Using Electric 9.1: Introduction to Tools

# Chapter 9: TOOLS

| ## 9-1: Introduction to Tools |

There are many different tools available in Electric for doing both synthesis and analysis of circuitry. Synthesis tools include routers, compactors, circuit generators, and so on. Analysis tools include design-rule checkers, network comparison, and many simulators. To see a list of tools, including which ones are active, use the List Tools command of the Tools menu. This chapter covers many of the tools available in Electric. Chapter 10 goes into greater detail on the simulation tool.

Overall control of tools is available with the General Options... subcommand of the User Interface command of the Info menu.

By clicking "Beep after long jobs", you can request that the system make a sound after long jobs have finished (those that take more than 1 hour). When drawing arcs, Electric makes "clicking" sounds for each arc drawn. This can be disabled by unclicking "Click sounds when arcs are created". |

Expandable dialogs (currently only the node Get Info dialog) start off small. By clicking "Expandable dialogs default to fullsize", these dialogs will start off in their larger size.

Most netlisters insert date and version information in the comments at the head of the generated file. You can request that this information be omitted by unclicking "Include date and version in output files".

Most of the commands to generate an input deck for a simulator (a netlist) prompt the user for the desired file. If "Show file-selection dialog before writing netlists" is unchecked, however, the file is written (or overwritten) without prompt. This is useful in repetitive iterations of design/simulate, and saves the cumbersome file-selection dialog. However, it can be dangerous because it overwrites files without asking.

You can set the maximum number of errors that will be reported at once. By default, there is no limit to the number of errors.

Finally, you can set the delay that is built-in to the click-and-drag action. To prevent mouse-jitter from moving objects when selecting them, the system waits a half second after a click before accepting movements. This delay can be altered here.

The "Advanced" button brings up a dialog of special commands that are not for general usage. If you do click this button, please use the "Cancel" button to terminate the dialog.

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