GNUCAP(1)

📦
version 0.36~20171003 · 4 versions
, in debian bookworm, debian trixie, ubuntu jammy, ubuntu noble, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

💖 GNUCAP 💖

okay bestie, pull up a chair because we're talking about gnucap, aka the GNU Circuit Analysis Package from the Debian GNU fam. this is the manual page for it and i'm gonna walk you through every single bit, no skips, no cap. 🦋

✨ NAME ✨

gnucap — GNU Circuit Analysis Package. that's the whole name, that's the vibe, it's giving "i simulate circuits and i'm not sorry." 💅

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

gnucap [-b filename] [-i filename] [filename]

that's the whole summoning ritual, bestie. simple. iconic. 🫶

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

so like, Gnucap is a general purpose circuit simulator. she's not a one-trick pony, she does nonlinear dc and transient analyses, fourier analysis, and ac analysis linearized at an operating point. and the way she does it?? fully interactive and command driven. main character energy fr. she can also run in batch mode or as a server, and the output is produced as it simulates, so you're watching it cook in real time. 🔥

also Spice compatible models for the MOSFET (level 1,2,3) and diode are included in this release. levels one two three, all of them, periodt.

since she's fully interactive, you can literally make changes and re-simulate quickly. the interactive design makes it well suited to the typical iterative design process used it optimizing a circuit design. (yes that's how the original says it, i'm not touching it, i keep the facts EXACTLY.) it's also well suited to undergraduate teaching where Spice in batch mode can be quite intimidating. this version, while still officially in beta test, should be stable enough for basic undergraduate teaching and courses in MOS design, but not for bipolar design. so like, know your limits bestie. 😭

in batch mode she's mostly Spice compatible, so it's often possible to use the same file for both Gnucap and Spice. one file, two simulators, we love a crossover event. ✨

the analog simulation is based on traditional nodal analysis with iteration by Newton's method and LU decomposition. and then there's an event queue and incremental matrix update that speed up the solution for large circuits (at some expense for small circuits). tradeoffs, we accept them. 💀

she also has digital devices for mixed signal simulation. the digital devices may be implemented as either analog subcircuits or as true digital models, and the simulator will automatically determine which to use. networks of digital devices are simulated as digital, with no conversions to analog between gates. this results in digital circuits being simulated faster than on a typical analog simulator, even with behavioral models. slay. but heads up: the digital mode is experimental and needs work. there will be substantial improvements in future releases. she's a work in progress and she knows it. 🙈

⭐ OPTIONS ⭐

okay so two command-line options are available. and listen, only one of these may be specified. pick ONE. not both. i said what i said. 💅

and if no parameters are given, gnucap will start in interactive mode. just vibes, just you and the prompt.

  • -b filename — execute the commands in the named file then exit (batch mode). in and out, no small talk. 🎀
  • -i filename — execute the commands in the named file then go into interactive mode. file first, then hang out with her. 🦋

💀 BUGS 💀

see /usr/share/doc/gnucap/bugs for a list of known bugs in this release. go read it, bestie, it's right there. 👑

Gnucap is an ongoing research project. it is being released in a preliminary phase in hopes that it will be useful and that others will use it as a thrust or base for their research. (yes, "thrust", that's the original word, keeping it verbatim.) the author also hopes for some comments that may help direct the research. so like, if you have thoughts, send them, you could literally shape the future of this thing. 🌈

💜 AUTHOR 💜

Gnucap is being written by Albert Davis <ad211@freeelectron.net>.

this manual page was written by Jon Rabone <jkr@debian.org> and maintained by Hamish Moffatt <hamish@debian.org> for the Debian package of gnucap. modified by Felix Salfelder <felix@salfelder.org>. for the full LaTeX documentation, please see /usr/share/doc/gnucap/manual. 📚✨

and that's the whole page bestie, we ate and left no crumbs. 💅

this page came from the Debian Project, dated November 2001, and it's the manual for GNUCAP. go simulate something cute. 🎀🦋💖
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