Files

François 043fef0a31 User-facing docs: --commands-md flag, doc/user/ tree, anonymised script.

- `essim --commands-md [file]` instantiates the Tui, calls
  `Tui::DumpCommandsMd(ostream&)` which iterates the live registry and
  emits Markdown grouped by interactive/other, then exits. Single
  source of truth: a new `CommandSpec` field surfaces automatically.
- CMake `doc` target now `DEPENDS essim` and chains:
    doxygen → gen_api_md.py → doc/api/
    essim --commands-md      → doc/user/commands.md
- `doc/user/` adds:
    - index.md (hand-written) — first session, interactive-screen
      conventions, save/restore/replay overview.
    - scripting.md (hand-written) — `set`/`$var` expansion semantics,
      `source` event-paced execution, script-save denylist, worked
      example pointing at test/system.essim.
    - commands.md (auto-generated, regenerated by the `doc` target).
- Top-level README refocused on quick start; pointers to the new
  doc tree (user/, api/, DESIGN.md) instead of an inline command table.
- doc/README.md and DESIGN.md document the two-pipeline doc workflow.
- `test/system.essim` and user docs anonymised: bkp → backplane,
  vdn1/2/3 → payload1/2/3, cb3p → payload4, bpb/cob/ssu →
  peripheral1/2/3; netlist file names + variable names + paths all
  replaced with generic equivalents.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>

2026-05-12 08:29:45 +02:00

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essim — user guide

A short, task-oriented introduction to using essim. For an exhaustive reference of every command, see commands.md (auto- generated from the binary). For scripting and $variable expansion, see scripting.md.

What essim is

A digital twin for the inter-card connections inside a system. You load modules (cards/boards) from netlist or pinout files, tag their connectors with a connector_type, connect them across modules, and verify that the signal types match the connector role expectations. You can save a snapshot, restore it later, or replay a session as a script.

┌──────────┐    ┌──────────┐
│ Module A │    │ Module B │
│  Part J1 │◀──▶│  Part P1 │   <— a Connection (built by `connect`)
│   pins   │    │   pins   │
└──────────┘    └──────────┘

First session

After launching ./build/essim, the prompt accepts a sequence of commands. The most common bring-up looks like this:

> new
> load backplane /path/to/netlists/backplane.NET altium
> load payload1  /path/to/netlists/payload.qcv mentor
> set-type backplane J20 vpx-3u-bkp-p0
> set-type payload1  P0  vpx-3u-payload-p0
> connect backplane J20 payload1 P0
> verify
> save my-system.essim

Things to try at any time:

Action	How
List every command	`help`
Help on one command	`help <name>`
Scroll back through output	`PageUp` / `PageDown`, `Home`, `End`
Re-run a previous command	↑ / ↓ (also `history` is on disk)
Tab-complete a command name	`set‹Tab›` → `set-type` etc.
Cancel a multi-step prompt	`Esc`
Leave essim	`quit` (or `exit`)

Interactive screens

Some commands open a dedicated full-screen layout when invoked with no arguments (the help listing tags these [interactive]). They all share the same conventions:

A title bar essim → <name> — <short description> is shown at the top.
Tab cycles focus between fields; the active field's label flips to reverse video so it's obvious where the next keystroke goes.
Esc leaves the screen and returns to the main prompt.
The screens are user-facing only — they are never allowed inside a sourced script. A sourced script must use the inline form of these commands instead.

Today's interactive screens: connect, search, set-type, explore, net. See commands.md for each.

Saving, restoring, replaying

Three orthogonal mechanisms persist your work:

save <file> writes a binary-tab-delimited snapshot of the whole system (modules, parts, signals, connector types, signal-type overrides, connections, pin maps). restore <file> replaces the current system with the snapshot.
script-save <file> writes a replay-ready text script of every command issued since the last new. The interactive bits and the noisy commands (clear, help, …) are filtered out automatically.
source <file> reads a script line by line. Comments start with #, blank lines are skipped, leading ~/ in paths is expanded, and while a script is running a centred "Computing…" modal shows the progress (one line per ~30 ms tick).

A typical workflow: experiment in the shell, script-save the part that works, hand-edit the script to introduce $variables (see scripting.md), then source it whenever you start fresh.

Where to look next

commands.md — exhaustive command reference, regenerated from the binary on every cmake --build build --target doc.
scripting.md — set / $var / ${var}, source semantics, the script-save denylist.
DESIGN.md — implementation notes, useful if you want to add a command or a screen.
../api/ — auto-generated C++ API reference.

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