There have been many updates and minor versions between the last packaged
version and this one. These updates have included many bug fixes including
several bugs which would cause a crash, bugs in the generated netlists,
and others.
Replaced the "hspice" directory with Conrad Ziesler's
"spiceparser". The use of routine AddNTermModule() has
broken the spice input for now, although once fixed, the
results should be much improved.
Also, changed the handling of expression parameters so
that expression parameter results may be numeric, and
evaluated results are saved in the PostScript output as
instance values. When traversing the hierarchy during
redisplay, commands invoking a "selected" element will
pick up the object instance being rendered. The
combination of these changes allows the implementation
of several useful features such as counter-rotation and
displaying the name of an object within the object.
The source for version 3.1 contains the first official release of the
Tcl/Tk-based version of xcircuit. At this time , everything in the
original program has been implemented in the Tk GUI. The Tcl version
has the greatest amount of command-line control, and can be run
exclusively from the command line (e.g., from a script). A
command-line argument "-exec" has been added to facilitate running
xcircuit in "batch mode".
Starting with version 3.1 revision 10, XCircuit has been made an
official part of the EDA environment including Magic, IRSIM, Netgen,
and Tclspice. Revision 10 addresses interoperability among these
applications, including use of XCircuit in conjunction with Magic for
Layout-vs.-Schematic (LVS) verification. A Magic tutorial on using
XCircuit, Magic, and Netgen together for LVS is in the works. Note
that this EDA environment requires that all applications be compiled
with Tcl/Tk.
From this point, the embedded Python interpreter interface will not be
further developed, except for essential bug fixes and such.