- New `screen_help.cpp` (`screen_idx = 6`). Left column: menu of 13 topics (Overview, Dashboard, Console, Palette, Explore, Connect/plug, set-connector-type, Signal types, NC pins, Analyze, Scripting, Save/restore, Quitting). Centre column: paragraphs of the focused topic, word-wrapped via `paragraph()` and scrollable. Right column: standard help panel. - `help` bare → opens the screen; `help <name>` keeps the existing textual command-help behaviour for scripts. - Dashboard `[h]` shortcut opens the screen, and the dashboard help panel (both the loaded and the no-system branch) lists it. - Console: title gets the standard breadcrumb (`essim → console — type commands, read textual output`). Module/connection counters moved off (they live on the dashboard now). - Explore Enter on a part jumps to `set-connector-type` with the exact-match index pre-computed in the filtered list (avoids the substring-match collision where `J20` would land on the wrong row when J200/J21 also matched). - set-connector-type screen: bind `focused_entry` to `selected` on both menus so the cursor `>` tracks the selected row when state is pre-seeded from outside. Right column drops its strict `size(WIDTH, EQUAL, 40)` in favour of `flex`, and the `new type` input uses `xflex` so it actually stretches across the column. - Esc on `set-connector-type` honours `screen_back_idx` — when entered via Enter on a part in `explore`, Esc returns to explore; otherwise it returns to the dashboard like every other screen. Standalone command entries explicitly reset the back-link. - Net-member rows in the explore detail pane carry a `module\tsignal` payload so Enter opens the popup scoped to the peer module rather than mis-firing on the locally selected one. Same scheme for local-pin rows. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>
essim — system digital twin
Interactive simulator for the inter-card connections inside a system. Built around a domain model of modules → parts → pins / signals → connections, with importers for Mentor Graphics, Altium and ODS pinout sheets, a TUI shell with scripting, snapshots and BFS net analysis.
Status: early work-in-progress.
Quick start
cmake -S . -B build
cmake --build build -j
./build/essim
Requirements:
- A C++17 compiler.
- CMake 3.14+.
- System packages:
libzipandpugixml(Arch:pacman -S libzip pugixml). - FTXUI (v6.1.9) and doctest (v2.4.11) are fetched at configure time via
FetchContent.
Inside the shell, type help for the live command list — or read the
auto-generated reference at doc/user/commands.md.
A worked bring-up script is at test/system.essim;
load it with source test/system.essim.
Tests
./build/essim_tests
# or
ctest --test-dir build
Skip building tests entirely:
cmake -S . -B build -DBUILD_TESTING=OFF
Documentation
doc/user/— user guide, command reference, scripting.doc/api/— auto-generated C++ API reference.DESIGN.md— implementation notes (domain conventions, TUI internals, gotchas).doc/README.md— how the doc pipeline is wired.
Regenerate auto-generated parts after substantive code changes:
cmake --build build --target doc # needs doxygen + python3
Project layout
src/system/ domain model (Module/Part/Pin/Signal, Connection, Transform, …)
src/imports/ Mentor / Altium / ODS netlist importers
src/tui/ FTXUI shell (commands, screens, completion, history)
tests/ doctest suite
doc/ api/ + user/ Markdown trees, Doxyfile.in, gen_api_md.py
test/ sample netlists + system.essim bring-up script
Full layout & rationale in DESIGN.md.
Licence
Copyright (c) 2026 François Dausseur
Licensed under the European Union Public Licence (EUPL), Version 1.2 —
the "Licence". You may not use this work except in compliance with the
Licence. You may obtain a copy of the Licence in the LICENSE
file or at https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/software/page/eupl.
Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the Licence is distributed on an "AS IS" basis, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the Licence for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the Licence.
SPDX-License-Identifier: EUPL-1.2