpice Schematics looks for a library according to the
path(s) specified by the Library Path in the Editor
Configuration dialog box.

Changing the library search path

1 From the Options menu, select Editor Configuration

to display the Editor Configuration dialog box.

48

2 Type a new path or add to the existing path in the

Library Path text box.

Specify multiple directories by separating them with a
semicolon:

c:\msim\lib
c:\msim\lib;c:\project\lib

3 Click OK.

Changing Page Size

PSpice Schematics supports standard page sizes A
through E and A0 through A4. It also allows you to specify
a user defined page size.

Changing the page size

Configuring PSpice Schematics

1 From the Options menu, click Page Size to display the

Page Size dialog box.

2 Click the appropriate button to select a pre-defined

page size, or indicate a User Defined Size by typing the
page dimensions in the Horiz: and Vert: text boxes.

3 Click OK to change the page size of the currently

active page and to establish the default page size for
all later pages.

Options Menu

49

Chapter 3 Using the Schematic Editor

Note If you are using zoned borders,

make sure the Display check box for the
Page Boundary layer in the Display
Preferences dialog box is enabled (see

Controlling the Display in
PSpice Schematics on
page 3-60).

Changing Page Settings

For all page sizes, you can change the border style, the
drawing area, and the pin-to-pin spacing.

Border Style

Schematics provides two border styles: zoned and outline.
Figure 3 illustrates the two styles.

Zone

designator

Note Drawing areas for the zoned and

outline border types are the same size, as
shown in Figure 3.

Drawing

area

Drawing

area

zoned border

outline border

Margin

Figure 3 Border Styles

You can configure a zoned border for all decimal and
metric page sizes, including custom sizes (see Changing the

border style on page 3-52.)

The following table lists the default decimal page sizes
and their configurations.

50

Table 7 Zoned Border Default Decimal Parameters

Configuring PSpice Schematics

Type Dimension*

A 8.5 x 11 2 .25 2 .38

B 11 x 17 2 .62 4 .38

C17 x 224.5 4.75

D22 x 34 41.0 8 .5

E34 x 448.5 81.0

* in inches

Vertical Horizontal

Zones Margin Zones Margin

The following table lists the default metric page sizes and
their configurations.

Table 8 Zoned Border Default Metric Parameters

Type Dimension*

Vertical Horizontal

Zones Margin Zones Margin

A4 210 x 297 2 6.35 2 9.65

A3 297 x 420 2 15.75 4 9.65

A2 420 x 594 4 12.7 4 19.5

A1 594 x 841 4 25.4 8 12.7

A0 841 x 1189 8 12.7 8 25.4

* in millimeters

Note If your design doesn’t require a zoned border, Outline Border will

display the page with fewer details.

51

Chapter 3 Using the Schematic Editor

Changing the border style

You can specify which border style to use through the
Editor Configuration dialog box. The current drawing and
all subsequent new drawings use the style you select.

Options Menu

1 From the Options menu, select Editor Configuration

to display the Editor Configuration dialog box.

2 Click Page Settings to display the Page Settings dialog

box.

52

3 Select the page size for which you want to set the

border style.

You can select either style for each page size.

Configuring PSpice Schematics

T

4 Select the Outline or Zoned border style.

For style... Do this...

Outline

1 In the Borders frame, click the

Outline button.

2 Click OK to accept the Outline

border and exit the Page Settings
dialog box.

Zoned

1 In the Borders frame, click the

Zoned button.

2 Type the number of zones for each

axis.

3 Type the margin sizes for each axis.

4 Select letters or numbers for zone

designators in each plane.

5 Select Ascending or Descending (in

reference to the upper-left corner of
the page), in each plane.

o round the corners on the outside border
line, select the Rounded Corners check box.

6 Click OK to accept the Zoned

border and exit the Page Settings
dialog box.

Note Line widths for the page boundary are specified in the Display

Preferences dialog box. See Setting the default graphics

properties through Display Preferences on page 4-132

for more information.

53

Chapter 3 Using the Schematic Editor

Drawing Area

Changing the drawing area size

1 From the Options menu, select Editor Configuration

to display the Editor Configuration dialog box (shown
on 3-52

2 Click Page Settings to display the Page Settings dialog

box.

).

Note Drawing areas for zoned and outline

border types are the same size, (see
Figure 3 on page 3-50).

54

3 In the Width and Height text boxes, type the drawing

area dimensions for the page size.

4 Click OK to exit the Page Settings dialog box.

5 In the Editor Configuration dialog box, click OK.

Pin-to-Pin Spacing

You can scale symbols so they will appear larger or
smaller on the schematic. You do this by changing the
pin-to-pin spacing for a given page size.

Changing the pin-to-pin spacing

1 From the Options menu, select Editor Configuration

to display the Editor Configuration dialog box (shown
on 3-52

2 Click Page Settings to display the Page Settings dialog

box (shown on 3-54).

3 In the Pin-to-Pin Spacing text box, type a new value.

4 Click OK.

).

Configuring PSpice Schematics

Changing Grid and Gravity

The grid and gravity functions of PSpice Schematics ease
your drawing tasks and can help make your schematic
more precise.

Grid On

When Grid On is enabled, the grid is displayed in the
drawing area of the schematic editor window.

Enabling or disabling the grid display

1 From the Options menu, select Display Options.

2 Select or clear the Grid On check box to enable or

disable the grid display.

3 Click OK.

55

Chapter 3 Using the Schematic Editor

Stay-on-Grid

Stay-on-grid controls the method of object placement.
When Stay-on-Grid is enabled, the objects are forced onto
grid when placed. We recommend that you enable this so
that electrical connections are made correctly.

Enabling or disabling stay-on-grid

1 From the Options menu, select Display Options.

2 Select or clear the Stay-on-Grid check box to enable or

disable Stay-on-Grid.

3 Click OK.

Snap-to-Grid

Snap-to-grid controls the movement of the object while
being moved for placement when Stay-on-Grid is
enabled. If Snap-to-Grid and Stay-on-Grid are both
enabled, movement during object placement is in
increments equal to the current grid spacing. If
Snap-to-Grid is not selected, the object moves smoothly.

Note The Stay-on-Grid command must be

enabled for the Snap-to-Grid command to
be effective.

Enabling or disabling snap-to-grid

1 From the Options menu, select Display Options.

2 Select or clear the Snap-to-Grid check box to enable or

disable snap-to-grid.

3 Click OK.

56

Snap-to-Pin

Snap-to-pin, when enabled, causes the endpoint of a wire
or bus segment to snap to the nearest pin if one is found
inside the radius defined by the Gravity setting.

Enabling or disabling snap-to-pin

1 From the Options menu, select Display Options.

2 Select or clear the Snap-to-Pin check box to enable or

disable snap-to-pin.

3 Click OK.

Grid Spacing

Grid Spacing defines the horizontal and vertical grid
spacing on your drawing area. The default spacing is 10
units. This corresponds to (and displays as) 0.10 inches for
US-standard page sizes, and 2.5 millimeters for metric
page sizes. The minimum grid spacing allowed is 0.01
inch, or .25 millimeters.

Configuring PSpice Schematics

Specifying grid spacing

1 From the Options menu, select Display Options.

2 In the Grid Spacing frame, type the grid spacing value.

3 Click OK.

Gravity

The gravity setting specifies how close an object must be
to a pin to snap to it. Gravity is only functional when
snap-to-pin is enabled.

Specifying gravity

1 From the Options menu, select Display Options.

2 In the Snap-to-Pin frame, type the snap-to-pin gravity

value.

3 Click OK.

Gravity is only functional when snap-to-pin
is enabled.

57

Chapter 3 Using the Schematic Editor

Text Grid

Text Grid allows you to set the grid spacing for text
separately from the drawing grid spacing. The text grid is
usually set to some smaller percentage of the drawing
grid. This allows you to align text between drawing grid
points.

Enabling text grid and specifying text grid size

1 From the Options menu, select Display Options.

2 In the Text Grid frame, select the Stay-on-Grid check

box to enable the text grid.

3 In the Grid Size text box, type the text grid spacing

value.

4 Click OK.

Setting the Autosave Interval

The autosave interval specifies the time interval, in
minutes, which PSpice Schematics automatically saves
any modified schematics or libraries.

Setting the Autosave interval

1 From the Options menu, select Editor Configuration

to display the Editor Configuration dialog box.

2 In the Autosave interval box, type the number of

minutes for the autosave interval.

3 Click OK.

58

When Autosave is enabled, PSpice Schematics creates a
temporary file with the same name as the active working
file, and a file name extension ending in ‘

v’ (for example,

“.scv,” “.slv,” “.plv”). If you have a power outage or
system failure, you can retrieve your work from these
files.

The temporary files are deleted each time a schematic or
library is successfully closed or saved. When you open a
file, PSpice Schematics compares the saved file to the
autosave file, if one is present. If the autosave file is more
recent than the requested file, PSpice Schematics provides
a warning and allows you to restore the file as the active
schematic or library.

While an autosave is in progress, a message appears in the
status line and the hourglass symbol displays in place of
the pointer. Wait until the autosave is finished before
continuing.

Configuring PSpice Schematics

Disabling Autosave

1 From the Options menu, select Editor Configuration

to display the Editor Configuration dialog box (shown
on 3-48

2 In the Autosave interval text box, type 0 (zero).

3 Click OK.

).

59

Chapter 3 Using the Schematic Editor

Controlling the Display in PSpice
Schematics

PSpice Schematics allows you to define what elements of
a design you want to display and print. This means you
can set different display properties for each element of
your schematic. In the Display Preferences dialog box, the
default colors, styles, fonts, and sizes of each display layer
are established.

You can either display or not display (and print or not
print) the following:

Annotation Graphics Attribute Text Buses

Hidden Pins Junctions Labels

Markers and
Viewpoints

Pin Names Pin Numbers Ports

Reference
Designators

Stimulus Symbol Text Symbols

Text Text Box Title and Border

User-specified text Wires

Page Boundary Part Names

Simulation Currents Simulation

Voltages

60

Displaying or printing default properties

T

T

1 From the Options menu, select Display Preferences to

display the Display Preferences dialog box.

Controlling the Display in PSpice Schematics

Options Menu

2 From the Display Layers list, select the appropriate

display layer (or layers).

3 Click the General tab.

4 Select or clear the Display check box to enable or

disable display of the selected layers.

5 Select or clear the Print check box to enable or disable

o select more than one layer
consecutively:

1 Hold down S.
2 Click the first desired layer in the list

and the last.

Every layer in between will be selected.

printing of the selected layers.

6 Click Apply to apply the changes and keep the dialog

box displayed for further changes, or click OK to
apply the changes and close the dialog box.

o select more than one layer
non-consecutively:

1 Hold down C.
2 Click each desired layer.

61

Chapter 3 Using the Schematic Editor

T

If you are rotating text objects, use

rueType fonts to prevent the display from

becoming distorted.

Options Menu

Changing Fonts

To change the default fonts PSpice Schematics uses to
display and print text, use the Display Preferences dialog
box.

Selecting a font

1 From the Options menu, select Display Preferences to

display the Display Preferences dialog box.

2 Select one or more layers from the Display Layers list.

3 Click the Text tab.

4 Click Browse to display the Font dialog box.

62

5 Select a font and size from their corresponding list

boxes and click OK.

A sample of the selected font is shown in the Sample
box.

6 Enter a size in either inches or millimeters, or accept

the system default for the selected font.

7 Select a color from the Color list box.

8 Click Apply to apply the changes and keep the dialog

box displayed for further changes, or click OK to
apply the changes and close the dialog box.

Configuring Colors

The colors for all layers in Schematics are configured in
the Display Preferences dialog box. The colors you specify
become the defaults, however, they may be changed as
often as necessary.

Controlling the Display in PSpice Schematics

Configuring Colors in your Schematic

1 From the Options menu, select Display Preferences to

display the Display Preferences dialog box (shown on
page 3-62

2 Select one or more layers from the Display Layers list.

3 Click the tab that applies to the layers you have

selected.

For example, if you want to change a text color, select
the layer, click the Text tab, and select the appropriate
display settings.

4 Select a color from the Color drop-down list.

5 Click Apply to apply the changes and keep the dialog

box open for further changes, or click OK to apply the
changes and close the dialog box.

).

63

Chapter 3 Using the Schematic Editor

Changing Application Settings

You have the option to change the location of the .exe files
of the programs that Schematics interfaces with. You can
also configure a different text editor (besides WordPad)
and specify an initialization file other than the installed
default initialization file.

Changing where to find programs

1 From the Options menu, select Editor Configuration

to display the Editor Configuration dialog box.

64

2 Click App Settings to display the App Settings dialog

box.

Controlling the Display in PSpice Schematics

w

T

The Simulate Command frame shows the path that
PSpice Schematics uses to run MicroSim PSpice A/D.

3 To change the path name, type a new path name in the

Command text box.

Note The Simulate Command frame will

show either PSpice or PSpice A/D,
depending on the package that you have
purchased. If you are using a network
licensed version that has both PSpice and

4 Similarly, to change any of the other command lines,

click to select the command in the Other Commands

PSpice A/D available, you can choose

hich simulator you want to use.

list box and type a new path name in the Command
text box.

5 Click OK to exit the App Settings dialog box.

6 In the Editor Configuration dialog box, click OK.

Changing the configuration file

A configuration file other than the default pspice.ini
file can be used for any of the programs that Schematics
interfaces with.

1 From the Options menu, select Editor Configuration

to display the Editor Configuration dialog box (shown
on 3-65

).

2 Click App Settings to display the App Settings dialog

box (shown on 3-65

).

3 In the Configuration File frame, select Other.

o change the configuration file for PSpice
Schematics:

1 In the Windows Program Manager,

select the PSpice Schematics icon.

2 Select Properties from the File menu.
3 Append -i<configuration file name> to

the Command Line.

4 Click OK.

65

Chapter 3 Using the Schematic Editor

4 Type the file name of the configuration file in the text

box.

5 Click OK to exit the App Setting dialog box.

6 In the Editor Configuration dialog box, click OK.

Specifying a different text editor

Editing text in PSpice Schematics is done through the
WordPad program. You have the option to specify a
different text editor.

1 From the Options menu, select Editor Configuration

to display the Editor Configuration dialog box (shown
on 3-65

).

2 Click App Settings to display the App Settings dialog

box (shown on 3-65

).

3 In the Other Commands box, select Text Editor.

4 Type a new path name in the Command text box to

specify the path and name of the text editor you want
to use.

5 Click OK to exit the App Settings dialog box.

6 In the Editor Configuration dialog box, click OK.

66

Changing the Get Recent Part List Size

The Get Recent Part list box on the toolbar contains a
scroll-down list of recently placed parts. The default
length of this list is ten items.

To change the length of the list, use a text editor to edit the
MRPLISTSIZE item in the [SCHEMATICS] section of the

pspice.ini file.

MRPLISTSIZE=<length of list>

Controlling the Display in PSpice Schematics

67

Chapter 3 Using the Schematic Editor

Zooming and Panning in
Schematics

Zooming

When working on a design, you can zoom in (enlarge the
view) or zoom out (reduce the view) to view a larger or
smaller portion of the schematic window. Zooming in
reduces the area viewed and enlarges the objects viewed.
Zooming out increases the area viewed and reduces the
size of the objects viewed.

Zooming in

or press C+I

or press C+A

1 From the View menu, select In.

2 Move the pointer to the desired center of the zoom

action and click.

Zooming in about the center of the window

1 Click the Zoom In button.

The amount of magnification is determined by the
Zoom Scale Factor (see Setting Zoom Parameters

page 3-69).

on

Zooming in on a selected area of the page

1 Click the Zoom Area button, or select Area from the

View menu.

2 Drag a selection rectangle to select the desired display

area.

Zooming out

or press C+O

68

1 From the View menu, select Out.

2 Move the pointer to the desired center of the zoom

action and click.

Zooming out about the center of the window

Zooming and Panning in Schematics

1 Click the Zoom Out button.

The amount of reduction is determined by the Zoom
Scale Factor (see Setting Zoom Parameters

on page 3-69).

Zooming out to view the full schematic page

1 From the View menu, select Entire Page.

Setting Zoom Parameters

Setting scale factor and fit

The Zoom parameters tailor how the work space will be
magnified or reduced when you make selections from the
View menu, or click any of the zoom buttons.

1 From the Options menu, select Pan & Zoom to display

the Pan & Zoom dialog box.

or press C+O

or press C+N

Options Menu

2 In the Scale Factor text box, type a value.

This value defines the factor by which the screen is
magnified or reduced when you select Zoom In or
Zoom Out. A Scale Factor of 2 will double (or halve)
the size of objects viewed.

3 In the Fit text box, type a value.

69

Chapter 3 Using the Schematic Editor

or press C+N

This value defines the percentage of the work space to
be filled with the complete schematic when you select
View Fit. Type a decimal value between 50 and 100. A
typical value is 90.

4 Click OK.

Fitting to a Page

All of the parts, wires and text within the active window
(excluding the title block) are displayed by fitting the view
to the page.

Fitting the view to the page

1 Click the Zoom to Fit Page button, or select Fit from

the View menu.

View Menu

Panning

Panning allows you to select a new window centering
point. The current zoom scale remains the same. When
you select the new center point, the schematic is panned
until the selected point is in the center of the window.

Panning to a new center

1 From the View menu, select Pan—New Center.

2 Move the pointer to the desired window center and

click.

70

Automatic Panning

If Auto Pan is enabled, the pointer turns to a solid black
arrow when you move it to the edge of the window. If you
leave the arrow at the edge of the window for a few
moments, the view pans in the direction of the arrow. You
can pan up, down, left, and right using this method.

Enabling Automatic Panning

Zooming and Panning in Schematics

1 From the Options menu, select Pan & Zoom to display

the Pan & Zoom dialog box.

2 In the Auto Pan frame, select the Enable check box.

3 Click OK.

Setting hot zone size

Options Menu

When panning, click the right mouse button
to pan immediately, rather than waiting for
the pan time to elapse.

The Hot Zone Size determines the width of the zone
where the pointer has to rest to trigger the Auto Pan
function.

1 From the Options menu, click Pan & Zoom to display

the Pan & Zoom dialog box.

2 In the Hot Zone Size text box, type a value.

Values must be in the range from 1 to 10. If the value
is set to 1 (default value), the hot zone is 1% of the
dimensions of the screen.

3 Click OK.

71

Chapter 3 Using the Schematic Editor

Setting Auto Pan sensitivity

The Auto Pan sensitivity setting determines how long the
pointer must remain on the window border before the
panning takes place.

1 From the Options menu, click Pan & Zoom to display

the Pan & Zoom dialog box (shown on page 3-71

).

2 In the Auto Pan frame, type a value in the Sensitivity

text box.

The value in the text box is the time delay in
milliseconds. The default is 1000 milliseconds.

3 Click OK.

Setting Pan Coarse Delta and Fine Delta

The Pan parameters determine the degree of movement of
the work space when you use the scroll bars.

1 From the Options menu, click Pan & Zoom to display

the Pan & Zoom dialog box (shown on page 3-71

).

2 In the Coarse Delta text box, type a value.

The value in the text box is the degree of movement of
the design when you click in a scroll bar on either side
of the slider. The value must be between 1 and 50 and
represents a percentage of the visible work space.

3 In the Fine Delta text box, type a value.

Fine Delta defines the percentage of movement of the
design when you pan by clicking on one of the scroll
bar arrows. The value must be between 1 and 5 and
represents a percentage of the visible work space.

4 Click OK.

72

Using the Message Viewer

Th

The Message Viewer displays text describing a condition,
status or other information concerning the operation of
PSpice Schematics.

Using the Message Viewer

The Message Viewer appears when any condition
generates a message that requires you to be informed. For
example, warnings and error messages that occur during
netlisting will appear in the Message Viewer.

If you have more than one design open and close one of
the open designs, the messages pertaining to the design
you close no longer display. When you close the last
design, the Message Viewer closes. Also, the message
viewer closes whenever Schematics is closed or when you
explicitly close it.

e Message Viewer uses all standard
Windows controls for scrolling, sizing, and
selecting.

73

Chapter 3 Using the Schematic Editor

Online Help

Another way to view online Help is:

1 Right-click in the message area to

display a menu.

2 Click Help On to view a

context-sensitive Help message.

Another way to locate the message source:

1 Right-click the message line to display

a menu.

2 Click Find In Design.

The Message Viewer has an online Help feature that
allows you to view a help message directly relating to the
currently selected message.

To view a context-sensitive Help message:

1 In the message viewer window, select the message.

2 Press 1.

Locating the Source of a Message

Many messages displayed in the Message Viewer contain
a hypertext link that points to the source of the message.
This allows you to go to the location in the design that
caused the message to be generated.

To locate the source of a message, double-click the
message in the Message Viewer window.

74

Indicated Severity

Each message is preceded by a marker. The color of the
marker indicates the severity of the message.

Table 1:

Color Indication

Blue Informational message. No user action is

required.

Yellow Warning message. May require some user

action.

Red Error message. Must be corrected before

continuing.

Black Fatal error message. Indicates a

non-recoverable error condition.

Using the Message Viewer

75

Chapter 3 Using the Schematic Editor

Another way to view additional
information:

Additional Information

Some messages contain additional text. That is, the
message contains several lines of information while only
one line displays. Lines containing additional information
are indicated by a plus sign in the severity marker
preceding the message text.

When the Message Viewer contains any messages with
additional information, the More Info button on the tool
bar is active.

1 Click either the plus sign in the line of text or the More

Info button to display the Additional Info dialog box.

1 Right-click the message line to display

a menu.

2 Click Additional Info to display the

Additional Info dialog box.

File Menu

2 Click OK to dismiss the dialog box.

Closing the Message Viewer

To close the Message Viewer, do one of the following:

• From the File menu, select Exit.

• In the upper right corner of the window, click the

Close button.

76

Creating and Editing Designs

4

Overview

This chapter contains the step-by-step procedures for
creating, editing, and printing a schematic, which
includes:

Starting the Schematic Editor

start the schematic editor and how to open a new or
existing file.

Finding Parts

name or description, and by searching the symbol
libraries.

Placing and Editing Parts

steps for placing parts, changing the orientation of parts
prior to placing them, editing part attributes, placing
multiple instances of a part, and automatically assigning
reference designators.

Placing Power and Ground Symbols

how to place and edit power and ground symbols.

on page 4-80 describes how to find parts by

on page 4-79 describes how to

on page 4-85 describes the detailed

on page 4-102 describes

Chapter 4 Creating and Editing Designs

Using Wires and Buses

on page 4-104 describes drawing and

labeling wires and buses, in addition to describing the
drawing options that affect the placement of wires and
buses.

Using Ports

on page 4-114 describes the use of off-page and

global ports.

Selecting and Moving Objects and Attributes

on page 4-116

describes how to select and move parts, wires, and
attributes.

Creating and Editing Title Blocks

on page 4-122 describes

how to create and edit the title block on your schematic.

Adding Non-Electrical Information

on page 4-126 describes

how to create and edit annotation items (non-electrical
information).

Creating and Editing Multi-sheet Designs

on page 4-136

describes how to create and edit multi-sheet designs.

Printing Your Design

on page 4-140 describes how to print

your design.

Closing the Schematic Editor on page 4-146 describes how to

save a schematic and how to close the schematic editor.

78

Starting the Schematic Editor

Start the schematic editor by double-clicking on the
Schematics icon in the Orcad program group. An empty
schematic page appears.

If you already have Schematics running with another
schematic open, click the New File button to start a new
schematic.

Opening a File

To open a new file, click the New File button. An empty
schematic page appears.

To open an existing file and display the schematic for
editing, click the Open File button. Previously opened
schematics remain open until closed.

Starting the Schematic Editor

To close files or to close the schematic editor, see Closing

the Schematic Editor on page 4-146.

79

Chapter 4 Creating and Editing Designs

Finding Parts

Simulation Checklist

When you are drawing a design for
simulation, keep the following in mind:

• The symbols that you place must have

corresponding simulation models
associated with them.

• The design will need sources of

stimulus.

• For any part that has an associated

simulation model, unmodeled pins are
indicated by a broken pin.

Parts represent electrical devices such as resistors,
operational amplifiers, diodes, voltage sources, and
digital gates that comprise the circuit diagram.

The graphical representation of a part is a symbol stored in
a symbol library.

For those parts with a simulation model available, the
model definition is stored in a model library.

For parts applicable to PCB layout, the package definition is
stored in the package library.

You can use symbols supplied with PSpice Schematics, or
you can create your own symbols and store them in
user-defined symbol libraries. You can select a symbol
from a library by name or by browsing the list of available
parts.

The available parts are only those contained in configured
libraries. If you have a library of parts and they are not
available, you need to add the library to the list of
configured libraries. Refer to Configuring Symbol Libraries

on page 3-42.

80