Miscellaneous

I added a couple of macros and subcircuits into the Component Editor and created shapes for these parts in the Shape Editor. I just installed a newer version of Micro-Cap and have now lost these parts. Is there a way I can get them back without having to recreate them?

There is an easy way to retrieve these parts. Whenever Micro-Cap 6 is installed over a previous Micro-Cap 6, it backs up the appropriate component and shape files. The Component Editor file used is STANDARD.CMP and the Shape Editor file is STANDARD.SHP. Micro-Cap will back these files up in the MC6 directory with names such as STANDARD0.CMP and STANDARD0.SHP. If you are only reinstalling, you may copy the backup files back to the names STANDARD.CMP and STANDARD.SHP, making sure that Micro-Cap is not loaded, and then start Micro-Cap. Your parts will then be available again.

However, if you are upgrading to MC6 from MC5 or MC4 you will need to merge the old component and shape file. Start Micro-Cap. Go to the Windows menu and click on Component Editor. In the Component Editor, there is a Merge command button. This will invoke a File dialog box that lets you choose a Comp*.mc5 (MC5-Component file) to merge. The merge function will look at the Comp*.mc5 file and determine which parts don't exist in the current component file and merge them into it. If these parts have shapes that don't exist in the shape file, then the shapes will also be brought over. This command can also merge MC4 and MC6 component and shape files into MC6. The MC4 component and shape file is called CS.MC4.

MC6 now allows multiple component files to be used simultaneously. It is now recommended that any parts that a user wants to add to Micro-Cap be created in a separate component file. This way, the file can just be loaded into Micro-Cap for future versions and doesn't need to be merged. New shapes should also be created in a new shape file in the Shape Editor.