To start BiotSavart, open (or double-click) the application icon or an existing BiotSavart document. The conductors described in the document will be displayed on the configuration window. Field probes, if any, will not be recalculated, in order to allow you to modify the configuration before embarking on a time-consuming computation.
In order to exit BiotSavart, choose Quit (cmd-Q) from the File menu. If the configuration has been changed since it was last saved, you will be asked whether or not to save the changes.
If there is no configuration window, create one by choosing New (cmd-N) from the File menu. Conductors are added to the configuration using the Config menu. Conductor types are Loop, Solenoid, Revolved, Wire, and Racetrack. Whenever you add a conductor an edit window will appear to allow you to change the specifications. After modifying the specifications, register the changes using the Set button. The Done button is the same as Set, but also dismisses the edit dialog window.
Conductors may also be read from other BiotSavart documents or your own conductor files using the Read file... command on the Config menu. This command will prompt for a file to read, and extract from it the conductor descriptions and current supply values. Probes are not extracted.
To select a conductor, click on its picture on the configuration window. Clicking with the shift key depressed adds the conductor to the selection list (if it is already selected, this removes it from the list). You can tell which conductors are selected by looking at the Modify menu.
Selected conductors can be deleted by selecting Cut (cmd-X) or Clear from the Edit menu when the configuration window is the active one.
In order to make changes to a conductor, you must create an edit window for the conductor. There are several ways to do this. The fastest is to double-click the conductor on the configuration window. Choosing the conductor by name from the Modify menu will accomplish the same thing. Also, if one or more conductors is selected, the Modify command (cmd-I) on the Edit menu will create an edit window for each conductor selected.
Changes to the source code of a conductor do not take effect until they are registered using the Set or Done buttons on the edit window. Changes may be discarded by using the Revert command. Note that pressing Set or Done registers the changes with the configuration database, but writes nothing to disk unless the Autosave option is set. To close a dialog window without saving the changes, press the Cancel button.
The name of a selected conductor may be changed using the Name... command on the Edit menu when either its edit window or the configuration window is active.
To measure and display the magnetic field, you create field probes using the Config menu. There are two types of probes: Linear, a one-dimensional probe, and Planar, a two-dimensional probe. When a probe is created an edit window appears containing the description of the probe and the format of the display of the calculated field profile.
The probe window displays the calculated field profile. The name of the window is the name of the field probe preceded by the symbol Pi (for product).
Selection, deletion, and modification of probes is done in the same manner as conductors.
In order to save a new or modified configuration to disk, the configuration window must be the active one. Then use the Save command (cmd-S) on the File menu. If you are working on an existing BiotSavart document, then this will overwrite the old version of the file. If instead you wish to save the configuration under a new name, then use the Save As... command.
After making changes to the configuration, you will want BiotSavart to recompute the magnetic field and update the field probe displays. To do this, use the Recompute command (cmd-R) on the Field menu. This command is only enabled when the field needs to be recalculated.
If AutoRecompute is enabled, the program will recalculate the field whenever a change is saved from an edit window into the configuration. Selecting AutoRecompute from the Field menu toggles it between enabled (ticked) and disabled (not ticked). Note that creating a new conductor or probe disables Autorecompute.
If you want to modify several conductors or probes before recalculation, disable AutoRecompute, make and save the source code modifications, and then trigger the recalculation by re-enabling AutoRecompute or by using the Recompute command (cmd-R).
During the field calculation, the cursor will be cycling through an action sequence. This indicates that the program may be interrupted holding down the cmd- button and typing a period (.).
The values of the current supplies are set via the Modify menu. It is also possible to specify a bias magnetic field.