Layout Design Conversion

Layout designs are converted automatically the first time you load the design into Layout XL. The layout design conversion converts:

• Design-level component types stored directly on the layout view using the lxComponentType property.
  This data is converted into a physical configuration (physConfig) view for the cell in question.
  If the physical configuration view already exists, any new information is appended to the existing view. Where there is a conflict, existing information is overwritten with new information. If there is no data to be converted, no physical configuration view is created or updated.
• The contents of any map file referenced from the layout view.
  The Layout XL map file was used in previous releases to define cell and instance property mapping rules. It also mapped terminal and parameter names in the schematic to their equivalents in the layout. This data is also converted into the physical configuration view under the same conditions as those described for the previous item.
  
  You can also define these mapping rules at the library level by adding them to the LAM file if required.
  The design conversion does not support the following map file features.
  • paramSet, which lets you set defaults for parameter values.
  • Parameters that apply to all defined cells; for example,
    

    (paramNameMap ("w2" "w") ("l2" "l"))

  Warnings are issued if these are found in a map file.
• The design conversion also handles the stopList and viewList environment variables, both of which are considered obsolete after the conversion.
  The following environment variables remain valid after conversion:
  mfactorSplitparamsToIgnoreparamsToIgnoreForCheckpropsUsedToIgnoreObjspropsUsedToIgnoreObjsForCheck

When the conversion is complete, a property is stored in the physical configuration view to indicate that the layout design has been converted. This prevents it from being converted needlessly the next time it is opened in Layout XL.

You can check the physical configuration view that is created using the Launch – Configure Physical Hierarchy command.

Manual Layout Design Conversion

You can convert a layout design manually using the cphUprevDesign SKILL command.

Related Topics

cphUprevDesign

Troubleshoot Configure Physical Hierarchy