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The shapes Button: Add Predefined Features

\epsfbox{shapes.eps}

The shapes button appears in the electrical mode side menu. Pressing this button provides a pull-down menu of different outlines that can be applied to drawings. These outlines have no electrical significance, but can be used for illustrative purposes. In particular, in symbolic mode, this facilitates creating symbol representations. After a selection is made from the pull-down menu, the shape outline is ghost-drawn and attached to the pointer. The object is placed at locations where the user clicks.

The current choices in the pull-down menu are:

box Create a box, like the physical mode box command.
poly Create a polygon, like the physical mode polyg command.
arc Create an arc, similar to the physical mode arc command.
dot Place a dot (an octagonal polygon).
tri Place a triangle (buffer symbol).
ttri Place a truncated triangle symbol.
and Place an AND gate symbol.
or Place an OR gate symbol.
Sides Set the number of sides used to approximate rounded geometry, similar to the sides command in physical mode.

Boxes created on the SCED layer will be shown with the fill attributes assigned to that layer (solid fill by default). Boxes created on other layers will be shown as empty fill with a dashed border. If a fill pattern or solid border is desired on these layers, a polygon should be used.

Polygons are always shown with the current layer's fill attribute.

Arcs are actually wires, and as such should not be used on the SCED layer. Although there is no error, arc vertices are considered in the connectivity establishment, thus adding inefficiency. If the current layer is SCED when an arc is created, the arc is instead created on the next layer. If the arc must be on the SCED layer, the Chg Layer command command in the Edit Menu can be used to move it to that layer.

The dot, tri, ttri, and, and or choices work a little differently from the others. After selection, a ghost rendering of the shape is attached to the pointer, and the objects are placed where the user clicks. The object can be modified with the arrow keys:

Up expand by 2
Right expand by 10%
Down shrink by 2
Left shrink by 10%
Shift-Up stretch vertically 10%
Shift-Right stretch horizontally 10%
Shift-Down shrink vertically 10%
Shift-Left shrink horizontally 10%
Ctrl-Arrows cycle through 90 degree rotations


next up previous contents index
Next: The sides Button: Set Up: The Side Menu: Geometry Previous: The run Button: Run   Contents   Index
Stephen R. Whiteley 2006-10-23