Virtuoso Schematic Composer User Guide

5

Creating Symbols

You can quickly create a new symbol by importing (copying) an existing symbol into the symbol editor window and then modifying the imported symbol. If you cannot use an existing symbol—for example, if your schematic requires an electrical or logical function that does not have a corresponding symbol in a Cadence® software library—you need to create your own symbol using the symbol editor.

This chapter describes the following topics:

Setting Grid Options on page 241

Importing Symbols on page 242

Creating New Symbols on page 243

Drawing Lines on page 244

Drawing Rectangles on page 245

Drawing Polygons on page 246

Drawing Circles on page 247

Drawing Ellipses on page 248

Drawing Arcs on page 248

Adding Pins as Graphic Images on page 250

Adding Pins as Instances on page 251

Creating Custom Pins as Graphic Images on page 252

Duplicating Pin Figures in the Symbol Master on page 253

Making the Custom Pin Name Visible on page 254

Adding a Selection Box on page 255

Adding Labels on page 255

Virtuoso Schematic Composer User Guide

Creating Symbols

Adding a Normal Label on page 256

Adding an NLP Label on page 258

Adding an IL Label on page 261

Adding Note Text and Note Shapes on page 262

Adding a Net Expression Label on page 262

Setting the Symbol Origin on page 263

Creating Symbol Cellviews Using Generators on page 264

Virtuoso Schematic Composer User Guide

Creating Symbols

Setting Grid Options

Before you create a symbol, you might want to set the grids in the symbol editor to assist you in drawing. If you want to create shapes that are smaller than what the current snap spacing allows, choose a smaller snap spacing.

To set grid options, do the following:

1.Choose Options – Display.

The Display Options form appears.

2.Set the grid controls according to your specifications.

3.Click OK.

Virtuoso Schematic Composer User Guide

Creating Symbols

Importing Symbols

You can import (copy) an existing symbol into the symbol editor. You can then modify the imported symbol and create a new symbol cellview.

To import an existing symbol, from the symbol editor, do the following:

1.Choose Add – Import Symbol.

The Import Symbol form appears.

2.Specify the symbol you want to copy into the symbol design window.

3.Move the pointer into your design and click to place the symbol.

You can now edit the symbol to create a new symbol.