This extension will assist you creating latches, flip-flops and logic gates following the 'distinctive shape' of IEEE Std 91/91a-1991 standard in Inkscape.
TIP: If you want to create timing diagrams, please take a look at my newest project wavedromScape
The main features of this extension are
- You can use up to six inputs for each gate (except NOT and BUFFER gates)
- Each input can be set to be inverted (negated) individually
- Latch and flip-flop generator, with customizable optional control gates and asynchronous Preset and Clear.
- Signal labeling generator with a few pre-defined commonly used signals
- Boolean expression editor, with optional LaTeX support and predefined logic operator functions.
Compatibility table
| Inkscape | logicGates | inkscapeMadeEasy | Receive updates? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | 1.0 (latest) | 1.0 (latest) | YES |
| 0.48, 0.91, 0.92 | 0.9x (obsolete) | 0.9x (obsolete) | NO |
Latest version: The latest version of logicGates is 1.0. This version is compatible with Inkscape 1.0 and up only. It is incompatible with older Inkscape versions!
Older versions: If you have an older version of Inkscape, please use the files under the folder 0.9x on Github.
Important: Only the latest version will receive updates, new features, and bug fixes! The usage section in this documentation describes the latest version. In older versions, the disposition of the elements in the plugin's screen might be different. Some features might not be present or have different behavior.
Installation procedures for latest and older versions are described below.
- You will need inkscapeMadeEasy plugin installed. Check the compatibility table above to know the version you need.
logicGates was developed using Inkscape 1.0 in Linux (Kubuntu 18.04). It should work in different OSs too as long as all requirements are met.
-
Install inkscapeMadeEasy, version 1.0 (latest). Follow the instructions in the manual page. Note: LaTeX text is used in logicGates if the support is activated (nicer results), otherwise regular text elements will be used.
-
logicGates installation
-
Go to Inkscape's extension directory with a file browser. Your inkscape extension directory can be accessed by opening Inkscape and selecting
Edit > Preferences > System. Look for the item User Extensions field. There is a button on the right of the field that will open a file explorer window in that specific folder. -
Create a subfolder in the extension directory with the name
logicGates. Important: Be careful with upper and lower case letters. You must write as presented above. -
Download logicGates files and place them inside the directory you just created.
You don't have to copy all files from Github. The files you will need are
logicGates.py,logicGates.inx, andlogicGatesPreamble.tex. You can find these files inside thelatestfolder. In the end you must have the following files and directories in your Inkscape extension directory.LaTeX users: the file
logicGatesPreamble.texcontains the macros defined in this plugin. You can add your own macros to this file. You can also add macros toinkscapeMadeEasy/basicLatexPackages.tex. In this case the same macros will be accessible by all plugins that employ inkscapeMadeEasy.inkscape ┣━━ extensions ┋ ┣━━ inkscapeMadeEasy <-- inkscapeMadeEasy folder ┃ ┣━━ inkscapeMadeEasy_Base.py ┃ ┣━━ inkscapeMadeEasy_Draw.py ┃ ┣━━ inkscapeMadeEasy_Plot.py ┃ ┗━━ basicLatexPackages.tex ┃ ┣━━ textext <-- texText folder (if you installed textText) ┃ ┋ ┃ ┣━━ logicGates <-- logicGates folder ┋ ┣━━ logicGatesPreamble.tex ┣━━ logicGates.py ┗━━ logicGates.inx NOTE: You might have other sub folders inside the extensions directory. They don't interfere with the plugin.
-
logicGates was developed using Inkscape 0.48 and 0.91 in Linux (Kubuntu 18.04). It should work in different OSs too as long as all requirements are met.
-
Install inkscapeMadeEasy, version 1.0 (latest). Follow the instructions in the manual page. Note: LaTeX text is used in logicGates if the support is activated (nicer results), otherwise regular text elements will be used.
-
logicGates installation
-
Go to Inkscape's extension directory with a file browser.
-
Download logicGates files and place them inside the directory you just created.
You don't have to copy all files from Github. The files you will need are
logicGates.py,logicGates.inx, andCircuitSymbolsLatexPreamble.tex. You can find these files inside the0.9xfolder. In the end you must have the following files and directories in your Inkscape extension directory.inkscape ┣━━ extensions ┋ ┣━━ inkscapeMadeEasy_Base.py ┣━━ inkscapeMadeEasy_Draw.py ┣━━ inkscapeMadeEasy_Plot.py ┃ ┣━━ textextLib ┃ ┣━━ __init__.py ┃ ┣━━ basicLatexPackages.tex ┃ ┣━━ CircuitSymbolsLatexPreamble.tex <-- from repository folder 0.9x! ┃ ┣━━ textext.inx ┃ ┗━━ textext.py ┃ ┣━━ logicGates.py <-- from repository folder 0.9x! ┣━━ logicGates.inx <-- from repository folder 0.9x! ┋
-
The extension can be found under extensions > fsmMLK > Circuit symbols menu.
This extension is presented in three tabs. The Logic gates and Latch and F.F. tabs allow you to create logic gates and latches/flip-flops respectively, while Signals and Expressions create boolean expressions and logic signal labels.
Gate checkboxes: You can select the gates. More than one gate can be created at once, however they will share the same input configuration (see below).
Number of inputs: Number of inputs of the gate. This parameter does not affect NOT and BUFFER gates. You can choose any number between 2 and 6.
Input config: You can select whether the inputs must be inverted. This field accepts a sequence of values 1 or 0. You can create a sequence of 1s and 0s without any spaces, with spaces or commas.
- 1 stands for regular input
- 0 stands for inverted input
The first element of the sequence is associated to the input at the top. If this string has less elements than the number of inputs, the remaining inputs will be set to regular inputs.
Examples:
Type: You can select the type of Latch/Flip-flop.
Symbol size: You can select between 3 sizes, presented below.
Suppress Q and not{Q} outputs: You can choose any output (Q and NOT{Q}) to be suppressed.
Control Gate type: You can optionally include a control gate, by level (latch) or edge (flip-flop). Se image below.
Control Gate Activation Logic: Here you can select the type of activation logic of the control gate. Se image below.
- active on HIGH (latch) or rising edge ⮥ (flip-flop)
- active on LOW (latch) or falling edge ⮧ (flip-flop)
Asynchronous Preset: Add asynchronous Preset signal. You can select between active HIGH or LOW.
Asynchronous Clear: Add asynchronous Clear signal. You can select between active HIGH or LOW.
This tab is presented in two subtabs, Signals and Expressions. The first create signal nodes to add to your logic circuit. The second creates a text element with a boolean expression. The 'Apply' button will execute the action associated to the subtab that is on the top
Signal type: Allows the selection of one type of signal. You can select a few commonly used signals or select Custom to customize its label. (see below)
Direction: Direction of the signal line. This option is used only if Draw signal line option is enabled.
Custom label: Label of the signal. This option is used only if Custom or Digital is selected in Signal type. If LaTeX support is enabled the text will be inserted in a mathematical environment
Draw signal line: signal line toggle.
Boolean expression: Boolean expression area. Predefined commands were created for the basic boolean operators:
Note: The command
\NOThas one argument and MUST be enclosed between{ }
Examples:
- The objects will be created in the center of your screen.
