A preview of Circuit Diagram 2.0 is now available to download. Please note that
it is still in the development stage, and you may encounter problems using it.
Design Your Own Components
A completely redesigned system for components, which will now be loaded at
runtime rather than being hard-coded into the application. They will no longer
be written in code, but in XML, making it easy for anyone to write their own
components to use in their diagrams.
Select and move multiple components at once while editing.
Shortcuts and Toolbox
Asign keyboard shortcuts to components and customize the items in the toolbox.
Other Improvements
Also included are many other improvements, such as the proper rendering of
connections on certain components. (You may have noticed that connections are
not drawn properly for the inputs of components such as logic gates, and that
three wires joining at the same point did not show as a connection.)
OPC-Based File Format
The new Circuit Diagram Document (*.cddx) file format brings with it the following
improvements:
Stores connection information as well as layout information meaning that it
contains all the data needed to simulate a circuit (simulation is not
supported by Circuit Diagram)
Custom components used in the circuit can be embedded within the document
Note: the structure of this file format is still subject to change, and files
could become incompatible with future versions until the format is finalised.
Download
Before downloading, please be aware of the following:
Some features from the stable version have not yet been implemented
If you create and save circuits using this version you may not be able to
open them in a future version as the file format has not been finalised
You are now able to include a component in a diagram even if Circuit Diagram
does not have built-in support for it. By placing the new component titled
"Custom Component" (found under the External Connection category in the
toolbox), you can choose a PNG image to be displayed in your circuit diagram.
This enables you to export to PNG or print the diagram containing your custom
component.
Please be aware of the following when using this feature:
Joins will not appear when your component is connected to another one
Saving the document will save the path to the image you have chosen, so your
component will not be shown if you send the file to someone else (unless you
also send the image)
Exporting to SVG is not supported - your component will not be visible
Custom components cannot be resized
I hope to add full support for custom components that can be resized,
customised and used in the same way as the built-in components in a future
version.
New Compnoents
The following components have been added:
Push-to-Break Switch
Changeover Switch
D Flip-Flop
Other
This release also includes bug fixes and adds an error log.
Visit the downloads page to download Circuit Diagram 1.2.
This version has been in development for a while now, and it introduces many new features and components. Due to reasons described below, you must manually uninstall previous versions and then install this version - you will not be notified about this update.
User Interface
The new user interface should make designing circuits much easier. Components are now displayed in the new toolbox on the left hand side, with icons rather than text to tell you which component the buttons represent (a popup also lets you know which is which when you hover over one of the images).
Clicking on one of the items in the toolbox allows you to place that type of component (or move/resize a component if the select tool is used).
Please note that if not all of the components can be displayed in the toolbox at once, a scroll bar will be shown. This can be disabled by going to Tools->Options and disabling "Show toolbox scroll bar".
You can still use the mouse wheel to scroll through the components. In addition to clicking on the items, holding the mouse button down over one which has a small triangle in the bottom right hand corner causes it to expand and reveal additional similar components which can be placed instead.
Clicking on one of these sets the first item to the new item, as shown below:
Toolbox
To edit a component, you now simply click on it when the "Select" option from the toolbox is chosen, and the properties for the component will be shown on the right of the main window.
The component is updated as you change these properties - there is no need to click "OK" as in previous versions. You can now use the zoom feature in the lower right hand corner of the main window to zoom in and out when editing your circuit.
Double-click on the "Zoom" label at any time to reset the zoom level back to 100%.
New Components
The following components have been introduced with this update:
Photo diode
Diode bridge
Crystal
Microphone
Loudspeaker
Motor
Buzzer
Heater
Variable capacitor
Trimmer capacitor
Polarised capacitor
Inductor
Application Updates
This version includes a new update system which allows you to check for updates manually through Help->Check for Updates, and also allows you to choose whether to check for updates automatically on start-up (although this will only happen once per day) - this setting can be found in the options window.
This new system means that previous versions of Circuit Diagram will not notify you of this update.
Circuit Diagram Document File Type
Circuit Diagram documents now have their own file extension (rather than .xml as with previous versions).
This means that you can double-click on a file to open it with Circuit Diagram, and Windows 7 users can use the "Recent" jump-list feature when Circuit Diagram is pinned to the taskbar.
I hope you enjoy using this new version. Visit the downloads page to download Circuit Diagram 1.0.
Version 1.0 of Circuit Diagram will be a major update with many new features.
The first of these is the brand new user interface, with a new theme and toolbox.
This enables components to be represented by icons rather than the current text representation,
making it easier to quickly find the component you need.
Editing components will be much easier than the current process of right-clicking and
choosing "properties" - a simple click on the component reveals the component editor within
the main window with changes being reflected immediately by the component once a property is changed.
On top of these features, there will also be many new components, including more types of
capacitor and resistor.
Circuit Diagram 1.0 is expected to be released in the next few weeks.
Please note that version 1.0 will bring a new update system which means that
current versions will not notify you when it is released, so please check back
here soon!
