- Auto-abutment mode
The drop-down menu provides three choices, Mode 1 through Mode 3. This provides the three values for the otherPinsOnNet
parameter that is part of the Ciranova auto-abutment protocol as
implemented in Xic (see 5.5). How the pcell uses this
parameter is up to the pcell author, there is really no a-priori
interpretation.
The Ciranova Nmos2 example pcell interprets the value to
have the following meanings. This is likely to be used in other
pcells as well.
| Mode 1 value 0 |
Auto-abutment is disabled. |
| Mode 2 value 1 |
Abutment takes place with no contact between
the gates. |
| Mode 3 value 2 |
Abutment takes place with a contact (to layer M1)
between the gates. |
This setting tracks the value of the PCellAbutMode variable.
The default (when the variable is not set) is Mode 2. The variable
can be set to the integers 0-2, which correspond to the three modes.
- Hide and disable stretch handles
Xic implements the Ciranova stretch handle protocol (see
5.4). By default, the stretch handles are visible in
selected, expanded instances, and in the current cell if the cell is a
sub-master. Setting this option will hide and disable all stretch
handles.
The PCellHideGrips variable tracks the state of this check box.
- Instance min. pixel size for stretch handles
The stretch handles of a selected instance are shown only if the
instance is displayed large enough to avoid inadvertently engaging the
stretch handles when using the mouse for other purposes. By default,
the smaller of the instance width or height must be 100 pixels or
larger for stretch handles to appear. This numerical entry will
modify this threshold.
The PCellGripInstSize variable tracks the value of this entry.
- List sub-masters as modified cells
When this check box is checked, the Modified Cells panel, which
appears when exiting Xic or from the !sa command and Save button (in the Edit Menu) when there are cells that are
modified and unsaved, will include sub-master cells. Normally,
sub-masters live only in memory, to be re-created when needed, and are
excluded from the listing. However, there may be times when it is
desirable to write these to disk.
The PCellListSubMasters variable tracks the state of this check
box.
- Show all evaluation warnings
By default, certain warning messages are suppressed while
evaluating a pcell script, since they can be annoying and are
probably only of interest to the pcell author. At present, this
applies only to coincident (duplicate) object checking. If this
check box is checked, these messages will pop up in a window when
the pcell sub-master is created.
The PCellShowAllWarnings variable tracks the state of this check
box.
