Defining Stop Points on a Per-Instance Basis

You can specify a stop point on a single instantiation of a cell that prevents the instance from being expanded when the hierarchy is expanded.

A stop point on an instance can apply to multiple objects—if the cell that contains the instance is used in multiple places in the design, the stop point applies to the instance in all those places. For example, if you put a stop point on instance I2 of cell OpAmp and cell OpAmp is used in three places in the design, the stop point applies to instance I2 in all three instantiations of OpAmp.

You can add a stop point to an instance from either the tree view or the table view of the Hierarchy Editor.

To add a stop point to an instance from the tree view,

Choose View – Tree to display the tree view of the configuration, if it is not already displayed.
If the Occurrence Mode button on the toolbar is selected, deselect it.
The tree view now displays Target: Instance.
Right-click the instance on which you want to add a stop point.
From the pop-up menu, select Add Stop Point.
The instance icon changes to a stop point icon. The instance can no longer be expanded.
If the instance has already been identified as an occurrence and the tree view displays Target: Occurrence when the instance is selected, the stop point is added to the occurrence.

To add a stop point to an instance from the table view,

Choose View – Parts Table and View – Instance Table to display the table view of the Hierarchy Editor, if it is not already displayed.
In the Cell Bindings section, select the cell that contains the instance to which you want to add a stop point.
The Instance Bindings section displays the instances contained in the cell.
In the Instance Bindings section, right-click the instance to which you want to add a stop point.
From the pop-up menu, select Add Stop Point.
The stop point icon appears in the Info column of the instance row. The instance can no longer be expanded.

If the cellview that contains the instance is used in multiple places in the design, the stop point applies to the instance in all those places.

To see which objects the stop point applies to,

In the Cell Bindings section, right-click the cell that contains the instance to which you added the stop point.
From the pop-up menu, select Explain.
The Explain dialog box appears. The Instantiations section lists the instantiations of the cell. The stop point applies to the instance in all these instantiations of the cell.

You cannot add an instance stop point to an object that has already been defined as an occurrence. When you add a stop point to such an object, it is added to the occurrence, not the instance, and applies only to one object at a specific path.

Virtuoso Hierarchy Editor User Guide
Product Version IC23.1, August 2023