User Guide

Chapter 9 Using Design Journal
272
Understanding Design Journal
Design Journal is a very powerful analysis and tracking
tool. With it you can:
• document stages of development
• perform what-if analysis on your current schematic,
while preserving the integrity of the original
• compare the results of one or more what-if scenarios to
the original schematic output, by simulating in PSpice
A/D and viewing the results in Probe
• create a record of modifications (that you may or may
not have implemented)
• capture the thought process of a design
• easily revert back to an earlier design stage
These functions are available to you as you create
checkpoint schematics (a copy of the current state of the
schematic you are working on). Each checkpoint
schematic is stored in a separate subdirectory, within the
directory of the working schematic. Checkpoint
schematics are named
Checkpoint.xxx, where xxx is a
sequential number starting with 001.
Figure 22 depicts a working schematic and two
checkpoint schematics. The first checkpoint schematic is a
copy of the working schematic. The second checkpoint
schematic represents a progressive stage of development.
A c
h
ec
k
point sc
h
ematic is a copy o
f
t
h
e
schematic you are working on, in its current
stage of development.
I
f
t
h
e
f
irst c
h
ec
k
point sc
h
ematic isn’t
changed, it preserves the state of the
w
orking schematic at the point the first
checkpoint schematic was created.