User Guide

Components
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Components
A component or device has several aspects associated
with it:
• symbol—the graphical representation used in
drawing schematics
• packaging information—defines the names of the
package types (footprints) in which the component is
available, the pin number assignments for those
package types, and the number of gates (for multi-gate
components)
• footprint—used for board layout
• simulation model—if the component can be simulated
with PSpice A/D
Symbols
Symbols are created and modified with the symbol editor,
and are stored in symbol libraries (.slb). Symbols consist
of graphics, pins (for electrical symbols), and attributes.
Packaging Information
Packaging information for a component is closely related
to the symbol but is kept separately in a package
definition. Package definitions are stored in package
libraries (.plb). The association of the symbol and the
packaging definition is by name. Generally, you will
create a symbol with a given name and a package
definition with the same name. If you use the Symbol
Creation Wizard in PSpice Schematics to create symbols,
it will automatically create a package definition for you.