irsim-analyzer(3)

📦
version 9.7.121 · 2 versions
, in fedora 43, fedora 44

✨ irsim-analyzer — the IRSIM USER'S MANUAL era, bestie edition ✨

okay so you opened the IRSIM user's manual and landed on irsim-analyzer(3) and honestly? this one is a whole vibe. it's the little graphical bestie that shows you what your nodes are doing. let's get into it 💅

🌸 NAME 🌸

irsim-analyzer — no cap, that's the whole name. iconic.

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

analyzer node...

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

the analyzer is a whole graphical interface to irsim, and it's literally just showing you the state of the nodes (or vectors) you pass in as node.... that's the gig. it eats them up and displays them. 🫶

every single time you invoke the analyzer command, it adds a new set of signals to the display list. so yes, you can keep stacking. the way it just keeps adding signals? obsessed.

the view is split into 3 regions: a trace window, a text window, and a banner.

  • the banner shows the name of the simulation (it pulls that from the sim file) plus the pull-down menu headers.
  • the text window is a 1-line window, and it's the main character that you use to request stuff and display certain information.

👑 what the trace window is serving 👑

  • left side: the names of the signals (nodes/vectors) being displayed.
  • top side:
    • on the left and right sides: the time corresponding to the left and right edges of the trace window.
    • in the center: the time of the current cursor position.
  • right side: the values of the signals under the cursor.
  • zoom
    • in — zooms in by a factor of 2 (magnify). get closer, bestie 🔍
    • out — zooms out by a factor of 2 (reduce). step back, breathe 🌈
  • base — changes the numerical base used to display the value of the selected vector (peep below for how to select a trace) to one of these:
    • bin — base 2
    • oct — base 8
    • hex — base 16
  • window:1
    • delta T — lets you figure out the difference (in time) between any two edges. first click the mouse (any button) to the right of the first edge, then to the left of the second edge. the time of the two edges and their difference get shown in the text window. as long as the button stays depressed, a line is shown between the two edges. all times are shown in ns.
    • move to — moves the left edge of the trace window to the specified time. the time is requested in the text window.
    • set width — sets the number of ns. that will be displayed. the time is requested in the text window.
    • name length — since the most important differentiating info in a long signal name is usually at the end, the analyzer displays the last 15 characters of a signal name. this option lets you change the maximum number of characters displayed, which must be in the range [8-256]. (respect the range, bestie, it's giving boundaries 💅)
    • scroll — usually the analyzer shows simulation activity by scrolling the traces to the left, so the last changes are shown. the scroll feature enables/disables that scrolling, which effectively freezes the traces. when scrolling is enabled, a check mark shows up on this menu entry.
  • print — these options control the generation of a PostScript file, suitable for getting a hardcopy of the trace window. 🖨️
    • file — requests the filename to hold the PostScript output. hitting <return> will use the default name (shown in parens). hitting <ctrl-C> will abort generation of the file. the following menu entries control the aspect of the PostScript file; a check mark in the corresponding menu entry implies that the feature will be included in the output.
    • banner — generate a banner, showing the simulation name and current date.
    • legend — generate (in a separate page) a description of the signals displayed: the complete names of nodes (since the first characters may be stripped), and for vectors the names of the nodes of which it is composed.
    • times — generate a time ruler at the bottom of the traces.
    • outline — draw an outline around the trace window.

🧚 MOUSE FUNCTIONS 🧚

the analyzer gives you different functions depending on where in the window a mouse button gets depressed. all buttons have the same meaning, except inside the scrollbar. pressing a mouse button in these regions will provide:

  • Signal names: the signal name where the button was depressed will be highlighted and will be moved to the position where the button is released, scrolling the other traces if necessary. if the button is released under the same signal on which it was pressed, that signal becomes selected. the selected signal is always underlined, and some information about that signal gets printed in the text window.
if the button is released outside the traces area (above or below), the signal will be removed from the display. it can only be added again by invoking the analyzer command. so like… careful bestie, there's no undo button 😭
  • Left Arrow: the traces are scrolled left by half a page (move back in time).
  • Right Arrow: the traces are scrolled right by half a page (move forward in time).
  • Double Left Arrow: scrolls traces left by a full page.
  • Double Right Arrow: scrolls traces right by a full page.
  • Scrollbar:
    • the left button lets you stretch the left side of the window, which zooms in/out by an arbitrary amount. the right side of the window stays the same.
    • the right button lets you stretch the right side of the window, which zooms in/out by an arbitrary amount. the left side of the window stays the same.
    • the middle button moves the whole view back and forth in time. the magnification factor stays the same.
  • Traces: the cursor is moved to the time-step where the mouse is clicked. some lack of accuracy in selecting the time may become apparent due to screen resolution round off. (not its fault, it's just pixels fr fr)
    • holding down the shift key at the same time as the mouse button will not move the cursor, but rather show the value of the signal at the time-step where the mouse is clicked. that value is printed in the text window using this format:
name @  time:value=value,input=status
  • the value is always shown in binary, regardless of the base selected for that signal. the status is a string showing which nodes were inputs at that time. nodes that were inputs have an i in their respective position, otherwise an -.
  • Cursor Values: the selected signal value is highlighted and, when the button is released, the value of the signal is expanded in the text window. this is useful for displaying each of the bits that make up a vector. the info printed has this format:
name:value=value input=status

where value and status have the same meaning as above.

  • Banner: clicking on the banner brings the window to the foreground. main character energy, literally.
  • Box on Banner: clicking in the little box on the left side of the banner iconizes the analyzer window. to de-iconize the window, simply click any button within the icon.
  • Banner Menus: pressing a mouse button in one of the banner menus (on the right side) will pull down the corresponding menu.

🌈 X DEFAULTS 🌈

the analyzer application uses the appropriate resource specification at startup time to customize the appearance of its window. the format for a resource specification in the .Xdefaults file is:

            [name.]resource:  value

for the analyzer, the available names are irsim and analyzer. the available resources are:

  • background — specifies the traces window background color. the default is black.
  • foreground — specifies the text color, or the background of everything else besides the traces window. the default is white.
  • geometry — specifies the default geometry (window size and screen location) of the graphic window. the default Xgeometry is "=1000x300+0+0".
  • reverseVideo — specifies whether the foreground and background colors are to be reversed (on monochrome displays only). the default is off.
  • font — specifies the fixed-width font displayed. the default is 6x13.
  • borderWidth — specifies the width of the border (in pixels). the default is 2.
  • borderColor — specifies the border color when the window is selected. the default is black.
  • highlight — specifies the color used for highlighting. the default is red (color displays only).
  • traceColor — specifies the color in which the traces are drawn. the default is white.
  • bannerBg — specifies the background color for the banner. the default is white.
  • bannerFg — specifies the foreground (text) color for the banner. the default is black.

⭐ SEE ALSO ⭐

and that's the whole page, bestie 💜 this was the IRSIM USER'S MANUAL's irsim-analyzer(3) section — that's the manual and the page number right there, and no date is attached to it, so it's timeless, lowkey. slay, go trace some signals 🦋✨

📦 where this page comes from