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In this video, you will learn to use cursors in PSpice for waveform measurements. By using predefined cursor operations, you'll be able to measure the difference between the crest and trough of an analog output waveform generated for this digital-to-analog converter. First, let's run the simulation.

Waveforms of the digital inputs are displayed along with the analog output waveform. To enable cursors in PSpice, click on the Toggle On and Off icon. This will open a probe cursor window where the measurements are displayed. PSpice allows two cursors to be placed on the waveforms simultaneously. To place the first cursor on a specific waveform, select it and click on either the right or left mouse button.

There are predefined cursor operations available in PSpice. For example, selecting the Peak option places the cursor on the crest of this analog waveform. To place the second cursor, click on the other mouse button than your previous choice and select the Cursor Trough icon to place it on the lowest point of the same waveform cycle.

From the probe cursor window, you can see that the y values on both cursors are displayed with respect to the x values. And the logic states that the digital inputs are displayed, too. The difference between peak and trough of the two cursors is shown here.

The probe cursor window also shows additional waveform measurement information like maximum, minimum, and average values. You can also set the digital plot size using the menu option here. For example, set the percentage of plot covered by digital waveforms as 20 and the length of the digital trace as 7.

You can also easily import trace data for PSpice into Notepad or an Excel file. To do that, simply go to File, Export, and from the available options, select the format that you want to export the data in. For example, let's choose the .csv format.

The output trace variable of the analog voltage output is already selected. Name and save the .csv file. The trace data is exported in the saved file. You have successfully used cursors for waveform measurements and learned to import trace data into Notepad or an Excel file from PSpice.

This video is part of a series