From the README file:
This is a set of macros for drawing high-quality line diagrams to
include in TeX, LaTeX, or similar documents. Fundamental electric
circuit elements and basic logic gates are included with several
tools and examples of other types of diagrams. Elements can be
scaled or drawn in any orientation and are easy to modify. The
advantages and disadvantages of such a system are similar to those of
TeX itself, which is macro-based and non-wysiwyg, with ordinary
character input.
The macros are to be processed by m4, and evaluate to drawing
commands in the pic "little language," which is easy to read and
learn. Pic is well suited to line drawings requiring parametric or
conditional components, fine tuning, significant geometric
calculations or repetition, or to drawings that are naturally block
structured or tree structured. Arbitrary formatted text can be
included. Free TeX- and LaTeX-compatible interpreters for m4 and pic
are readily available.
Changes in this version are summarized here
Example diagrams can be viewed as
html
with links to the diagram sources, or as
pdf.
To draw your own diagrams using this method, you need:
-
A pic interpreter:
The dpic interpreter was used to process these diagrams. Dpic produces
output in the following formats:
- LaTeX graphics
- LaTeX pict2e graphics
- xfig format
- mfpic format
- eepicemu format
- PSTricks format
- TikZ PGF format for producing both .ps and .pdf files
- MetaPost format
- encapsulated Postscript, raw text
- encapsulated Postscript, psfrag text
The file processing sequence is typically:
(m4 source).m4 -> (pic statements).pic -> (LaTeX statements).tex,
resulting in a .tex file for inclusion in a LaTeX document.
The dpic interpreter is available in
source form.
A
PC executable is also available,
but you should download the source along with the executable in order to
obtain the documentaion files in the doc directory.
GNU pic, sometimes called gpic, is an alternative
that uses tpic specials (see the readme file).
-
An m4 macro processor:
Pic interpreters include basic macro facilities, but the circuit macros
and these examples use the more powerful m4 macro language, which
is available on Unix and Linux systems.
PC executables can be obtained in at least two forms:
-
The Circuit_macro distribution:
The complete distribution is available on any CTAN archive
in graphics/Circuit_macros.
Click here
to navigate to a CTAN site, or try the latest (possibly unstable)
development version,
zipped
or as a
tar.gz file.
See the Circuit_macros README file for differences
between the development version and the stable CTAN version.
Detailed instructions
are given in the readme file
and in the user's manual CMman.pdf available in the distribution.