“;” character is identified, in the schematic editor, as a keyboard shortcut to toggle a text graphic’s comment (or component’s stuff) status.
But it does not work properly (at least to me) as other toggles (F2, F3, etc). In fact, it needs a preliminary “.” shortcut to access to text mode and only after the question mark appearance,
you can start the sentence with the “;” character that identifies following text as comment, but maintaining the color settings for a directive.
Another potential improvement is related to the “F5” shortcut. It allows to run a simulation but does not allow to stop it after a second click (as already implemented for F2, F3, etc). It might be a bit annoying in case the “toolbar” has been previously disabled.
“T” is the shortcut to start placing text
“.” is the shortcut to start placing text start with . , to save you one click in creating dot directive
But “;” works differently. You hover over a text box, pressing “;” can toggle to comment the textbox in schematic level (or you right click text box, select “This text is a comment”). In short, it is for something you already created, either a text or a symbol. If used for symbol, it equivalent to right click - Do Not Stuff.
Here is an example
- line 2 is hover over textbox and toggle it with “;”, text color changed to blue, and it is a comment in schematic level and will not appear in netlist
- line 3 is to add a ; in front, text color is still black, it appear in netlist level which as a comment and turned green
“;” shortcut can quickly enable / disable something (not only text, but also a device). For example, I commonly use this to switch between two simulation directive (e.g. .ac and .tran).
If you have to stop simulation without Tool Bar, goto Output Window, right click > Abort Simulation.
Output Window should forced to appear after Run the simulation. Or you can press F4 to bring it back.
Many thanks for your explanation on how “;” toggle currently works in QSPICE and its impact on the netlist.
I had missed out on its pressing action with the mouse cursor over text boxes/symbols.
I was aware, instead, of “Abort Simulation” option in the Output Window.
But thanks to share it for the community.
Honestly, I still think pressing F5 inside the open schematic editor is the fastest and smartest way to run or stop the current simulation.
If any developer is following the topic I think they might have a say in it.