Release Notes

Install Notes
***LICENSING/REGISTRATON**** The installer will install as a Trial by default, whether you have actually purchased the program or downloaded the Trial version. If you have purchased the program, you will have 30 days to register the program after which you will receive a license key by email that will remove the time limitation. If you have installed the Trial version, you will have 5 days to register the program and receive a license key by email that will give you a 30 day Trial period. If you do not register the program in the initial Trial period, it will default to a LITE version with severe restrictions on the number of components and Tests. Registration can be performed by running the program and going to the "Help->License/Registration" dialog and clicking the appropriate button. This will generate an email that will be sent requesting a license key.

Windows 98/ME Issues that can lead to crashes:

Due to the way Windows 98 and ME handle system resources, B2 Spice v5 can crash after extended use. Windows 98 and ME have a small resource pool that can easily be used up, and once that happens, becomes unstable and unpredictable. Here are some areas of our program that require significant Windows resources and could lead to a program crash: Using too many virtual instruments. All virtual instruments use some resources, but Oscilloscopes and Transient Recorders will use larger amounts than the rest. Any more than two of these instruments will deplete significant amounts o f resources and can lead to stability problems. The Test Setup panel and Edit Graph panel will also take up some resources but will not be as significant as the Instruments. We have worked hard on minimizing this resource problem and will continue to do so in the future. Resource issues do not affect Windows 2000 and XP.

Known Issues for all platforms:

Digital instruments and parts still have some problems. Multiple-bit inputs will need to be replaced, if brought in from a v4 circuit. Some circuits created in earlier versions of B2 Spice (A/D 2000, v4.1, v4.2), will not open in v5. This seems to be more common to Pure Digital circuits. Circuits containing digital subcircuit parts will crash v5. Likewise, creating a subcircuit from a digital schematic still has problems and the resulting device will not function. We have removed some of the Sweep and Monte Carlo capabilities for the following Tests: DC Bias, DC Sensitivity, DC Transfer Function, Distortion, Noise, Pole Zero, Device Parameters, and Model Parameters. These were causing numerous problems and will be fixed and added back in v5.1 When sending a project or schematic (which are in text format) via email using Microsoft Outlook Express , the leading period in a line is stripped, which could cause problems since SPICE uses periods to designate certain commands. Please be aware of this and use a compression utility like Winzip to compress the files before sending. see the RELEASE NOTES PDF for more issues relating to problems opening of older v5 pro jects. current probes on diode pins can result in message "Illegal expression in -d1.id. Problem involves an operator." This does not affect the simulation results and can be ignored for now. multiple sweeps - plots added to graph are not persistent in subsequent test runs.

If a schematic or circuit project cannot be opened, heres what he needs to be done. There are two sources for this problem, and each has a solution. Rest assured, these problems are fixed for circuits saved with 5.0.7. However, circuits with piecewise linear sources saved with 5.0.6 and earlier need surgery. Please send us your circuit files if you need help restoring them.

1) Circuit was originally imported from previous version of B2 A/D Spice, and there were markers in that circuit. Solution: patch to v5.0.7. No need to modify text of circuit files. 2) Piecewise linear transient sources. Solution: Open the circuit file (*.scm or *.cpr) using a text editor such as notepad or Word. Then search for the string prop trantype PWL. Then search from that point for the string )(prop ac. Remove the initial left parentheses before (prop ac. e.g. before: (prop trantype PWL)(prop time (DoubleArray 0.000E+000 1.000E-004)) (prop value (DoubleArray 0.000E+000 2.400E+001)) )(prop acoffset 12)) after: (prop trantype PWL)(prop time (DoubleArray 0.000E+000 1.000E-004)) (prop value (DoubleArray 0.000E+000 2.400E+001)) (prop acoffset 12)) * could also be acmag rather than acoffset
3) If the above solutions do not apply to you, try the following: open the *.cpr or *.scm file in a text editor and do a search for the following term: pinType or Type. Look for the text following pinType or Type and it should be enclosed in quotes. If it is not, then go ahead and place quote s around the text. Do this for every instance of pinType or type and save the file. An example is below: o BEFORE: (minipartpin(prop name "+VS") (prop modelPinName "3") (prop symbolPinName "+VS")(prop active 1) (prop bitNumber 0) (prop eaglePadName "")(prop type Power (+) )(prop modelPinIndex 2)(prop symbolPinID 1053)(prop isShared 1)) o AFTER: (minipartpin(prop name "+VS") (prop modelPinName "3") (prop symbolPinName "+VS")(prop active 1) (prop bitNumber 0) (prop eaglePadName "")(prop type Power (+))(prop modelPinIndex 2)(prop symbolPinID 1053)(prop isShared 1)) If you are unsure about the procedure or cannot get the circuit to open, please send it to us and well try to get it working for you.

Probes: Probes can be found under the Common Parts->Probes menu. Please refer to the separate document Circuit Probing for more instructions on using the Probes. This document should be in your B2 Spice AD v5 directory Circuit Markers: There are now five distinct marker types: Voltage Probe, Net Alias, Page Connector, Subcircuit Port, Node Set, and Voltage Initial Condition. They can be found under the Common Parts>Markers menu. Each have specific uses, though each marker contains the ability to perform all these functions by double clicking on the marker and checking the appropriate box. Voltage Probes used to designate signals to display in the graph. This type of voltage probe is not the same as the dedicated probe in that it is NOT interactive. Moving the marker voltage probe will not update signals in the graph, but only serves to pre-specify plots. Net Alias used to manually set a net name. The Net Alias marker is also used to make virtual connections within your circuit by naming one or more Net Alias by the same name. Page Connector used to connect circuits spread over more than one schematic within the same project. Place two Page Connectors with the same name on the schematic pages you wish to be connected and they will behave as one large circuit. Subcircuit Port this marker is used to designate port on the schematic that will be used as pins when turning the circuit into a part. The new devices pin will take the name of the Subcircuit Port device. Consult the help file on more information on how to turn a circuit into a subcirc uit part. Node Set used to specify the initial bias point guess when running a OP or DC Test. Initial Condition used to specify the initial voltage for Transient simulations.

Autosave: The Autosave function can be set in the File->Program Options menu. Check the enable box to turn on Autosave. You can set how often the program will save all open and modified projects using the autosave period setting. The Autosave will save all open and modified projects to a temporary file in the same directory as the original project directory. The file will be named similarly to the existing project, but will have an extension of .cp~ instead of *.cpr. You usually do not have to the file as the program usually handles the autosaved projects automatically. If for some reason the program terminates abnormally, upon restart, the program will ask if you want to open the projects that were Autosaved. If the program terminates normally via an exit command, all autosaved projects will be deleted.
-