Appendix: Xschem Cheatsheet

Analog (Integrated) Circuit Design

20 Appendix: Xschem Cheatsheet

20.0.0.1 File operations:

  • Ctrl-o to open (load) a schematic or symbol
  • Ctrl-Shift-o to reload the most recent schematic
  • Ctrl-s to save the current schematic
  • Ctrl-Shift-s to save the schematic under a new name (save-as)
  • Ctrl-Shift-Alt-s to save the current view as a symbol
  • Ctrl-n to clear the schematic (start a new one)
  • Ctrl-Shift-n to clear the symbol (start a new one)
  • Ctrl-w to close the current schematic/tab
  • b to merge another schematic file into the current one
  • Ctrl-q to exit Xschem

20.0.0.2 Moving around in a schematic:

  • Cursor keys to pan the view (move around)
  • Space (drag) or Ctrl-p to pan the schematic with the mouse
  • f full zoom on schematic
  • Shift-z or scroll-wheel up to zoom in
  • Ctrl-z or scroll-wheel down to zoom out
  • z to zoom into a box (rubber-band selection)
  • Ctrl-Shift-f to zoom-fit the selected elements
  • e to descend into the schematic of the selected symbol
  • i to descend into the symbol view of the selected symbol
  • Ctrl-e or Backspace to go back to the parent schematic
  • Alt-e / Alt-i to open the selected schematic/symbol in a new window

Moving around in a schematic:

  • Ctrl-Left / Ctrl-Right to switch between tabs (tabbed interface)
  • \ (backslash) to toggle fullscreen mode
  • % to toggle the drawing grid on/off

20.0.0.3 Editing schematics:

  • Del to delete selected elements
  • Ins to insert an element from the component library
  • Escape to abort an operation / unselect / redraw
  • u to undo, Shift-U to redo
  • Ctrl-a to select all
  • Ctrl-c / Ctrl-x / Ctrl-v to copy / cut / paste via the clipboard
  • c to copy the selected objects (in-place duplicate)
  • m to move the selected objects
  • Shift-M to move and insert wires between separated pins
  • h / v to constrain a move/copy to horizontal / vertical
  • Shift-R to rotate the selected objects (90° CCW)
  • Shift-F to mirror / flip horizontally

Editing schematics:

  • Shift-V to mirror / flip vertically
  • q to edit the properties of the selected object
  • Shift-Q to edit properties in vim (or external editor)
  • Ctrl-Shift-q to view properties (read-only)
  • t to place a text label
  • Shift-T to toggle the ignore flag on an instance (excluded from netlist)
  • Ctrl-f to find/select objects by substring or regular expression
  • Ctrl-# to rename components with duplicate names (refdes)
  • # to highlight components with duplicate names
  • Alt-u to align selected objects to the current grid
  • g / Shift-G to halve / double the snap (grid) factor

20.0.0.4 Wires, nets, and labels:

  • w to draw a wire
  • Shift-W to draw a wire and snap to the closest pin or net endpoint
  • l to draw a line, r to draw a rectangle, p to draw a polygon
  • & to join, break, and collapse wires
  • ! to break selected wires at any pin or junction
  • Alt-Shift-l to add a wire label (lab_wire.sym)
  • Alt-l to add a label pin (lab_pin.sym)
  • k to highlight the selected net
  • Ctrl-k to unhighlight the selected net
  • Shift-K to unhighlight all nets

Wires, nets, and labels:

  • Alt-k to select all nets attached to the selected wire/label/pin
  • j to print the list of highlighted nets/pins
  • A to make a symbol from the current schematic (auto-generate symbol)
  • Alt-p to add a symbol pin
  • Alt-h to create symbol pins from the schematic pins

20.0.0.5 Viewing and simulating schematics:

  • 5 to only view probes
  • Shift-o to toggle the light/dark color scheme
  • Ctrl-b to toggle showing text inside symbols
  • Alt-b to toggle showing symbol details vs. only bounding boxes
  • Shift-A to toggle netlist display
  • n to generate a hierarchical netlist
  • Shift-N to generate a top-level-only netlist
  • Ctrl-Shift-v to toggle the netlist format (SPICE / VHDL / Verilog)
  • Alt-s to reload the circuit (e.g. after changes in a subcircuit)
  • s to run a simulation (asks for confirmation)
  • Alt-g to send the highlighted nets to the gaw waveform viewer

Viewing and simulating schematics:

  • a and b to add cursors to an in-circuit simulation graph
  • f full zoom on the y- or x-axis in an in-circuit simulation graph
  • Shift-* to print the schematic to PostScript / PDF
  • Ctrl-Shift-* to export the schematic as XPM / PNG
  • Alt-Shift-* to export the schematic as SVG

Viewing and simulating schematics: