The graphical user interface > Circuit Objects > Customizing Components > Component dialog

User-specified components are a generalized container to support the $INCLUDE/$INSERT feature and DATA BASE MODULARIZATION features of ATP. The user has to prepare a file to include in the final ATP file. In general this is an option for the advanced user only. When creating the ATP file a user specified component will dumped the data-file to the ResultDir (ATP-folder) with a user specified name and write the $INCLUDE/$INSERT statement within the /BRANCH section. The user can choose between three different include methods:

•$INCLUDE. The classical approach using Data Base Modularization.

•$INSERT. The file is inserted in the ATP-file by $INSERT.

•Use file. The card '$INSERT, ResultDir+Name+'.lib'' is written to the ATP-file, but nothing is written to disk (same as when Empty is checked). This approach relies on the content coming from a different source (Matlab etc.).

The user has to specify a Name of the component. This becomes the name of the final file when dumped to ResultDir (ATP-folder). The file is given the extension '.lib'. Under Tools|Options/View/ATP the user can specify a prefix to this file in order to avoid conflicts with LCC or Windsyn components that also use the $include/$insert feature.

The Library component LIB simply offers to insert/include a text in the final ATP-file. The option User specified|Files enables control of DATA and NODES. First the user has to create a sup-file that describes the nodes, data and icon. This is done under Library|New object|User specified. This will show the standard Edit definitions dialog where the user can specify the required properties.

Next, the user has to upload a data file describing the module (typically lib-file). This is done via the Edit button. The standard editor appears and the user can import, paste or write in the text (some templates are available via the right click context menu). The Empty checkbox visualize if the component contains any data file. If several components share the same Name, the data file is forced to be equal and it is in this case copied to the other components when it it changed at one place. The Empty box can be checked for the clones and edit operations only performed on a master component. This will save some memory storage.

Finally, the user has to select if the specified node names and data variables specified in the sup-file (redefineable under Edit definitions) should be written as parameters in the $include/$insert call by checking the Send parameters box. Checking the Internal phase seq. box will ask ATPDraw to only write the 5 character core node name as parameter and let the phase sequence be determined externally in the lib-file.