For example consider this three-terminal LDO symbol:
<p>
<img src="anat_mini.svg">
<p>
Let's look at each element of the drawing; annotations (not part
of the original symbol) are draw with red:
<p>
<img src="anat_full.svg">
<p>
The whole symbol is a group object with its <i>role</i> attribute set to
<i>symbol</i>.

<h2> A. Terminal </h2>
<p>
A terminal is a group object with its <i>role</i> attribute set to
<i>terminal</i>. The GUI and the compiler recognizes the group as terminal
because of the role attribute value. Non-text drawing objects hosted by
the terminal group will make connection to wires. (A wire is a drawing object,
typically a line, in another group with attribute role=wire-net).
<p>
The terminal group is the child of the symbol group.

<h2> B. Decoration: random terminal label </h2>
<p>
It's common to print the purpose of the terminal next to the terminal, within
the symbol body. In case of an MCU this often includes multiple port options.
This can be done using a text object within the terminal group. The pen
used is typically term-secondary, which is dark grey in the default sheet.
<p>
When the symbol is generated using boxsym-rnd the pin's name (specified on
the "begin pin" line) is written there. It can be overridden using a pinlabel
line within the pin.

<h2> C. Symbol decoration </h2>
<p>
Lines and other drawing objects directly within the symbol group are symbol
decoration. They have only aesthetic function, e.g. drawing the body of
the symbol. They normally use the sym-decor pen, which is green in the
default sheet.

<h2> D. Terminal display name </h2>
<p>
This is the name of the terminal that is displayed on the sheet at the moment,
and is exported in a netlist output. A terminal typically has multiple names:
<ul>
	<li> the <i>name</i> attribute of the terminal group is the original name
	<li> there may be different other names, for example pcb/pinnum for the pcb workflow
	<li> or spice/pinnum for determining order of terminals in a spice netlist
	<li> some mechanisms like portmap (or devmap) may invent a different display name ("pin number") using an algorithm considering the actual device's "pinout" and/or slotting
</ul>
<p>
The compiler will take the (concrete model) <i>terminal</i> and compile it into a
<i>port</i> in the abstract model. The port will have a single name, called
the display name. From all these input, there will be one selected for the
display name. This selection also depends on the active <i>view</i>, e.g. in
the raw view it's the original name attribute of the port, in the pcb view it's
the pcb footprint pin number. The attribute it is stored in the port object is
called <i>display/name</i>.
<p>
The actual text object is the child of the terminal group. The text object has
the dyntext property set so that it can print the value of attributes. It will
print "../a.display/name", which means:
<ul>
	<li> "../", from the text object's point of view is its parent, the terminal group
	<li> "a." means "take this group's abstract compiled variant (which is the abstract port object) and an attribute is going to be named in that
	<li> "display/name" is the actual attribute name
</ul>
<p>
In other words, the text object normally prints the abstract (compiled)
object's display/name attribute, or in short, the display name.

<h2> E. Refdes printout </h2>
<p>
This is the name of the symbol. The text object, child of the symbol, typically
uses the sym-primary pen and is a dyntext and prints ../A.name, which is the
"name" attribute of the (concrete model) symbol group.
<p>
The text object normally uses the sym-primary pen, which is dark green in
the default sheet.
<p>
Note: there's no "refdes" attribute. The symbol has a "name" attribute which
donates the (only) name of the symbol. This is the same name that other
systems tend to call refdes.

<h2> F. Random attribute printout </h2>
<p>
In this example the value of the footprint attribute is printed using
a text object (with the dyntext property set). Such printouts are used
to print:
<ul>
	<li> an attribute values of the concrete model (symbol group)
	<li> or an attribute value of the abstract model (the compiled component)
	<li> or random static text
</ul>
<p>
The text object should use the sym-secondary pen.

<h2> G. Terminal line </h2>
<p>
The terminal group contains non-text drawing objects, typically a single line,
for the actual terminal (but it could contain multiple lines and/or arcs
and/or polygons as well). These are the active, sensitive objects of the
terminal, the objects wires will connect to. These objects should use
the term-decor pen.