Using the Circuit Editor

The Circuit Editor provides a graphical interface for creating circuits. You can use simple drag and drop functions to create the necessary circuit elements and define connections between them. This method can be quicker and easier than setting up your circuits using the node-based approach.

The steps in this procedure are intended to follow on from Step 4 in Creating Electric Circuits.

NoteDo not make any changes directly in the simulation tree while the Circuit Editor is open. Any changes that you make directly are lost when you confirm the changes that you made in the Circuit Editor.

To use the Circuit Editor to create a circuit:

  1. Right-click the [circuit] node and select Open Circuit Editor.

    The Circuit Editor workspace shows the current state of the circuit, including any elements and connections that you have already created in the simulation tree. An example is shown below.



    When you open an existing simulation that contains a circuit that was not created with the Circuit Editor, the circuit elements are shown horizontally-oriented and placed on a diagonal so that overlaps are minimized.

The available circuit elements are indicated by the icons on the left of the editor. Hold the mouse point over an icon to see the name of the corresponding circuit element. The Excitation Coil element is available only when a magnetic vector potential model and an excitation coil model are active in the simulation. The Battery and Program elements are available only when the Battery model is active in the simulation.

See Circuit Elements Toolbar.

  1. Create the circuit elements that you want to include in the circuit. For each element:
    1. In the element list, click the appropriate icon. An image of the element attaches to the mouse pointer.
    2. Click the location at which to place the new element. The image of the element drops into place.
    3. If necessary, drag the element to adjust its location and use the Rotate tool to change its orientation.
      You can also use the keyboard: press the arrow keys to adjust the location of an element, and press R to rotate the selected element.
    4. To set the element name, double-click the element label and edit the text.

    To select a particular element, click it in the display area. To jump to the next element, press the [Space] key.

    If you want to remove an element, select the appropriate element and then press the [Delete] key.

    If you want to move the visible area of the workspace, click anywhere in the workspace background (that is, not on a circuit element or connection) and drag the display area. You can do this when you have increased the magnification and some elements are not visible in the workspace.

  2. Create connections between circuit elements. For each connection:
    1. In the actions toolbar, click Create Connection ().
    2. Click each of the terminals that you want to connect.
      A red line indicates the in-progress connection.
    3. To complete the connection, click Create Connection again, or press [Enter].
      If you want to cancel the operation without creating a connection, press [Esc].
  3. If you need to edit any connections, you can do the following:
    • To remove a connection from a particular terminal, select the connection and then click the appropriate terminal. The connection is redrawn accordingly.
    • To delete a segment of a multi-terminal connection, double-click the appropriate segment. The segment is colored green to indicate it is selected. Press the [Delete] key to remove the selected segment.
    • To remove a connection, select the appropriate connection and then click Remove Connection (). Alternatively, press the [Delete] key to remove the selected connection.
    • If you move an element, any connections to it are adjusted automatically. However, the resulting layout may not be what you want. You can improve the layout by flipping the connections. Select the connection that you want to adjust and then click Flip Connection (), or press F. The orientation of the corners of the connection are reversed, which can improve the layout.
  4. Add earth connections. For each earth connection:
    1. Click the appropriate terminal.
    2. In the actions toolbar, click Add Earth Connection ().

    The Number of Allowed Groundings property of the [circuit] node specifies the maximum number of earth connections that you can add to the circuit. When you reach this limit, the Add Earth Connection action is disabled.

    If you need to remove an earth connection, select the appropriate connection and then click Remove Earth Connection ().

  5. To redraw the circuit to fit in the window, click Center Workspace ().

    The workspace is centered and rescaled to bring all of the circuit elements and connections into view.

  6. Click Confirm Changes ().
    The simulation tree is updated accordingly, with all of the new and modified elements and connections added.
  7. Click Close Circuit Editor (). The Circuit update confirmed dialog opens. To confirm the changes, select Update and Close.
    If there are any unconfirmed changes, the Close Circuit Editor icon background is blue. If you choose Close, the changes are lost.

You set the element properties manually in the simulation tree.

Return to Creating Electric Circuits and continue with Step 5.