Virtuoso XL Layout Editor User Guide

Setting Up Your Virtuoso XL Layout Editor Environment

environment information to the layout cellview as a property. When you open the layout and schematic cellviews the next time, they appear in the same configuration as they had when you saved them.

The command sends the LSW and the CIW window size and location information to the

.cdsenv file.

To prevent Virtuoso XL from rearranging or resizing windows from the way you have arranged them, add the following line to the .cdsenv file:

envSetVal(“layoutXL” “autoArrange” ‘boolean nil)

Note: If you save your current window positions and form settings to a file other than

.cdsenv (for example, .envFileName), you can recall them by typing the following in the

CIW or in your .cdsinit file:

envLoadFile("layoutXL" ".envFileName")

Using Multiple Cellviews

If you open multiple cellviews in Virtuoso XL, the second and subsequent sets of windows are not automatically configured the way the first set is.

You can open more than one schematic-layout pair of windows in Virtuoso XL and work on each pair independently. If you open a schematic and two copies of the same layout, the Virtuoso XL Connectivity – Check, Connectivity – Probe, and Connectivity – Update commands apply to both layouts.

If you have a schematic and two different layouts open, the Virtuoso XL Connectivity – Check, Connectivity – Probe, and Connectivity – Update commands apply to only the layout from which you selected the command.

Printing to the Command Interpreter Window

To instruct Virtuoso XL to print process information to the CIW, not to a separate Virtuoso XL Info window, type the following command in the CIW or store it in your .cdsenv file:

envSetVal(“layoutXL” “infoWindow” ‘boolean nil)

Changing Display Colors

You can change the colors and characteristics of the entry layers that Virtuoso XL commands use for display purposes. You can change the display layers Virtuoso XL uses for the following commands:

Virtuoso XL Layout Editor User Guide

Setting Up Your Virtuoso XL Layout Editor Environment

■The Show Incomplete Nets command uses the y0 – y9 entry layers to show flight lines

■The Connectivity – Check – Against Source command uses the hilite drawing9 entry layer to identify missing devices

■The Connectivity – Probe command uses the hilite drawing through hilite drawing9 entry layers to probe pins, nets, and devices

■The Highlight command for placement constraints uses the annotate drawing3 entry layer to highlight in the layout the components bound by a placement constraint

■The Pick from Schematic command uses the hilite drawing1 layer to highlight schematic symbols

You can edit these layers from the window opened by the CIW Tools – Display Resources

– Editor command.

Note: Although it is possible to edit these layers from the LSW, it is not recommended. To do so, you must add these layers to the LSW as valid layers. Valid layers are those you use for creating layout shapes.

To change the colors using the Display Resources Editor, follow these steps.

1.In the CIW, choose Tools – Display Resources – Editor.

2.In the Display Resources Tool Box select Edit....

Virtuoso XL Layout Editor User Guide

Setting Up Your Virtuoso XL Layout Editor Environment

The Display Resource Editor window appears.

Click on All

3.Turn on All, so that you can see all of the available layers (not just the ones you have defined as drawing layers).

4.In the Layers column, choose the name of the layer to change.

5.Turn on the Fill Style, Fill Color, Outline Color, Stipple, and Line Style options you want to use for that layer.

6.Click Apply.

The next time you use a command that displays the layer you changed, the color or pattern changes in the design window.

Virtuoso XL Layout Editor User Guide

Setting Up Your Virtuoso XL Layout Editor Environment

To highlight incomplete connections with flight lines, Virtuoso XL cycles through the y0 – y9 layers.

Unconnected nets

in

Virtuoso XL displays the flight lines of each net in a different color. If there are more than 10 incomplete nets, the colors repeat unless you have specified layers for specific nets (see “Incomplete Nets”).

If you assign new colors to the flight lines,

■Assign colors that do not resemble each other or resemble the colors you use for paths and components

■Avoid solid fill so you can see what is underneath

Virtuoso XL uses the hilite drawing through hilite drawing9 entry layers for probes, which identify equivalent design elements on the schematic and the layout.

Virtuoso XL uses the hilite drawing9 layer to identify components in the schematic that are not in the layout (and vice versa) with the Connectivity – Check – Against Source command.

If you change the colors of the hilite drawing layers,

■Use thick lines so you can see device pins