Introduction

Begin a new simulation

Open/Save simulations

Make a circuit look right

Add graphs New graph Options How it works

Run a simulation

State variables

Miscellaneous options

Advanced features

Add Graphs

Adding a new graph

To add a graph, you must first open a simulation so that MoHAT has data to graph. Once the simulation has been opened, click the Add Graph link in the controls menu to create a new graph. You may only have six graphs on the screen at a time, so if you have six open graphs, you will be prompted to close a graph before continuing. At this point you should see a dialog box and a blank graph appear on your screen. The dialog box contains a checkbox for each voltage or current you listed after the .PRINT statement in your PSpice circuit listing file. MoHAT can only graph the data you give it, so if you don't see the voltage or current you're looking for, then rerun your simulation in PSpice with a .PRINT statement reflecting the new voltages or currents.

To graph a set of data, simply click on the appropriate checkbox and wait for it to appear on the graph. Each graph itself can have up to a maximum of ten data series graphed on it at a time, and each selected checkbox represents one data series. To remove a data series, simply uncheck the corresponding checkbox and wait for the graph to readjust.

Once you're done choosing the data to graph, click the Accept button to keep the graph, or you may at any time click the Cancel button to close the graph and lose your changes.

Graphing options

Each data series added will be graphed and in the same color, a listing of the current value for that data will appear in a list located below the x-axis of the graph. The number displayed represents the value of that current or voltage for the currently specified input. As you adjust the input to the circuit, you will notice the values in the list update and the vertical red bar on the graph move left or right, which indicates where along the graph the circuit is currently looking.

At any time you may adjust the location of the graph by clicking just about anywhere on the graph and dragging it to a different location. You can make the list of data at the bottom of the graph disappear by clicking on the downward-facing arrow to the left of the list. This causes the arrow to face right and the data to be hidden. To display the data again, just click on the now right-facing arrow, and the data reappears. Clicking the "x" in the upper right corner of the graph will close the graph window, and clicking the "_" located to the left of the "x" will minimize it.

How it works

The MoHAT graphing feature is very simple. It first takes the data set you're graphing and calculates the maximum and minimum values to determine the scope of the y-axis. It then goes through each data point and puts a dot on the graph representing that point. If there are enough data points, these dots appear to make a smooth graph. With less data points, you see a dotted graph. However, the more data points there are the longer it takes to draw the graph, and, after a certain number, more data points don't make the graph any more distinct. If you're noticing that it takes a while to graph each data series, then you probably have too many data points. Sometimes a lot of data points are necessary if you're covering a wide area of operation or if the data jumps around a lot, so don't cut you're available data just to make the graph open faster.