Xic Generation 4 Alpha Release Notes During alpha, updates will be fairly frequent. If you haven't, you may want to set up the update availability notification. Run the !passwd command, and give the repository user/password user: gumby password: resKuM24 You don't need to do this if you have run the WRspice passwd command. When Xic starts, it will check for updates, and pop up a message if an update is available. You can run the !update command to download and install the update. Windows Notes: * If you have put the gtk2-bundle/bin directory in your search path, it is best to remove it, as other programs may be effected. The effective path is now set locally in the bat files used to run Xic and WRspice. ----- The ALPHA series is complete with 4.0.9. The BETA release that follows is 4.1.1. ----- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- xic-4.0.9 9/16/2014 BIG CHANGE ---- ------ The Xiv and XicII "products" for Generation 4 are now available! BUT, The XicII and Xiv products are now "virtual products". They are now simply licensing levels, or feature sets, of Xic. If you currently run XicII or Xiv, updating to Generation 4 is simple. Just install Generation 4 Xic, and run with your present license file. Read below, however, for some important details. WHAT THIS MEANS: 1. There is only one program (named "Xic") and distribution file. 2. Depending on your license, the program may provide a reduced feature set. There are three levels: VIEWER (Xiv license) No editing, extraction, DRC. EDITOR (XicII license) No extraction, DRC. FULL (Xic license) All features enabled. 3. IF YOU RUN XicII or Xiv ON LINUX or OS X... You will need to set the XT_AUTH_MODE envirionment variable to Local (or else run a license server). Add a line to your shell startup file: For bash, in $HOME/.bashrc export XT_AUTH_MODE=Local For tcsh, in $HOME/.cshrc setenv XT_AUTH_MODE Local The XicII and Xiv programs previously used Local authentication (no license server) by default. Xic, however, uses Server mode by default on other than Windows. 4. Previously, there were predefined macros defined when running the programs: "Xic", "XicII", and "Xiv". These were tested in the example technology files to hide inappropriate constructs. For example, design rules are not known to XicII and Xiv, so that a full Xic technology file that includes design rules would generate warning messages when used with these programs. To avoid this, the design rules are specified in macro test blocks: IfDef Xic (design rule definitions...) EndIf THIS NO LONGER WORKS! The macro "Xic" is now always defined! As a replacement, there is a new FEATURESET macro, that is defined to one of "VIEWER", "EDITOR", or "FULL". The lines above can be replaced by If FEATURESET == "FULL" (design rule definitions...) EndIf The example technology files in this release have this change. You may need to make similar changes to your custom technology file. CHANGES AND NEW FEATURES ------- --- --- -------- * The "XicII" virtual product now has the User Menu and full scripting support. * The "Extract RLC" interface is gone. The button in the Extract Menu is now "Extract LR" which brings up an all-new interface to the FastHenry program. The new interface is similar to the new capacitance extraction interface. It uses the same three-dimensional geometry database, so that layers can appear in any order, and there is no reqirement or assumption of planarization. See the help system for a complete description. Variables no longer recognized: FxPlaneBloat FxUnits FxForeg FxMonitor FcNoPart FcPartMax FcEdgeMax FcThinEdge FcOldFormat New Variables FhForeg FhMonitor FhUnits FhVolElTarget The !fx and !fxcell commands are gone. There is a new !fh command. * Update to the "!fc run" command. The files used can now be specified. If no input file is given, the interface will create one as if the Run Extraction button in the interface panel was pressed. If the other files are not specified, internally-generated file names will be used. !fc run [-i infile] [-o outfile] [-r resultfile] * Path Selections Control panel change This panel is provided by the Net Selections button in the Extract Menu. There is no longer a "Save Path to RLC" button, as the extraction interface is no longer compatible. The "Save Path to File" button can be used to create input for the present extraction interfaces. * Grid rendering change The coarse grid is now still visible if the fine grid is too closely spaced and not shown. Previously, the coarse grid lines were not shown when the fine grid is too closely spaced. * Extraction system changes. There is now more control over time-costly via searches during extraction. In particular, it is likely that much of this testing can be skipped, and this is now done by default. New variables: ViaTestFull (boolean) Perform a more costly connectivity test when set. ViaSearchDepth (integer, default 0) How far to descend into the hierarcy when searching for vias, by default this is 0 (look in current cell only). ViaCheckBtwnSubs (boolean) By default, is is assumed that subcells are never connected by an isolated patch of via material between metal objects owned by the two subcells. This avoids a very costly search. Set this variable to perform the search if needed. In all vias are Cadence-style subcells with metal caps, then the new defaults should alway be appropriate, which provides the best performance. These variables tie to entry areas in the new Via Detection group in the Net Config page of the Extraction Setup panel. This page was previously named "Net and Cell Config". The cell config group was moved to the "Misc Config" page. * New command "!exlayers". This prints lists of layers that have the CONDUCTOR, ROUTING, CONTACT, and VIA keywords applied, in the console window. This is for informational and debugging purposes. * Miscellaneous The "Write sub-masters to output layout files" check box has been removed from the PCell Control panel from the Edit Menu. The functionality now resides in the new "Include parameterized cell sub-masters" check box in the Write Layout File panel from the Convert Menu. In addition to being a more logical place for this control, it provides access when the Xiv feature set is in use, which does not provide the PCell Control panel. The "Use 3.2-compatible format in ALL output (for back compat only!)" check box has been removed from the "Set Export Parameters" panel from the Convert Menu. The functionality is now provided bu a new "Use back-compatible format (warning! data loss)" check box in the Write Layout File panel. Further, setting the box will apply the old syntax only when creating output from the Conversion system, and not when using Save/SaveAs. If using Save/SaveAs and any of the variables StripForExport, WriteAllFiles, SkipInvisible, PCellKeepSubMasters, or Out32nodes is set, a warning will pop-up explaining that these variables will be ignored by the present command, and one must use the Conversion write function for these variables to have effect. BUGS FIXED ---- ----- * A grid drawing error in Cross Section displays was fixed. * The cross marks used in the capacitance extraction interface when "Show Numbers" is in effect are now roughly fixed-size. They were previously too small for some layouts. * The cross marks in the capactiance interface were not being erased properly. * The capacitance extraction interface was incorrectly scaling the SubstrateThickness value to nanometers instead of microns in output, causing (at least) slow capactiance extraction. * Fixed a bug in the three-dimensional geometry database used by the cross section and capacitance extraction, certain error messages would cause a fault if shown. * Fixed the sub-window Dump to File command, which was not working. * Partial core-leak audit of the extraction system, fixed some pretty bad ones. * Fixed a spurious "unrecognized keyword" warning for the Constrain45 techfile keyword. * Deleting all cells when extraction data is present would leave residual empty cells in the database. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- xic-4.0.8 7/21/2014 CHANGES AND NEW FEATURES ------- --- --- -------- * New capacitance extraction tool The new interface panel to the FasterCap program from FastFieldSolvers.com can be obtained from the Extract C button in the Extract Menu. See "? fcinterf" for a complete description of the new interface. It is simpler and more flexible than the old "Extract RLC" interface. The old "Extract RLC" interface should not be used for capacitance extraction, this will probably become inductance extraction only in the next release. The new !fc command can also be used to control the interface. * There is a new layer sequencing and 3D geometry database used for the Cross Section command (in the View Menu), as well as in the new capacitance extraction interface. All of the extraction system keyword handling has been moved into the main program. This means that these technology file keywords, such as Conductor, Via, Thickness, etc., will be recognized in XicII and Xiv, where the extraction system is not present. The 3D geometry system will use these keywords to 1. obtain layer thickness (Thickness keyword) 2. obtain layer polarity (invert for DarkField, Via, GroundPlaneClear keywords) 3. layer is planarizing or not (assume planarizing for Conductor and Via) * Cross Section, View Menu The Cross Section command has been updated to use the new 3D layer sequencer. This provides accurate representation of planarizing and non-planarizing layers, in any order. The Cross Section command now requires use of the keywords that were formerly available only from the extraction system. These keywords, such as Thickness and DarkField, control how the layer is rendered. Several related variables are now obsolete and are no longer recognized: XSectLayers XSectThickness XSectTopPlanar The following Technology file keyword is no longer recognized: CrossField The CrossThick technology file keyword still exists. If given, and the Thickness keyword is also given, the CrossThick value will be used in the display, for visibility. The Thickness in any case represents the physical film thickness. * New Variables and keywords New variable: NoPlanarize (boolean) By default, all layers with the Conductor or Via keyword applied will be planarizing. If this variable is set, then no layers are planarizing by default. There is also a NoPlanarize technology file global keyword which will set the NoPlanarize variable if present. New variable: SubstrateThickness (non-negative real value in microns) Sets the assumed substrate thickness, which is otherwise taken as 75 microns. There is also a SubstrateThickness technology file keyword which sets this variable. New variable: SubstrateEps (real value 1.0 or larger) This sets the relative dielectric constant assumed for the substrate. If not set, a value of 11.9 is used. The existing SubstrateEps technology file keyword now sets this variable. There are new variables used by the new capacitance extraction interface, see the dicumentation for details. * New layer block technology file keyword Planarize [y|n] This sets whether of not the layer is planarizing, overriding any default setting. * Major change to technology keyword editing. The Edit Tech Params button has been removed from the Extract and Convert Menus. The functionality has been added to the panel obtained from the Edit Tech Params button in the Attributes Menu. This new panel is paged to provide keyword setting of multiple classes of keywords. The device block editing function found in the previous extraction keyword editor has moved to Device Config page of the Extraction Setup panel. * Extraction Setup, Window Attributes panel changes The controls that set the size of terminals and terminal text, and whether to erase behind terminals, has moved from the Misc. Config page of the Extraction Setup panel to the Window Attributes panel. The Window Attributes panel is obtained from the Set Attributes button in the Attributes Menu. * Documentation update Major rewrite of the descriptions of the technology file keywords in the help system and manual. The original very long text is now divided up into sections. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- xic-4.0.7 6/17/2014 (note added: This is the final edit, didn't get into last package) CHANGES AND NEW FEATURES ------- --- --- -------- * Alpha snapshot of a new interface to the FasterCap program from FastFieldSolvers.com. This is similar to the "RLC Extraction" system, but with a simpler interface, and more flexible layer sequencing and interpretation. This release provides a sort of sneak-preview. The documentation is very sketchy at present, see "? xic:fc2". The control panel is accessed with !fc2. The "!fc2" command is temporary and not documented, eventually the new interface will be available from the Extract menu. * Prompt line editor Now, when prompt-line editing starts, the mouse pointer is warped into the left side of the prompt area. So, the Left/Right Arrow keys will move the text carat, and not pan the main window. Also, a new PromptEditFocusBackgColor applies when mouse pointer is in the prompt area, and the prompt area thus has full focus. * Side menu spin command The angle readout now defaults to degrees, was radians. Change with a 'd' or 'r' keypress, spacebar toggles. BUGS FIXED ---------- * Apple packages now clear files from a previous release when updating. * The Device Menu panel wasn't giving up focus when a device was selected from the drop-down menu. * The hypertext prompt line editor, used in (for example) constructing the plot command when running WRspice simulations, was badly screwed up (extra space characters added). * Fixed a bug in file selection panel, the file listing window would get into a loop adding and removing the vertical scrollbar on occasion. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- xic-4.0.6 2/17/2014 This is the initial release of Generation 4 for Apple OS X. Notes: 1. The releases will only work with 10.9 (Mavericks) and later. 2. The releases require that an X-server be running. This (X-quartz) must be installed explicitly in Mavericks, it is not automatically installed as it was in earlier OS X releases. 3. The packages are not relocatable. The programs will be installed under /usr/local/xictools. 4. The programs now use the gtk-2 graphical toolkit, as is used in all other Gen 4 releases. As for Windows, a separate package is required to be installed for this support. This package, called "gtk2-bundle-x11" must be installed to run the programs. It will rarely require updating. CHANGES AND NEW FEATURES ------- --- --- -------- * Built-in support for tiff and ppm/pgm/pnm image file formats was added to the help viewer. Previously, these formats were supported only through a third-party conversion program (netpbm) that may not be available. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- xic-4.0.5 2/9/2014 CHANGES AND NEW FEATURES ------- --- --- -------- * Big fixup of the Microsoft Windows distribution. There is much less user setup involved now, probably none for most users. - The programs are now started from bat files, which set the PATH for the gtk2-bundle DLL's. Now, no user path setup is needed. - The !update command now schedules an exit procedure, which creates a new process to run the distribution installation when the user exits the program. Previously, this was done manually. - The uninstall function is now explicitly called when updating. Previously, new installs just overwrote the old installation. - The uninstall icons no longer appear in the Start Menu (or page). Use the Add/Remove Software panel to remove the programs. See the README file in the distribution area for more information. * Hard-coded the program icons. The Xic icons should now show in Linux without the user having to set this up. * When writing a cell's instances to disk in any file format, the order is now deterministic: alphabetic in master name, then descending in bounding box top and ascending in bounding box left. Previously, instances were grouped by master but were otherwise random. The ordering will facilitate cell comparison. * OpenAccess plug-in change. The PCellParams property for sub-masters read from Virtuoso now contains only the changed parameters, which matches the instance property string. Previously, all parameters were saved, which was a waste of memory. * When a keypress over a sub-window is forwarded to the main window, the focus is now shifted to the main window. This avoids typing a command then pressing Enter, and finding that the forwarding window accepts the Enter, doing something unexpected. * Improved the Ruler command and some others visually, much less flashing now. BUGS FIXED ---------- * Windows bug fixes. - Fixed errors in the File Selection panel involving hard-coded Unix/Linux assumptions. - Fixed colors in Print-to-clipboard operation of the Print Control panel. * Duplicate PCellName and PCellParams properties were being added to some PCell instances when input was read (properties were set from both the sub-master and the file). Now will keep properties from sub-master. * Using the default save string when saving a native cell, or otherwise giving the name of an existing file to the Save As command, would fail. The Save As command now behaves sensible when given the path to an existing file when saving a native cell: It will move the existing file giving it a "bak" extension, then save the cell. * If only cells are enabled for selection in the Selection Control Panel, nothing could be selected in the Info command. * The CGX writer was incorrectly setting all text labels to "hidden", so that the labels would not appear when the file was read. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- xic-4.0.4 2/3/2014 BUGS FIXED ---------- * Oops. The Microsoft version was not finding its startup files, a major problem. * The File Selection and Path Files List now handle file names with embedded white space correctly. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- xic-4.0.3 1/30/2014 Welcome the the first public release of Xic Generation 4! This has some exciting new features, including: - Plug-in OpenAccess support and compatibility. - Plug-in language support for Python nd TclTk, - Expanded PCell support. - Support for arbitrary layer names, and purposes, and a new layer table format. The "changes" document is in the help system with keyword "xic40". There is a link on the top help page, or you can type "? xic40" to bring up the changes document. The xic40 document links to hundreds of new and revised help pages, which also appear in the manual. BE ADVISED, THIS IS A *ALPHA TEST* RELEASE. This means that 1) There will be bugs, incomplete feature implementations, etc. However, The legacy core features should be clean (no guarantees, though). 2) The documentation is still being generated and revised.