FileTool: ASCII Text Representation of Layout Files

The supported file formats other than CIF are binary, and thus the content is not easy to decipher. This mode of the FileTool will convert records from a layout file into an ASCII representation. This may be valuable for identifying problems in the file or understanding file organization and content.

For this mode, the command takes the form:

filetool [-set variables] -text layout_file [-o output_file] [start[-end]] [-c cells] [-r recs]

Following the layout file path, there are optional arguments.

-o output_file
If this is given, the text output will be placed in the supplied file name. Without this option given, text output is to the standard output.

The remaining arguments control the range of text conversion. Without these options, the entire file will be written as ASCII text. For all but tiny layout files, the user will probably want to limit the size of the output.

[start[-end]]
The start and end are file offsets, which can be given in decimal or ``0x'' hex form. Printing will start with the first record with offset greater than or equal to start. If end is given, the last record printed will be at most the record containing this offset. If both numbers are given, they must be separated by a `-' with no white space.

-c cells
This options supplies a count, indicating the number of cell definitions that will be printed. If the count is 0, and start is also given, the records from start to the end of the cell definition will be printed.

-r recs
This provides a count of the number of records to print. Printing will stop after the indicated number of records have been output.

Printing will start at the beginning of the file or the start record if given, and will end at the end of file or the point at which the first end condition is satisfied.

There are two variables which may be of interest when using this mode. These can be set with -set options ahead of the -text argument.

OasPrintNoWrap
Value: boolean
This applies when converting OASIS input to ASCII text. When set, the text output for a single record will occupy one (arbitrarily long) line. When not set, lines are broken and continued with indentation.

OasPrintOffset
Value: boolean
This applies when converting OASIS input to ASCII text. When set, the first token for each record output gives the offset in the file or containing CBLOCK. When not set, file offsets are not printed.