Configuring PLECS

The PLECS configuration parameters can be modified per user in the PLECS Preferences dialog. Choose Preferences… from the File (on macOS: PLECS) menu to open it.

Note that various tooltips give additional information.

General

The Language used by PLECS can be specified or set to Auto, such that PLECS uses the language settings of your computer. Available languages are English and Japanese. To activate the new language settings, PLECS must be restarted.

The Appearance controls the color scheme used by PLECS. You can choose between the classic light scheme and the new dark scheme that is designed to work well in low-light conditions. On Windows and macOS, you can also let PLECS dynamically adapt to the system default of your computer by choosing the auto option. When PLECS is used in dark mode, the darkness of the schematic background can be scaled by the option Contrast in dark schematic.

PLECS saves your opened models regularly as an internal autosave, both at the modifiable Autosave frequency and when a simulation is started. If PLECS quits unexpectedly, these autosaves can be restored: For models that have been saved before, an autosave can be loaded upon opening the model. For new unsaved models, an autosave can be loaded upon starting PLECS.

In PLECS Standalone, the Thread limit specifies the maximum number of threads that may be used by an individual interactive analysis or an individual parallel simulation or analysis command. This can be further reduced using simulation or analysis options.

In PLECS Standalone, the RPC interface port can be enabled or disabled for external scripting. When enabled, PLECS listens on the specified TCP port for incoming RPC connections. See chapter RPC Interface in PLECS Standalone for details on using the RPC interface.

In PLECS Standalone, Enable FMU Co-Simulation endpoint controls whether PLECS can be used in a tool-coupling co-simulation (see section PLECS Co-Simulation FMU).

Schematic

The setting Symbol Format controls whether resistors and capacitors are drawn in DIN or ANSI style. The table below shows the different component representation for both settings.

DIN	ANSI

When the Grid setting is set to On, a grid is displayed in the background of schematic windows for easier placement of components and their connections.

The Vectorization setting sets the default vizualization of connection widths \(> 1\). The default can be Off, Markers or Numbers. You can toggle whether the width numbers are shown any time while holding the Tab key. Note that the connections widths may not be up to date in your schematic, unless you run Evaluate Parameters or Start from the Simulation menu.

The Zoom setting allows you to disable continuous zooming into the schematic via your mouse wheel. Discrete zooming via native keyboard shortcuts or the View menu is always possible.

The Component snap feature allows you to snap components to useful positions while you drag them across the schematic. It aligns component centers as well as terminals of matching domains and signal directions. It indicates the alignment during the drag by a dotted line. This feature can be configured to match individual preferences:

You can individually enable the Elements to be snapped to.
You can decide whether snapping is enabled by Default.
While holding a configurable Modifier key, snapping can be temporarily activated or deactivated.
The Jump defines the maximum distance a dragged component will jump to align. The lower this value, the smaller the jumps.
When limiting the Reach, only elements that lie within the specified range around the dragged one will be snapped to.

Window

The Circuit browser setting specifies the default filtering mode used for all circuit browsers (see section Circuit Browser).

When comparing two models in a Diff Result window, by default the left view shows the “before” model and the right view the “after” model. Using the Model comparison option, you can swap the views. Note that this only changes their location in the window and has no influence on the roles of the “before” and “after” models (see section Diff Tool).

When starting PLECS, a Welcome screen is shown if enabled.

On Windows, PLECS can use OpenGL for GPU-accelerated rendering, e.g. for the PLECS Documentation in the PLECS Help Viewer.

If PLECS crashes, a Crash report dialog is shown, offering the possibility to send a report to Plexim to help investigate the cause of the crash. Some peripherals like the PLECS Help Viewer run in a separate process. You can disable the crash report dialog for this process.

Library

To add custom libraries to the library browser add these libraries in the User Libraries settings. All custom libraries must be located on the library search path, which is defined differently depending on the PLECS edition:

For PLECS Standalone, the library search path can be changed in the Search Path settings on the same preferences page.
For PLECS Blockset, the custom libraries must be located on the MATLAB search path. The MATLAB search path can be set from the MATLAB file menu. The Search Path settings are not available in the PLECS Blockset preferences.

If the checkbox Show library link indicators is checked, PLECS will display a small hollow curved arrow () in the lower left corner of each component that links back to a library. A right-click on this link indicator opens a context menu that allows you to break the library link or show the original component in the library browser.

Note

To create a new component library in PLECS Blockset, you need to copy the PLECS Library block from the PLECS Extras library into a Simulink model or library. For details on creating custom libraries, see Libraries.

Note

In PLECS Spice, the library search path is also used to find netlist files for the Netlist File Reference.

Thermal

The setting Thermal Description Search Path contains the root directories of the thermal library. See section Thermal Library for more details.

Scope

The Scope Background setting determines whether the PLECS scopes are drawn with a Black or White background. Choose the option Auto to dynamically adjust the scope background to the light or dark appearance of PLECS.

The Scope Palette setting determines the appearance of the curves inside the PLECS scopes. To create a new custom palette, select any existing palette and click on Duplicate…. To remove a palette, click on Remove. Note that the default palette is read-only and cannot be removed.

The Signals table lists the base properties used for the curves in a scope plot. You can specify color, line style, line width, marker style, and marker size individually for each curve. If a plot contains more curves than the number of entries in this list, PLECS will restart at the beginning. The default palette specifies six solid, one pixel wide line styles.

The Distinguish traces by setting specifies how different traces for a specific signal are distinguished from each other (see Adding Traces). In the default palette, traces are distinguished by Brightness, i.e. by using different shades of the base color. In custom palettes, you can alternatively distinguish traces by varying the Color, Line style, Line width, or the Marker appearance. The selected property will then not be available in the signal list, but in the Traces list. Again, if a plot has more traces than the number of entries in this list, PLECS will restart at the beginning.

When opening a model, PLECS can reopen all scope windows that were open when the model was saved. The option Reopen scope windows when loading model enables or disables this behavior.

Update

PLECS can be configured to check for updates every time it is started. If the computer running PLECS is located behind a firewall, it may be necessary to configure proxy settings. These settings can be determined automatically or entered manually.

The Server name configures the fully qualified domain name or the IP address of the HTTP proxy server. Leave empty to disable proxy usage.

The Server port configures the TCP port of the HTTP proxy server.

The Proxy user configures the username to use for proxy authentication. Leave empty to disable proxy authentication.

The Proxy password configures the password for proxy authentication.

Note

To check for updates, PLECS sends its version to the Plexim update server. No further personal information is transmitted.

Coder

For more information about the PLECS Coder, see Code Generation.

The setting Target Support Packages Path lets you specify a folder which PLECS searches for target support packages for the PLECS Coder. A target support package enables the PLECS Coder to generate code that is specific for a particular target such as the PLECS RT Box.

The table Installed targets lists the support packages that are installed in the specified folder. PLECS automatically searches the folder when you start it. To refresh the list after you have installed a new target, click on the Rescan button.