Introduction: CSchem features and terminology

CSchem circuit designs consist of a single, conceptually infinitely large sheet containing “elements” and “connections.”

Elements are things like resistors and opamps, connections are simple wires connecting between pins of elements. Each element has up to two pieces of text associated with it: a circuit “reference” (e.g., “R₁”, “J₂”, or ”A_3.2”) and a “part/value” designation. The “part/value” designation is free-form. You can use it for a resistor value (e.g., “10 kΩ” or “1 Ω 3 W”) or for a part number (e.g., “OPA2350”) or for an arbitrary label.

Connections are wires between (pins of) elements. Where wires meet, a “junction” symbol is automatically inserted. Of course, wires can also cross without electrical contact. Connections normally are constrained to run horizontally or vertically with right-angle elbows.

The only graphical element that CSchem supports other than elements and connections are arbitrary textual annotations that can be placed anywhere on the sheet.

At present, CSchem does not have explicit support for buses with multiple signal wires or for splitting a drawing across multiple sheets.