Probe Object

The probe object holds all the necessary information for finding the probe in the hierarchy as well as information about displaying the probe. The probe is a combination of the probe object and the display arguments or attributes.

Each probe has only one display argument associated with it. A multiple probe is needed if you want more than one display argument. The multiple probe is created when you specify a probe with the same path as one previously specified. You only need to specify the display arguments needed. With the possibility of multiple probes in the system, a unique probe is identified by the pathname to the probe and the probe name and the probe argument type combination in the display arguments.

The probe object is logically described below.

Probe Object
pathList
pathObjectName
objectId
probeType
probeDisplayStyle (only for net probes)
displayArgs
DisplayArgs Properties
probeName
probeArgType

Choose one of the following:

probeColor probeLabel probeLabelName probeLabelColor probeLabelOffset probeLabelFont probeLabelFontSize probeLabelJust probeLabelOrient probeOnColorWhenDisplay

• The pathname of the probe is a list of strings that describe how to get to the probed object from the top level. The pathname is derived by combining the pathList and pathObjectName attributes of the probe object.
• The pathList is a list of strings with each string being the instance name (in memInst format) of the instance used to get to the probe object and not including the name of the object itself. The memInst format is instance_name for instances, instance_name<iteration_number> for iterated instances, and instance_name(row,column) for mosaics.
• The pathObjectName is the name of the probe object at the level it was probed. The pathObjectName is useful for describing an object that can be represented by different database IDs in different representations.
• The objectId is the database ID of the object in the representation being probed.
• The probeType can be a path, net, terminal, or instance.
• The probeDisplayStyle is either the flight or object display style and has meaning only for net probes. Flight display style displays the flight lines between terminals. For net probes, the flight lines that span all the terminals of a net once are displayed. Path probes have a similar concept to flight display style because a flight line is drawn between the two terminals (which do not have to be on the same net). For object display style, which can apply to all the types of probes, the physical objects in the probe are highlighted.
• The displayArgs is a logical property list containing the various display attributes associated with the probe object. Listed here are the properties that are provided.
• The probeName is an attribute that gives a name to a display argument of the probe. This name is used to identify what the display argument does. Examples of such names are resistance and capacitance.
• The probeArgType identifies the type of display argument used. There are three possibilities: label, color, and onColor.
• The probeColor is the color or layer-purpose pair that the probed objects are to be displayed on. All net objects, terminals, and instances of the probe are highlighted in this color.
• The probeLabel is a label that is to be displayed when the probe is displayed. One of the important attributes of the probeLabel is the probeLabelOffset, which is the offset from the default location that the probeLabelName is to be drawn. If no offset is specified, the default location is calculated with an algorithm based on the type of probe. The default setting for instance probes is in the center of the instance bounding box. For net probes, the label displays by default at the center of the longest flight line for flight probeDisplayStyle or at the center of the largest segment of the net for object probeDisplayStyle. The terminal probe has the label at the center of the terminal. Path probes display by default at the center of the flight line. The probeLabelColor, probeLabelFont, probeLabelFontSize, probeLabelJust, and probeLabelOrient attributes all describe how the probeLabelName displays.
• The probeOnColorWhenDisplay is a color (or layer-purpose pair) turned on for visibility so that preexisting icons in this color can be displayed when an instance probe is displayed.

Related Topics

Probe Functions

Probe Types

Probe Function SKILL Interface

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