1.2.1 Introduction to the SIMetrix/SIMPLIS User Interface

In this topic, you will learn how the user interface is constructed and two ways you can customize the SIMetrix/SIMPLIS user interface:

• by setting global options which configure the program
• by adding keyboard shortcuts to execute menu items

Change the Default Simulator and Enable GUI Property Editing

To get started, you will set some global options that will help with this course material. Many of these options will also help in your day-to-day work with SIMetrix/SIMPLIS. Once set, the global options persist and are used to configure SIMetrix/SIMPLIS every time you use the program.

To edit the global options, follow these steps:

1. From the menu bar, select File > Options > General...
   Result: The Options/Preferences Dialog opens to the Schematic Editor tab:
   
2. In the Initial Simulator box on the upper right corner, click the radio button in front of SIMPLIS.
   Result: Each new schematic will now use the SIMPLIS simulator. Existing schematics are unaffected.
3. In the Property editing box on the lower right, check Enable GUI property edits.
   Result: This option allows you to double click on any visible symbol property to edit that property. The Options/Preferences dialog should now look like the following:
   
4. Click Ok to accept the dialog and save the options.
   Result: The dialog closes, and SIMetrix/SIMPLIS saves your preferences.

Reassigning a Shortcut Key Using the GUI Editor

In this exercise, you will assign the "Ctrl+P" keyboard shortcut to run the Probe > More Probe Functions... menu selection.

1. From the SIMetrix/SIMPLIS menu bar, select File > Options > Edit Menus... .
   Result: The Edit Menu System dialog opens
   
2. Double click the SimplisMain item.
   Result: The SIMPLIS schematic menu items appear, starting with File, then Edit, etc...
3. Double click the Pro&be item.
4. Move the mouse to the left of the Accelerator text in the header.
   Result: The mouse cursor changes to a splitter, indicating that the header can be re-sized.
5. Press and hold the left mouse button and drag the splitter to the right so you can see each entry in the Menu Name column.
6. Click on the More Probe Functions... item.
   Result: The dialog should now look as follows:
   
7. Click the Accelerator... button.
   Result: The Rebind Key dialog opens:
   
8. Press and hold the Ctrl key while pressing the P key.
   Result: The Warning - binding More Probe Functions... dialog opens:
   
9. Click Ok.
   Result: Your new key binding has been saved.
10. Click Ok on the Edit menu System dialog.

To verify the new key binding:

1. Open a schematic with the menu bar, File > New > SIMPLIS Schematic .
2. Press Ctrl+P.
   Result: The More Probe Functions... dialog opens.
   

Behind the Scenes

Every menu item or keyboard shortcut executes either a SIMetrix/SIMPLIS script or a simple script command. A script file is a sequence of commands or calls to other scripts. The user interface is built from a set of approximately 900 scripts. Here is a short example using the edit_options.sxscr script:

1. Type edit_options into the command line of the SIMetrix/SIMPLIS command shell.
2. Press Enter or click Ok.
   Result: The Options/Preferences dialog opens exactly as if you had selected File > Options > General... from the menu bar.

The edit_options script is a built-in script and can be downloaded in another browser window by clicking here.

From a functional point of view, there is no difference between using the menu item, the keyboard shortcut (if there is one) or hand-typing the script name into the command line. These user interface scripts are called Built-In or BiScripts and can be downloaded as a zip archive file from the SIMetrix/SIMPLIS Download Links page.