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Initial commit at Tue Apr 25 08:41:48 EDT 2017 by tim on stravinsky
2017-04-25 14:41:48 +02:00
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<STYLE type="text/css">
H1 {color: black }
H2 {color: maroon }
H3 {color: #007090 }
A.head:link {color: #0060a0 }
A.head:visited {color: #3040c0 }
A.head:active {color: white }
A.head:hover {color: yellow }
A.red:link {color: red }
A.red:visited {color: maroon }
A.red:active {color: yellow }
</STYLE>
</HEAD>
Updated the HTML command reference files to refer to magic version 8.3, since all of the title images still had 8.2, and the title text still said 7.3 or 7.4, having not been updated for a long time.
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<TITLE>Magic-8.3 Command Reference</TITLE>
Initial commit at Tue Apr 25 08:41:48 EDT 2017 by tim on stravinsky
2017-04-25 14:41:48 +02:00
<BODY BACKGROUND=graphics/blpaper.gif>
Updated the HTML command reference files to refer to magic version 8.3, since all of the title images still had 8.2, and the title text still said 7.3 or 7.4, having not been updated for a long time.
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<H1> <IMG SRC=graphics/magic_title8_3.png ALT="Magic VLSI Layout Tool Version 8.3">
Initial commit at Tue Apr 25 08:41:48 EDT 2017 by tim on stravinsky
2017-04-25 14:41:48 +02:00
<IMG SRC=graphics/magic_OGL_sm.gif ALIGN="top" ALT="*"> </H1>
<H2>property</H2>
<HR>
Attach a "property" (string key and value pair) to the edit cell
<HR>
<H3>Usage:</H3>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Thought better about suddenly changing the .mag file format with new properties, so created a "property compat" setting and made it TRUE by default. This makes magic print all properties as type "string" on output into a .mag file. Which is fine, since it converts all values to the right type on input anyway. The only thing that backwards-compatibility mode prevents is user- defined properties that are not strings. That is a very rare case and can be done by turning off comptability mode. Some time in the future compatibility mode can be changed to be default false, but there's probably no real need to do so.
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<B>property</B> [<I>type</I>] [<I>key</I> [<I>value</I>]] <BR>
or
<B>property</B> [<B>compat</B>] [<B>true</B>|<B>false</B>] <BR><BR>
Initial commit at Tue Apr 25 08:41:48 EDT 2017 by tim on stravinsky
2017-04-25 14:41:48 +02:00
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Extended the "property" command and modified the way that properties are handled. Properties were previously only character strings, which had become cumbersome because properties were being used for mask hints and bounding boxes, with the necessity of constantly converting values from string to integer and back, which can cause a performance impact as well as just being messy. The main difference to the command is the addition of an optional first keyword argument for the property type, which can be "string", "integer", "dimension", or "double". All types except "string" can consist of multiple values. Multiple values can be specified as separate arguments on the command line, so that, for example, values of FIXED_BBOX or MASKHINTS_* no longer need to be quoted. In addition, this completes the handling of "units" implemented recently, as all properties of the type "dimension" can be entered in the current units, will display in the current units, and will scale with the database.
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where <I>key</I> and <I>value</I> are any text strings. <BR>
<I>type</I> may be one of <B>string</B>, <B>integer</B>,
<B>dimension</B>, or <B>double</B>.
Initial commit at Tue Apr 25 08:41:48 EDT 2017 by tim on stravinsky
2017-04-25 14:41:48 +02:00
</BLOCKQUOTE>
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<H3>Summary:</H3>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
The <B>property</B> command implements a general-purpose method
of attaching information to a cell definition. Except for a
Added a 2nd use of the "device" property, which has long been needed, which instead of defining a device or subcircuit that exists inside the cell, instead redefines the cell itself as a device or subcircuit model that exists in the PDK. This is used where a specific layout subcell has its own associated device definition in the PDK. Instead of the "device" property value being the line that gets generated for a device in the subcells .ext file, the property value should be the word "primitive" optionally followed by any parameters that need to be passed to the subcircuit call.
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few properties known to the <B>lef</B>, <B>extract</B>, and
<B>gds</B> commands (q.v.), properties have no inherent meaning
to magic but may be used with other programs or scripts to add
additional information about a cell definition. <P>
Initial commit at Tue Apr 25 08:41:48 EDT 2017 by tim on stravinsky
2017-04-25 14:41:48 +02:00
With no arguments, all properties of the current edit cell are
listed. With only the <I>key</I> argument, the value associated
with the key is returned. With both arguments, the string
<I>value</I> is associated with the string <I>key</I> as a
property of the cell. If <I>key</I> is an existing key, then
Extended the "property" command and modified the way that properties are handled. Properties were previously only character strings, which had become cumbersome because properties were being used for mask hints and bounding boxes, with the necessity of constantly converting values from string to integer and back, which can cause a performance impact as well as just being messy. The main difference to the command is the addition of an optional first keyword argument for the property type, which can be "string", "integer", "dimension", or "double". All types except "string" can consist of multiple values. Multiple values can be specified as separate arguments on the command line, so that, for example, values of FIXED_BBOX or MASKHINTS_* no longer need to be quoted. In addition, this completes the handling of "units" implemented recently, as all properties of the type "dimension" can be entered in the current units, will display in the current units, and will scale with the database.
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its original value will be overwritten. <P>
By default, properties are interpreted as verbatim string values,
with exceptions for the reserved types (see below). To force the
values of the property to be interpreted as a specific type, use
Thought better about suddenly changing the .mag file format with new properties, so created a "property compat" setting and made it TRUE by default. This makes magic print all properties as type "string" on output into a .mag file. Which is fine, since it converts all values to the right type on input anyway. The only thing that backwards-compatibility mode prevents is user- defined properties that are not strings. That is a very rare case and can be done by turning off comptability mode. Some time in the future compatibility mode can be changed to be default false, but there's probably no real need to do so.
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the <I>type</I> option. <P>
The <B>property compat</B> setting determines how properties are
written out to a .mag file. The default setting is <B>true</B>
(backwards compatibility mode), which writes all properties as
type "<TT>string</TT>". Properties which are reserved names
(see below) will be converted to the best type when reading the
.mag file. However, if the user wants to create a property that
is handled differently than a string (namely, to be a dimensional
value that scales), then comptability mode should be turned off. <P>
Initial commit at Tue Apr 25 08:41:48 EDT 2017 by tim on stravinsky
2017-04-25 14:41:48 +02:00
</BLOCKQUOTE>
Added a 2nd use of the "device" property, which has long been needed, which instead of defining a device or subcircuit that exists inside the cell, instead redefines the cell itself as a device or subcircuit model that exists in the PDK. This is used where a specific layout subcell has its own associated device definition in the PDK. Instead of the "device" property value being the line that gets generated for a device in the subcells .ext file, the property value should be the word "primitive" optionally followed by any parameters that need to be passed to the subcircuit call.
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<BLOCKQUOTE>
Extended the "property" command and modified the way that properties are handled. Properties were previously only character strings, which had become cumbersome because properties were being used for mask hints and bounding boxes, with the necessity of constantly converting values from string to integer and back, which can cause a performance impact as well as just being messy. The main difference to the command is the addition of an optional first keyword argument for the property type, which can be "string", "integer", "dimension", or "double". All types except "string" can consist of multiple values. Multiple values can be specified as separate arguments on the command line, so that, for example, values of FIXED_BBOX or MASKHINTS_* no longer need to be quoted. In addition, this completes the handling of "units" implemented recently, as all properties of the type "dimension" can be entered in the current units, will display in the current units, and will scale with the database.
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Types are interpreted as follows:
<DL>
<DT> <B>string</B> type:
<DD> The property value is a character string. Character strings
may contain spaces, but if so, then the string should be quoted
or in braces, per Tcl syntax.
<DT> <B>integer</I> type:
<DD> The property value is an integer value or a list of integer
values. The values are not considered to be measurements and
do not scale. Multiple values may be passed on the command
line as additional arguments, or the set of values may be
given as a list.
<DT> <B>dimension</I> type:
<DD> The property value is an integer value or a list of integer
values. The values are considered to be (linear) dimensional
measurements and therefore scale with the database internal
units. They are interpreted as having the values currently
specified for <B>units</B>, and display back in the same
units. Multiple values may be passed on the command line as
additional arguments, or the set of values may be given as a
list.
<DT> <B>double</I> type:
<DD> The property value is a double-wide (64-bit) integer value or
a list of double-wide integer values. The values are not
considered to be measurements and do not scale. Multiple
values may be passed on the command line as additional arguments,
or the set of values may be given as a list.
</DL>
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Property names reserved by and used by magic (types are <B>string</B>
unless otherwise noted):
Added a 2nd use of the "device" property, which has long been needed, which instead of defining a device or subcircuit that exists inside the cell, instead redefines the cell itself as a device or subcircuit model that exists in the PDK. This is used where a specific layout subcell has its own associated device definition in the PDK. Instead of the "device" property value being the line that gets generated for a device in the subcells .ext file, the property value should be the word "primitive" optionally followed by any parameters that need to be passed to the subcircuit call.
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<DL>
<DT> <B>GDS_FILE</B>
<DD> The value is the name of a GDS file which contains the mask
data for the cell. The cell is then effectively an abstract
view, because its contents are in the GDS file and do not
necessarily match what is displayed (although they might).
<DT> <B>GDS_START</B>
<DD> If a <B>GDS_FILE</B> is defined, then this value indicates the
byte position of the start of mask data for this cell definition
in the file. If set to value <B>0</B>, then the file will be
Extended the "property" command and modified the way that properties are handled. Properties were previously only character strings, which had become cumbersome because properties were being used for mask hints and bounding boxes, with the necessity of constantly converting values from string to integer and back, which can cause a performance impact as well as just being messy. The main difference to the command is the addition of an optional first keyword argument for the property type, which can be "string", "integer", "dimension", or "double". All types except "string" can consist of multiple values. Multiple values can be specified as separate arguments on the command line, so that, for example, values of FIXED_BBOX or MASKHINTS_* no longer need to be quoted. In addition, this completes the handling of "units" implemented recently, as all properties of the type "dimension" can be entered in the current units, will display in the current units, and will scale with the database.
2026-02-18 16:48:47 +01:00
searched for the data bounds. This property is always of type
<B>double</B>.
Added a 2nd use of the "device" property, which has long been needed, which instead of defining a device or subcircuit that exists inside the cell, instead redefines the cell itself as a device or subcircuit model that exists in the PDK. This is used where a specific layout subcell has its own associated device definition in the PDK. Instead of the "device" property value being the line that gets generated for a device in the subcells .ext file, the property value should be the word "primitive" optionally followed by any parameters that need to be passed to the subcircuit call.
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<DT> <B>GDS_END</B>
<DD> If a <B>GDS_FILE</B> is defined, then this value indicates the
byte position of the end of mask data for this cell definition
in the file. If <B>GDS_START</B> is set to <B>0</B>, then this
Extended the "property" command and modified the way that properties are handled. Properties were previously only character strings, which had become cumbersome because properties were being used for mask hints and bounding boxes, with the necessity of constantly converting values from string to integer and back, which can cause a performance impact as well as just being messy. The main difference to the command is the addition of an optional first keyword argument for the property type, which can be "string", "integer", "dimension", or "double". All types except "string" can consist of multiple values. Multiple values can be specified as separate arguments on the command line, so that, for example, values of FIXED_BBOX or MASKHINTS_* no longer need to be quoted. In addition, this completes the handling of "units" implemented recently, as all properties of the type "dimension" can be entered in the current units, will display in the current units, and will scale with the database.
2026-02-18 16:48:47 +01:00
property may be omitted. This property is always of type
<B>double</B>.
Added a 2nd use of the "device" property, which has long been needed, which instead of defining a device or subcircuit that exists inside the cell, instead redefines the cell itself as a device or subcircuit model that exists in the PDK. This is used where a specific layout subcell has its own associated device definition in the PDK. Instead of the "device" property value being the line that gets generated for a device in the subcells .ext file, the property value should be the word "primitive" optionally followed by any parameters that need to be passed to the subcircuit call.
2022-05-04 22:43:38 +02:00
<DT> <B>LEFview</B>
<DD> If set to <B>TRUE</B>, this cell is an abstract view such as that
obtained from a LEF macro, and should not be used for extraction
or for writing mask data (unless <B>GDS_FILE</B> is defined).
<DT> <B>LEFproperties</B>
<DD> If the file was read from a LEF macro, then this property corresponds
to the LEF <B>PROPERTY</B> block values. All values from the block
are contatenated into the single property string.
<DT> <B>LEFsymmetry</B>
<DD> If the file was read from a LEF macro, then this property corresponds
to the macro's <B>SYMMETRY</B> value.
<DT> <B>LEFclass</B>
<DD> If the file was read from a LEF macro, then this property corresponds
to the macro's <B>CLASS</B> value.
<DT> <B>LEFsite</B>
<DD> If the file was read from a LEF macro, then this property corresponds
to the macro's <B>SITE</B> value.
Implemented and revised the "CIFhier" property to override the "cif *hier write disable" and "cif *array write disable" commands for a specific cell def and its descendents. The revision ensures that all descendents apply the override. The "cif write" command uses a stack instead of recursion, which makes it difficult to apply the same method. Currently the method only works for the "gds write" command, and implementing the feature for "cif write" is deemed not worth the effort.
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<DT> <B>CIFhier</B>
<DD> If defined, then this cell will be written to CIF or GDS
output with hierachical processing regardless of the settings of
the command options "cif *hier write disable" and "cif *array write
disable". That allows those commands to be used to avoid
time-consuming and unnecessary hierarchical processing of a top-level
chip assembly with mostly correct-by-design components (such as a
digital standard cell layout) while preserving necessary hierarchical
processing on blocks (such as analog circuits) that need them.
Added a 2nd use of the "device" property, which has long been needed, which instead of defining a device or subcircuit that exists inside the cell, instead redefines the cell itself as a device or subcircuit model that exists in the PDK. This is used where a specific layout subcell has its own associated device definition in the PDK. Instead of the "device" property value being the line that gets generated for a device in the subcells .ext file, the property value should be the word "primitive" optionally followed by any parameters that need to be passed to the subcircuit call.
2022-05-04 22:43:38 +02:00
<DT> <B>FIXED_BBOX</B>
<DD> This property value is a space-separated list of four integer values
corresponding to the abutment box of the cell, in magic's internal
units. The abutment box is automatically read from LEF files, but
may be defined for any file and can be used for placement alignment.
Extended the "property" command and modified the way that properties are handled. Properties were previously only character strings, which had become cumbersome because properties were being used for mask hints and bounding boxes, with the necessity of constantly converting values from string to integer and back, which can cause a performance impact as well as just being messy. The main difference to the command is the addition of an optional first keyword argument for the property type, which can be "string", "integer", "dimension", or "double". All types except "string" can consist of multiple values. Multiple values can be specified as separate arguments on the command line, so that, for example, values of FIXED_BBOX or MASKHINTS_* no longer need to be quoted. In addition, this completes the handling of "units" implemented recently, as all properties of the type "dimension" can be entered in the current units, will display in the current units, and will scale with the database.
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This property is always of type <B>dimension</B> and must contain
exactly four values.
Implemented and revised the "CIFhier" property to override the "cif *hier write disable" and "cif *array write disable" commands for a specific cell def and its descendents. The revision ensures that all descendents apply the override. The "cif write" command uses a stack instead of recursion, which makes it difficult to apply the same method. Currently the method only works for the "gds write" command, and implementing the feature for "cif write" is deemed not worth the effort.
2023-03-07 17:16:49 +01:00
<DT> <B>OBS_BBOX</B>
<DD> This property value is a space-sparated list of four integer values
corresponding to a bounding box to be used when generating a LEF
file abstract view of a cell. The area inside the bounding box
will be entirely covered in obstruction layers (unless cut-outs
are required to accommodate pins). Any set-back applied by the
"lef write -hide <value>" option will be applied to this obstruction
Extended the "property" command and modified the way that properties are handled. Properties were previously only character strings, which had become cumbersome because properties were being used for mask hints and bounding boxes, with the necessity of constantly converting values from string to integer and back, which can cause a performance impact as well as just being messy. The main difference to the command is the addition of an optional first keyword argument for the property type, which can be "string", "integer", "dimension", or "double". All types except "string" can consist of multiple values. Multiple values can be specified as separate arguments on the command line, so that, for example, values of FIXED_BBOX or MASKHINTS_* no longer need to be quoted. In addition, this completes the handling of "units" implemented recently, as all properties of the type "dimension" can be entered in the current units, will display in the current units, and will scale with the database.
2026-02-18 16:48:47 +01:00
box. This property is always of type <B>dimension</B> and must
contain exactly four values.
Added a missing description of the "flatten" property, which is documented briefly in the "flatten" command reference page, but no in the "property" command reference page.
2024-10-10 02:34:08 +02:00
<DT> <B>flatten</B>
<DD> This property is used in conjunction with the "flatten -doproperty"
command option and marks the cell for flattening. Cells without
this property defined will not be flattened.
Added a 2nd use of the "device" property, which has long been needed, which instead of defining a device or subcircuit that exists inside the cell, instead redefines the cell itself as a device or subcircuit model that exists in the PDK. This is used where a specific layout subcell has its own associated device definition in the PDK. Instead of the "device" property value being the line that gets generated for a device in the subcells .ext file, the property value should be the word "primitive" optionally followed by any parameters that need to be passed to the subcircuit call.
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<DT> <B>device</B>
<DD> This property declares that the cell is a device or contains a
single device that is not a known extractable device defined in
the technology file. In the first case, the device to be extracted
is a subcircuit and the name of the device is the same as the name
of the cell. In this case, the property value should begin with
"<B>primitive</B>". This may be followed by any parameters
associated with the device that need to be output in the netlist;
e.g., "<B>primitive nf=4</B>. When the cell is recast as a
primitive device, it is necessary for the port order in the cell
to match the port order of the device as it must appear in the
output netlist. In the second case, the device to be extracted
is either a low-level component type (not a subcircuit), or is a
subcircuit with a different name than the cell. In that case, the
value string should be the text of the line as it should appear
in a "<B>device</B>" line in the output <TT>.ext</TT> file when the
cell is extracted. That includes the names of all ports and any
parameters to be output. As the output device is defined inside
the subcircuit of the cell in which it is defined, the ports may
be reordered between the subcircuit and the instantiation of the
device. The use of either form of the <B>device</B> property
precludes the generation of parasitics associated with the cell.
All parasitics are assumed to be included in the device model.
<DT> <B>parameter</B>
<DD> If, when an instance of the cell's subcircuit is generated in the
output netlist, the instance should be passed one or more
parameters, then those parameter <I>key</I><B>=</B><I>value</I>
pairs (as a single, space-separated string) should be defined as
the value to the <B>parameter</B> property.
<DT> <B>MASKHINTS_</B><I>type</I>
<DD> The value is a string of consecutive sets of four integer values,
each set representing the bounding box of a rectangle defining
the area of CIF type <I>type</I>, in magic's internal units.
This indicates that magic will
always generate mask layer <I>type</I> in the specified rectangle
area when writing GDS or CIF output. <I>type</I> may be a templayer,
such that <I>type</I> could be defined as the absence of a mask layer,
Extended the "property" command and modified the way that properties are handled. Properties were previously only character strings, which had become cumbersome because properties were being used for mask hints and bounding boxes, with the necessity of constantly converting values from string to integer and back, which can cause a performance impact as well as just being messy. The main difference to the command is the addition of an optional first keyword argument for the property type, which can be "string", "integer", "dimension", or "double". All types except "string" can consist of multiple values. Multiple values can be specified as separate arguments on the command line, so that, for example, values of FIXED_BBOX or MASKHINTS_* no longer need to be quoted. In addition, this completes the handling of "units" implemented recently, as all properties of the type "dimension" can be entered in the current units, will display in the current units, and will scale with the database.
2026-02-18 16:48:47 +01:00
for example. This property is always of type <B>dimension</B> and
must have a multiple of four values.
Added a 2nd use of the "device" property, which has long been needed, which instead of defining a device or subcircuit that exists inside the cell, instead redefines the cell itself as a device or subcircuit model that exists in the PDK. This is used where a specific layout subcell has its own associated device definition in the PDK. Instead of the "device" property value being the line that gets generated for a device in the subcells .ext file, the property value should be the word "primitive" optionally followed by any parameters that need to be passed to the subcircuit call.
2022-05-04 22:43:38 +02:00
</DL>
</BLOCKQUOTE>
Initial commit at Tue Apr 25 08:41:48 EDT 2017 by tim on stravinsky
2017-04-25 14:41:48 +02:00
<H3>Implementation Notes:</H3>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<B>property</B> is implemented as a built-in command in <B>magic</B>.
The property structure itself is implemented as a hash table in
the cell definition structure.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
Extended the "property" command and modified the way that properties are handled. Properties were previously only character strings, which had become cumbersome because properties were being used for mask hints and bounding boxes, with the necessity of constantly converting values from string to integer and back, which can cause a performance impact as well as just being messy. The main difference to the command is the addition of an optional first keyword argument for the property type, which can be "string", "integer", "dimension", or "double". All types except "string" can consist of multiple values. Multiple values can be specified as separate arguments on the command line, so that, for example, values of FIXED_BBOX or MASKHINTS_* no longer need to be quoted. In addition, this completes the handling of "units" implemented recently, as all properties of the type "dimension" can be entered in the current units, will display in the current units, and will scale with the database.
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<H3>See Also:</H3>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<A HREF=units.html><B>units</B></A> <BR>
</BLOCKQUOTE>
Initial commit at Tue Apr 25 08:41:48 EDT 2017 by tim on stravinsky
2017-04-25 14:41:48 +02:00
<P><IMG SRC=graphics/line1.gif><P>
<TABLE BORDER=0>
<TR>
<TD> <A HREF=commands.html>Return to command index</A>
</TR>
</TABLE>
Updated all of the documentation by copying back from the website. The website documentation now points to these contents in a clone of the repository on opencircuitdesign.com, so all future edits of the command-line documentation will be made directly to the git repository. Also: Changed the precision of box values printed in microns from 2 to 3 digits after the decimal place, so that 5 nanometer grids do not get values clipped in the output.
2022-01-21 16:44:13 +01:00
<P><I>Last updated:</I> March 7, 2020 at 1:06pm <P>
Initial commit at Tue Apr 25 08:41:48 EDT 2017 by tim on stravinsky
2017-04-25 14:41:48 +02:00
</BODY>
</HTML>