INSTALLATION:
1. Decide where you will be installing the .m4 library files. In
principle, they can go anywhere; for example, $HOME/texmf/Circuit_macros,
c:\localtexmf\Circuit_macros, /usr/local/share/Circuit_macros,
or ~/texmf/tex/latex/Circuit_macros. Copy the files from the
top-level directory of the distribution to the installation
directory, or simply expand the .tar.gz or .zip distribution file
and rename the result to create the installation directory, which
will then include the doc and examples subdirectories.
2. Copy boxdims.sty (see Section 9 of the manual) from the top
distribution directory to where LaTeX will find it; directory
~/texmf/tex/latex/boxdims for example, and refresh the LaTeX
filename database (the exact command depends on your LaTeX
distribution and may not be necessary).
3. Define the environment variable M4PATH to point to the installation
directory determined in Step 1. For the bash shell, for
example, add the following to your .bashrc file:
export M4PATH='.:~/texmf/tex/latex/Circuit_macros:'
but modify the path to the installation directory as necessary.
4. This is optional. For historical reasons, the default configuration file
as distributed is gpic.m4. You can change it to pgf.m4 or pstricks.m4
for use with dpic by editing the include command near the top of
libgen.m4. To do this automatically, go to the installation directory
and type
"make pgfdefault" to set the default processor to dpic with Tikz pgf
"make psdefault" to set the default processor to dpic with PSTricks
"make gpicdefault" to restore gpic as the default.
Installation on a Mac:
For a nice outline of how to install on a Mac, go to
https://www.hamish.science/2020/06/24/circuitmacros
CUSTOM MACROS:
You might develop your own set of macros that are combinations
or variations of those provided here. You can put them in a file,
mymacros.m4 say, and copy it to the installation directory. Then the
line include(mymacros.m4) in a diagram source will make your macros
available.
TESTING:
In case of difficulty, go to the examples directory, look at debug1.tex
and debug2.m4, and follow instructions.
To test your installation, go to the examples directory (or copy the
files Makefile, tst.tex, and any .m4 sources you might like to test
from the examples directory to a working directory) and create a test
circuit in the file test.m4. Copy ex01.m4 for example, or quick.m4
from the doc directory, into test.m4.
On a system with a "make" facility, first check the definitions at
the top of the Makefile, and then type "make tst1" to produce the
file tst.ps. If the source requires processing twice, type "make
tst" instead. To process one of the example .m4 files in the examples
directory (let's call it name.m4), simply type "make name.pdf" or "make
name.ps". If these tests work to your satisfaction, try typing simply
"make" to produce examples.pdf.
The .m4 files in the examples directory can serve as models for your
diagrams but keep in mind that some of them contain details that allow
the source to be used with a variety of postprocessors. Sticking to one
postprocessor such as tikz or PStricks allows for the simplest source.
You might also wish to browse some of the included files that are not
used to make examples.ps.
No "make" facility? You have to test by hand (but see the README file
for diagram production software). Copy a test file as above into
test.m4. Assuming you have dpic installed, type the following:
m4 -I <path> pstricks.m4 test.m4 > test.pic
dpic -p test.pic > test.tex
latex tst
dvips tst -o tst.ps
