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SVG Circuit_macros examples, Version 10.5.5

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This file shows a few diagrams in .svg format produced without the use of LaTeX or equivalent. The diagrams have been adapted from the Circuit_macros examples in order to test the svg output of dpic. To generate the equivalent for all the examples, go to the examples/dpv directory and type "make". Typing "make examplesDPVs.html" produces the selection shown here.

Generating svg line art is straightforward but formatting text is not because TeX, LaTeX, and related word processors do not produce svg directly. Either less-sophisticated text formatting must be employed for svg or an intermediate format such as pdf can be produced, followed by an additional processing step to convert to svg. Two possibilities for the latter are dvisvgm --pdf and pdf2svg. However, many circuit and similar diagrams intended for the web do not require sophisticated labels; the examples shown below might be representative. Compare them to those in examples.html

Click on the link to view the source of each diagram.

There are other issues:

  • The default font face is not specified in all of these diagrams but is inherited from the enclosing document, so the appearance of labels can differ depending on the browser. Some of these diagrams set the font at the beginning of the diagram source.
  • Diagrams such as these contain text labels that have to be treated differently from the LaTeX-compatible versions; for example, apparently there is no direct way to know the bounding box of arbitrary svg text. Consequently, text placement is approximate and may require manual adjustment.
  • Rather than patch the original source files for svg production, edited copies have been used. The configuration file svg.m4 read by m4 prior to libcct.m4 contains the following macros defined for svg. Others could be defined to exercise some of the media capabilties of svg. They are subject to change:
    • svg_font(font-face,nominal size[:dptextratio],textoffset, dpic commands): Change font face, size, textratio and dpic textoffset parameters. Change font face and dpic textht, dptextratio, and textoffset parameters. If arg4 is blank, the font is changed and requires command "</g>" at the end to cancel the font change.
      Note: Nominal height = text height in drawing units; actual height = nominal ht x dptextratio.
      Examples:
      svg_font(Times)
      svg_font(Times,14bp__)
      svg_font(sans-serif,14bp__:0.71)
      svg_font(Times,11bp__,1bp__,"text" at A)
      svg_font(font-family="Times")
      svg_font(font-family="Times" font-style="italic")
      svg_font(style="font-family:Times; font-style:italic")
    • svgfontratio(font name); Reasonable dptextratio value for common fonts, used by svg_font.
    • svg_tspan(text attributes, text); e.g. svg_tspan(font-style="italic" font-size="75%",XYZ)
    • svg_it(text): for italics
    • svg_tt(text): for monospace (courier)
    • svg_sf(text): sans-serif (Helvetica)
    • svg_norm(text): for normal text
    • svg_bf(text): for bold face
    • svg_small(text, percent): to set a smaller text size, default 66
    • svg_fsize(text, percent): for setting larger or smaller text size, default 100
    • svg_sub(text, size percent, y displ, x displ): subscript
    • svg_ul(text): underlined text
    • svg_ol(text): overlined text
    • svg_sup(text, size percent, y displ, x displ): superscript
    • svg_hat(character): circumflex-accented character
    • svg_frac(numerator[:wid], denominator[:wid]): basic fraction, wid in drawing units
    • svg_rot(degrees, "text" [at position]): Rotate text degrees (default 90) ccw. Requires svg_rot_init(filename) and the source must be processed twice.
    • svg_rot_init(filename): filename is the basename of the output of dpic -v filename.pic > filename.svg
    • svg_symbol(text): allow quoted pound sign in text, e.g., svg_symbol(10&`#'176;) produces 10°
    • svgLink(URL, drawing object, [B]): link to external file using <a xlink:href=...>...</a> (default is target="_blank" unless arg 3 = B)
    • svgLinkString as above but for strings attached to objects
    • Greek and other symbols:
      svg_alpha α svg_beta β svg_Gamma Γ svg_gamma γ svg_Delta Δ svg_delta δ svg_epsilon ε svg_zeta ζ
      svg_eta η svg_Theta Θ svg_theta θ svg_iota ι svg_kappa κ svg_Lambda Λ svg_lambda λ svg_mu μ
      svg_nu ν svg_Xi Ξ svg_xi ξ svg_Pi Π svg_pi π svg_rho ρ svg_Sigma Σ svg_sigma σ
      svg_tau τ svg_upsilon υ svg_Phi Φ svg_phi φ svg_chi χ svg_Psi Ψ svg_psi ψ svg_Omega Ω
      svg_omega ω svg_micro μ svg_ohm Ω svg_lt < svg_gt > svg_leq ≤ svg_geq ≥ svg_prime ′
      svg_backsl \ svg_pound # svg_comma , svg_lparen ( svg_rparen ) svg_circ ˆ svg_deg ° svg_grave `
      svg_emsp | | svg_ensp | | svg_thinsp | |
  • Inkscape: It may be efficient to define elements by macro and to place them using a wysiwyg graphics editor. A draft page intended for Inkscape is included. A reasonable variety of elements is defined but many more could be added and they should be customized for particular applications. Adjustments may also have to be made to obtain the proper snap-to actions.
  • Link experiments: Click on the resistor or source of quickDPV to go to external files in new windows. Click on "n-port" in NportDPV to replace the diagram and then "back" to return.
  • Some of the assumptions used to create this draft may be naïve. Comments are welcome.



Fig. 1 (quickDPV.m4): SVG produced by dpic  



(quick.m4): SVG produced from quick.pdf by dvisvgm  



Fig. 2 (ConnectorsDPV.m4): Some integrated circuits and connectors with simple geometry and lists of labels  



Fig. 3 (NportDPV.m4): The nport and nterm macros  



Fig. 4 (ex01DPV.m4): Two simple labeled circuits  



Fig. 5 (CsourceDPV.m4): Realization of a controlled source (illustrating stacked element labels)  



Fig. 6 (HeathkitDPV.m4): The power supply of a Heathkit AR-15 (Now, that was a receiver!) with custom transformer and other elements, drawn on a grid (partially shown) to aid in placement  



Fig. 7 (EEPDPV.m4): Part of a single-line diagram of a power distribution system using draft elements  



Fig. 8 (controlDPV.m4): Control-system block diagrams  



Fig. 9 (ByteDPV.m4): Elementary splines  



Fig. 10 (SevensegmentDPV.m4): A customizable seven-segment display showing the numbered segments with a custom shape and the numerals from 0 to 9  



Fig. 11 (FlowDPV.m4): A flowchart sampler  



Fig. 12 (paletteDPV.m4): A draft palette of a few elements for Inkscape using a 1 mm grid