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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.



  6. Save the changes to the symbol.

What to do next

Use the symbol to create a local component as described in Creating a local component.
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