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Setting Options

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Setting PSpice Application Theme

To set the theme of PSpice:

1. From the Tools menu, select Options.
   The Probe Settings dialog box opens.
2. Select the Color Settings tab.
3. Select Dark or Light from the Application Theme drop-down list.
4. Click OK.

Setting Probe window options

Use the Probe Settings dialog box to specify how PSpice displays Probe window items such as scroll bars, symbols, and trace colors. You can also specify the auto-update interval, number of histogram divisions, and how large data files should be loaded onto PSpice.

For more Probe window options, see Probe windows settings for simulation profiles.

To set Probe window options:

1. From the Tools menu, select Options to display the General tab of the Probe Settings dialog box.
2. In the Use Symbols frame, choose one of the following options:
   • Attributes
   • Never
   • Always
3. In the Trace Color Scheme frame, choose one of the following options:
   • Normal
   • Match Axis
   • Sequential Per Axis
   • Unique By File
4. In the Use ScrollBars frame, choose one of the following options:
   • Auto
   • Never
   • Always
5. In the Auto-Update Interval frame, choose one of the following options:
   • Auto
   • Every sec
   • Every %
6. In the Number of Histogram Divisions text box, enter the number of histogram divisions used when PSpice displays Performance Analysis of a Monte Carlo run.
7. In the Number of Cursor Digits text box, enter the number of digits PSpice displays when the cursor position is shown.
8. Select any or all of the following options:
   • Mark Data Points
   • Display Evaluation
   • Display Statistics
   • Highlight Error States
9. Click OK to close the Probe Settings dialog box.

Setting large data file options

1. From the Tools menu, select Options to display the Probe Settings dialog box.
2. Select the Large Data tab.
3. Select one of the Options to be used as the default setting for loading a large data file.
   1. Select Use fewer data points to display a complete trace, when you want that full trace, which may not be accurate, to be loaded and displayed on the Probe window. In this case the trace is not accurate because it is created using a subset of data points picked randomly from the data file.
   2. Select Use all data points to display trace in parts, when you want the trace to be accurate but only a small part of the trace is displayed at one time. In this case, the complete trace is divided into multiple parts and each part can be viewed separately.
   3. Select Always ask, when you want the Large Data File dialog box to be displayed every time a large data file is opened in PSpice. By default, this option is selected.
   4. Select Ignore this Warning, when you do not want to be notified whether the data file being loaded is a large data file or not. Therefore, the Large Data File dialog box never appears. In this case, either the Out of memory error appears, or if the system memory is sufficient the data file will be loaded successfully.
4. In the Data points in one part text box, specify the threshold limit for the number of data points in a large data file. By default this value is set to 1 million (1000000).
   For example, if you want that any data file that has more than 2 million data points per trace should be categorized at a large data file than enter 2000000 in the Data points in one part text box.
5. Click OK to save the settings and to close the Probe Setting dialog box.

Selecting a Printer

You can specify a different printer and settings for PSpice to use to print your plots. (If you do not change the settings, PSpice uses the default Windows printer settings.)

To select a printer

1. From the File menu, select Printer Setup.
2. In the Printer frame, select the printer you want to use. Click Properties to change its settings.
3. In the Paper frame, select the type of paper you want to use.
4. In the Orientation frame, choose which page orientation you want to use.
5. When you have finished selecting the printer, click OK.

Using Print Preview

You can use Print Preview to view pages before you print them.

To use print preview

1. From the File menu, select Print Preview to preview all plots, using the current settings. Each plot is displayed as a separate page, unless you have set it differently in Page Setup.
2. In the Preview screen, click Print to print the page, or click Close to return to the Probe window.

Setting up the Page

You can set up the page in PSpice to establish the way the printed plots appear when you print.

To set up the page

1. From the File menu, select Page Setup.
2. In the Page Setup dialog box, enter the following options:
   • In the Margins frame, type the margin spacing.
   • In the Plots Per Page frame, enter the number of plots to be printed on each page, from 1 to 9 per page.
   • In the Orientation frame, choose Landscape or Portrait.
   • Select the Draw Border check box to put a border on the page.
   • Select the Draw Plot Title box to put the plot title on the page.
   • In the Cursor Information area, choose where you want the cursor information to be displayed on the page.
3. To add a header or a footer, click the Header button or the Footer button.
   • The Left Side, Center, and Right Side boxes display the header or footer content that is left-aligned, centered, and right-aligned, respectively. Type information into the appropriate box. You can use codes for certain kinds of information.
   • Press Ctrl+Enter to start a new line.
   • Click OK to exit this dialog box and save the new settings.
4. Click OK to close the Page Setup dialog box and save the new settings.

Printing in PSpice

To print the current plot

1. On the toolbar, click the Print button to print one copy of the current Probe window, using the current settings.

To print specific plots

1. From the File menu, select Print.
2. Set up the following options:
   • Under Printer, select which printer to use. Click Properties to set the printer’s properties.
   • In the Copies box, enter how many copies to print.
   • Click Page Setup to change the page settings.
   • Under Plots to Print, select which plots to print. Each plot is printed as a separate page, unless you have set it differently in Page Setup.
   • Under Automatic Grid Spacing, choose either Based on Print Area or Same as Display.
3. Click OK to print using these settings, or click Cancel to exit this dialog box without printing anything.

Setting the Width of Printed Plot Lines

You can set the width of the printed plot lines by using an ASCII text editor, such as Notepad, to edit the PSpice.INI file.

To set the plot line width

1. Using a text editor, open the file PSpice.INI.
2. In the [Probe] section of the file, add or modify the following entry. The format is:
   PRINTERLINEWIDTH = <value>
   If the above entry is not present in the .INI file, the default line width is 0.

The line width of a printed plot is scaled automatically, so you do not need to set custom values for the PRINTERLINEWIDTH command in the PSpice.INI file. This makes the printout more legible for most printer configurations using the default value in the .INI file.

You can select all the traces in a plot to change their properties collectively. To do this, use the Select All command from the Edit menu, then edit the properties as needed. The new trace properties will then be reflected on the screen, in Print Preview, and on the printout.

Changing the Screen Colors

You can change the colors PSpice uses to display plots on the screen by using an ASCII text editor, like Notepad, to edit the PSpice.INI file.

To edit screen colors:

1. Using a text editor, open the file PSpice.INI.
2. In the [Probe Display Colors] or the [Probe Pointer Colors] section of the file, add or modify a color entry. The format is:
   <item name>=<color>
   For example, background=red draws the background in red.
   Valid item names are:
   

   background	The colors for the window background
   foreground	The default color for items not explicitly specified
   trace 1 through trace 12	Colors the traces with specified color when they appear on the Probe window. You can specify up to 12 colors.

   
   Valid color names
   

   black	blue	green	cyan
   red	magenta	yellow	brightwhite
   brown	lightgray	darkgray	darkblue
   darkgreen	darkcyan	darkred	darkmagenta

   
   Specify varying degrees of color by using the R, G, B value of the color. The range is from 0-255. For example, <attribute>=255 0 0 is the same as <attribute>=red.
3. Set the trace colors using the following form:
   trace_x=colorname
   where trace_x is trace_1 through trace_12 and colorname is a valid color name.
4. If needed, set numtrace colors to N, where N is between 1 and 12. The numbers 1 through 12 represent the number of trace colors displayed on the screen or printed before the color order repeats.
5. Save the file as ASCII text and close it when you have finished. The settings take effect the next time you start PSpice.

Header and footer codes

These codes can be inserted into any of the boxes as an abbreviated method to include certain information.

This code …	Does this…
&D	specifies the current date in the header and/or footer
&T	specifies the current time in the header and/or footer
&N	specifies where page numbering appears in print job
&A	prints simulation date from current data file
&M	prints simulation time from current data file
&I	prints simulation title from current data file
&E	prints simulation temperature from data file
&P	prints specified parameter or other value changing between data file sections

Customizing toolbars

Toolbar settings can be saved in settings schemes.

To change the display of toolbars

To add menu option or button as a new menu or in the toolbar

To remove buttons from toolbars

To reset toolbars to their default settings

To change the display of toolbars

1. From the Tools menu, choose Customize.
2. Click the Toolbars tab.
3. In the Toolbars list, select the toolbars to be displayed.
   The selected toolbar appears.
4. Click Close to close the dialog box.

To add menu option or button as a new menu or in the toolbar

1. From the Tools menu, choose Customize.
2. Click the Commands tab.
3. In the Categories list, click a category to display related toolbar buttons or menu options in the Commands frame.
4. To add the selected button or option to a toolbar or menu bar, drag it from the Customize dialog box to any toolbar or menu bar displayed in the program window.
5. Click Close to close the dialog box.

To remove buttons from toolbars

• Drag the button you do not want from the toolbar to the Customize dialog box.

To reset toolbars to their default settings

1. From the Tools menu, choose Customize.
2. Click the Toolbars tab.
3. Do one of the following:
   • Click Reset All.
   • Click Reset.
4. Click Close to close the dialog box.

Customizing Commands

To customize commands:

1. Choose Tools – Customize.
2. In the Commands tab, select a menu name from the Categories list.
   The buttons for the selected menu are displayed in the Commands frame.
3. Drag a button or menu option and place it in the toolbar.

Generating a Report

Using the Generate Report option, you can generate an HTML report based on transient analysis data. The HTML report displays the transient analysis data in the following template:

1. General Information
   1. Simulation Data (.dat) File
   2. Analysis Name
   3. Circuit Name
   4. Simulation Time
   5. PSpice Version
2. Circuit Information
   1. List of Nets
   2. List of Devices
3. Simulation Data
   1. Current Data
   2. Voltage Data
   3. Power Data

The template above can be customized by modifying the TCL (orPspReport.tcl) file located at the following path: <Installation Directory>\tools\pspice\tclscripts.

• The maximum size limit of the HTML file is 800 MB.
• To generate report, the simulation data file must have transient analysis data of analog devices.

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