Skip to content

Latest commit

 

History

History
44 lines (33 loc) · 2.52 KB

README.md

File metadata and controls

44 lines (33 loc) · 2.52 KB
Raw

KiCad Symbols

For building the schema simulation model, the project utilizes a map file named SymbolsDescription.xml located in the 'distro' directory. Another approach is declaring custom fields SymPartClass and/or SymPartParam directly in KiCad symbols.

  • SymPartClass points to the Java class name used for schema part behavior simulation.
  • SymPartParam is for additional parameters needed for class instantiation. Parameters should be provided in a semicolon-separated list, like parameterName1=value1;parameterName2=value2;ParameterName3=Value3. Some schema part Java classes require certain parameters to be mandatory.

The project contains an example of a library of commonly used symbols in the 'stuff/kicad_symbols' directory, and the project map file is already configured for those symbols. However, it's straightforward to adopt your preferred library for use with this simulator using one of the possible mapping solutions. Sometimes a combination of both approaches works best. For example, a ROM schema part has size and file name attributes; where size might be mapped for the symbol in the map file, but the file path is configured in the symbol instance on the schema itself. Since you can have many ROMs with individual files for each, the mapping file might not be helpful in all cases.

Refer to the information about supported schema parts and their parameters.

XML Map File Format

The XML map file format is very simple. Each symbol contains its own map record in the following format:

<lib name="4xxx">
  <symbol name="4001" symPartClass="OrGate" symPartParam="size=2;reverse">
    <unit pinMap="1=IN0;2=IN1;3=OUT"/>
    <unit pinMap="5=IN0;6=IN1;4=OUT"/>
    <unit pinMap="8=IN0;9=IN1;10=OUT"/>
    <unit pinMap="12=IN0;13=IN1;11=OUT"/>
  </symbol>
</lib>

see complete example in SymbolsDescription.xml

  • lib tag agregate symbols from one symbol library, where attribute name coresponde to the symbol library name.
  • symbol tag describe one symbol from library, where attribute name corresponde to Symbol name from a specific symbol library.
  • symPartClass attribute is the Java class name used for schema part behavior simulation.
  • symPartParam attribute is additional parameters for class instantiation.
  • unit optional tag describe pin mapping for multy-unit symbols

Fields from the map file and declared in symbols directly are merged. Parameters, declared in symbol directly have higher priority. (because of 'last-win' approach)