JITX Official Documentation

Welcome to the official documentation of JITX. Here you'll find function references, tutorials, how-to guides, FAQs, and all of the information you need to learn and use JITX.

What Is JITX?

JITX is a tool that helps you design PCBs with automation of circuit design, component selection, component modeling, pin assignment, geometric constraints, schematic drafting, schematic verification, and more. You can design at the system level and automate the rest.

New Users / Getting Started / How To Start

If you're new to using JITX, welcome! A background in electrical engineering is all you need to get up and running designing boards in JITX.

For new users, we recommend reading through this page, then starting with the Tutorials, which will give you a quickstart to setting up and using JITX for your designs. Specifically, checkout the workflows below for a path to get started:

Suggested Onboarding Workflows

First Time User - End to End Design

1. Setup and install JITX with JITX Installation Instructions.
2. Design a basic board in JITX and export to CAD - do Quickstart 1
3. Organize your schematic and layout with Quickstart II: Organize a schematic
4. Export to CAD (KiCad or Altium) by following Exporting to CAD
5. Layout the PCB in CAD the same way that you normally would.

Working with Existing Projects

1. Import your design from CAD
   • How to import from KiCad into JITX
   • How to import from Altium into JITX
2. Revise your design in JITX
   • Revising a KiCad Design in JITX
   • Revising an Altium design in JITX
3. Export your design back into CAD
   • How to export from JITX into Altium Designer
     • How to Install the JITX Extension for Altium Designer
   • How to export from JITX into KiCad

Checking Designs

1. Follow Write a check
2. Follow Analyze a design

Creating Components

1. Follow Creating Components - Model a power regulator
2. Follow Parametric Land Patterns

In Depth

1. Follow First Time User, Checking Designs, and Creating Components Workflow.
2. Follow Learn JITX
3. Follow Quickstart III: Check a design

How To Use These Docs

Use the left side bar to move around the documentation (you can open the left side bar by clicking the ☰ in the top left of this page), and use the search bar above to search for functions, questions, tutorials, etc.

Install

Follow this tutorial to get JITX setup on your own system: Installing JITX

How Do I Get Help?

If you haven't been able to answer your questions by looking through the tutorials and using the search bar above, you can get help from JITX Inc. directly using one of the methods below.

VSCode Extension Method

This method assumes you have JITX installed in VSCode.

1. Open VSCode.
2. Click the "JITX" extension icon in the left side bar.
3. Click the hamburger menu in the top left that looks like this: ☰
4. Click "Request help"
5. Fill out the form. We'll get back to you right away.

Web Method

If the VSCode extension method doesn't work for you, you can fill out this form to request help, we'll get back to you right away: https://support.jitx.com/hc/en-us/requests/new

Resources

• JITX Official Website
• JITX Github
• Learning Stanza (the programming language that JITX uses): http://lbstanza.org/stanzabyexample.html
• JITX Demo Videos
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkfMr6CSR60 - Software defined electronics.
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebKaLhxQn8Y - Create a new design.

Documentation Overview/Sections

The organization of the docuementation is as follows (see the side bar for a full index of the documentation).

1. JITX Documentation Introduction - intro to the docs.
2. Reference
   • Reference materials are the low-level documentation of JITX. The Reference materials refer to technical descriptions of JITX's machinery and its operation. Things like descriptions of key classes, functions, and APIs
3. Tutorials
   • Tutorials are small, rewarding projects that help you learn JITX.
4. How-To Guides
   • How-to guides take you through a series of steps to help you solve a specific real world problem. They are tools for practitioners who are trying to get something done using JITX.
5. Open Component Database (OCDB)
   • The Open Components Database (OCDB) is an open database of components and circuit generators for automated circuit board design. This section provides users with quick access to information on how to use everything in OCDB with examples.
6. BOM Import Data Format
   • Describes how to import a BOM.
7. Example Designs
   • The example designs consists of projects exemplifying common use cases.
8. Frequently Asked Questions
   • This section contains questions that users frequently encounter.

Documentation Index

You can access the index of the entire docs in the left hand side panel.