Creating a new symbol

New symbols are created by clicking the New Symbol button.

About this task

Symbols are graphical representations of components in the schematic editor. Create a new symbol when you want to create a new local component for use in schematics or when you need a different representation for an existing local component.

If you want to create a new local component, note that a matching model in a library contained in the same project is required in addition to the symbol. If you create a local component, you can automatically create a symbol for a model in your project. (See

Creating a local component

.)

Procedure

1. Select the project to which you want to add a symbol and click the

   

   button in the

   Workspace

   widget.

   You can also right-click the project and choose

   New Symbol

   from the context menu.

   The

   New Symbol

   dialog opens.

2. Enter a name for the new symbol and click OK.

   
   
   

   The symbol file appears in your workspace and the symbol editor opens with the new file ready for editing.

   
   
   

   The circle in the drawing area indicates the location that will placed where you click the mouse when using the symbol. Usually, it is best to draw the symbol so that this circle is at the center of the symbol.

3. Place the pins for the component that the symbol will represent.

   1. Choose

      Options

      Display

      , click the

      Grid

      tab, and click the

      Default

      button.

      Doing so resets the grid to its default settings. We strongly recommend to always place pins using the default grid settings and making sure that the Snap to Grid option in the

      Grid

      tab is active. If you use other grid settings, it may be difficult to correctly connect wires to the devices, and hard-to-detect errors may occur.

      You can skip this step if you are sure that the symbol editor is already set to the default grid settings.

   2. Choose the Set Pin tool

      

      .

      The Attributes dialog opens.

      
      
      

   3. Specify the pin attributes and click

      OK

      .

      You must always specify the pin name in the

      Name

      field. This name must match the name of the pin in the model that describes the component’s behavior. If you do not ant the name to be visible in the symbol, uncheck the

      Visible

      option.

      You also must choose the correct direction from the

      Direction

      list.

      The other settings in the dialog are optional.

      The mouse pointer changes shape according to the name and shape you have specified.

   4. Click to place the pin.

   5. Repeat the preceding the preceding steps until you have placed all pins.

   For example:

   
   
   

4. Draw the desired symbol using the graphics tools at the right of the toolbar.

   The tools work similar to the tools available in common graphics applications. Note that each tool remains selected until you select another tool or press Esc.

   You can reposition the pins during this process. If you do so, make sure that the default grid is still active and that

   Snap to Grid

   is switched on to avoid misalignment issues wen using the local component.

   For example:

   
   
   
5. If desired, place text or placeholders for component properties in the symbol using the Substitution Field tool.

   Depending on the type of label you specify, the text is either displayed verbatim or replaced with the actual values of a property when the local component is placed in a schematic.

   1. Click the

      

      tool.

      The

      Substitution Field Attributes

      dialog opens.

      
      
      

What to do next

Use the symbol to create a local component as described in

Creating a local component

.