Limit Lines in 2D and Circuit Cartesian Plots

Limit lines are simple graphical representations of constraints on XY plots. These are modeled as a sequence of XY point pairs. For example, designate a single limit line to delineate either an upper or lower limit, or two limit lines to delineate upper and lower limits. Add as many limit lines as you want. You can control the display properties of the line including color and hatch width.

Note: Limit lines are available only on Rectangular (XY) plots, not on XY-like plots such as Bode or Rectangular Stacked.

To create a limit line:

Click Report2D>Add Limit Line, or right-click an XY plot and select Add Limit Line.

This opens an Edit Dataset window.

You can use this window to:

Enter the XY coordinate values directly.
Import XY values from a tab-delimited .tab file.
Export dataset to a file.

To add additional data points, click Append Rows ..., or modify the table by clicking Add Row Above, Add Row Below, and Delete Rows, as necessary.

You can press Shift +click to select multiple adjacent rows, or Ctrl+click to select any combination of rows for deletion.

Note: Each limit line is associated with a particular Y axis (because it has to be scaled the same way as all the curves associated with the axis, follow its log/linear scale et cetera). This Y axis association defaults to the first available Y axis when the limit line is created. However, if the plot contains multiple Y axes, it can be associated with a different Y axis later via its properties tab.

Click OK to add the limit line you defined to the plot. The line divides the plot into two regions in the context of its length. By default, the upper region is hatched to designate constraint violation.

XY Plot

You can select the limit line in the plot to edit its properties on the Limit Line tab of the plot properties.

Line properties: color, style and width
Hatch direction (hatch above or below the limit line)
Hatch width in pixels
Y axis association
The point data that defines the limit line itself

If you add a second limit line, designate it as hatch below by unchecking Hatch Above to produce a “tunnel” marking the upper and lower constraints.

XY Plot