XCircuit: Quick Start

The frames version of the XCircuit website has a number of menu items down the left side. This page is accessed from the "Welcome" menu button. If you are looking to download the latest release, choose "Downloads". For compile and install instructions, choose "Install". For online tutorials, go to "Tutorial". For online documentation go to "Reference". Note that the TCL interpreter command-line reference is on a separate web page, although it can be found in the Table of Contents on the Reference web page. Similarly, the PostScript reference page outlining the file format used by XCircuit for saving pages is on a separate web page. Discussions about XCircuit are carried on the mailing list on opencircuitdesign.com.

XCircuit: An Introduction

There are drawing programs, and there are schematic capture programs. All schematic capture programs will produce output for inclusion in publications. However, these programs have different goals, and it shows. Rarely is the output of a schematic capture program really suitable for publication; often it is not even readable, or cannot be scaled. Engineers who really want to have a useful schematic drawing of a circuit usually redraw the circuit in a general drawing program, which can be both tedious and prone to introducing new errors.

XCircuit is a UNIX/X11 (and Windows, if you have an X-Server running, or Windows API, if not) program for drawing publishable-quality electrical circuit schematic diagrams and related figures, and produce circuit netlists through schematic capture. XCircuit regards circuits as inherently hierarchical, and writes both hierarchical PostScript output and hierarchical SPICE netlists. Circuit components are saved in and retrieved from libraries which are fully editable. XCircuit does not separate artistic expression from circuit drawing; it maintains flexiblity in style without compromising the power of schematic capture.

XCircuit is flexible enough to be used as a generic program for drawing just about anything, and is competitive with powerful programs such as "xfig". It is especially good for any task requiring repeated use of a standard set of graphical objects, including architectural drawing, printed circuit board layouts