diff --git a/doc/xschem_man/developer_info.html b/doc/xschem_man/developer_info.html
index 67059a17..024575ac 100644
--- a/doc/xschem_man/developer_info.html
+++ b/doc/xschem_man/developer_info.html
@@ -899,6 +899,10 @@ C {verilog_timescale.sym} 1050 -100 0 0 {name=s1 timestep="1ns" precision="1ns"
    <li><kbd>       get_sch_from_sym inst [symbol]</kbd></li><pre>
    get schematic associated with instance 'inst'
    if inst==-1 and a 'symbol' name is given get sch associated with symbol </pre>
+   <li><kbd>       get_sym_type symname</kbd></li><pre>
+   get "type" value from global attributes of symbol,
+   looking frst in loaded symbols, then looking in symbol file
+   symbols that are not already loaded in the design will not be loaded </pre>
    <li><kbd>       get_tok str tok [with_quotes]</kbd></li><pre>
    get value of token 'tok' in string 'str'
    'with_quotes' (default:0) is an integer passed to get_tok_value() </pre>
diff --git a/src/save.c b/src/save.c
index e972b7a6..9c938e80 100644
--- a/src/save.c
+++ b/src/save.c
@@ -3909,7 +3909,7 @@ void pop_undo(int redo, int set_modify_status)
  * return symbol type in type pointer or "" if no type or no symbol found
  * if pintable given (!=NULL) hash all symbol pins
  * if embed_fd is not NULL read symbol from embedded '[...]' tags using embed_fd file pointer */
-static void get_sym_type(const char *symname, char **type, 
+void get_sym_type(const char *symname, char **type, 
                          Int_hashtable *pintable, FILE *embed_fd, int *sym_n_pins)
 {
   int i, c, n = 0;
diff --git a/src/scheduler.c b/src/scheduler.c
index b6c09405..5122520b 100644
--- a/src/scheduler.c
+++ b/src/scheduler.c
@@ -2066,6 +2066,22 @@ int xschem(ClientData clientdata, Tcl_Interp *interp, int argc, const char * arg
       Tcl_SetResult(interp, filename, TCL_VOLATILE);
     }
 
+    /* get_sym_type symname
+     *   get "type" value from global attributes of symbol,
+     *   looking frst in loaded symbols, then looking in symbol file
+     *   symbols that are not already loaded in the design will not be loaded */
+    else if(!strcmp(argv[1], "get_sym_type") )
+    {
+      char *s=NULL;
+      if(!xctx) {Tcl_SetResult(interp, not_avail, TCL_STATIC); return TCL_ERROR;}
+
+      if(argc < 3) {Tcl_SetResult(interp, "Missing arguments", TCL_STATIC);return TCL_ERROR;}
+      get_sym_type(argv[2], &s, NULL, NULL, NULL);
+
+      Tcl_SetResult(interp, s, TCL_VOLATILE);
+      my_free(_ALLOC_ID_, &s);
+    }
+
     /* get_tok str tok [with_quotes]
      *   get value of token 'tok' in string 'str'
      *   'with_quotes' (default:0) is an integer passed to get_tok_value() */
diff --git a/src/xschem.h b/src/xschem.h
index c99b23c3..587b51db 100644
--- a/src/xschem.h
+++ b/src/xschem.h
@@ -1512,6 +1512,8 @@ extern int spectre_block_netlist(FILE *fd, int i, int alert);
 extern void remove_symbols(void);
 extern void remove_symbol(int i);
 extern void clear_drawing(void);
+extern void get_sym_type(const char *symname, char **type,       
+                         Int_hashtable *pintable, FILE *embed_fd, int *sym_n_pins);
 extern int is_from_web(const char *f);
 extern int load_sym_def(const char name[], FILE *embed_fd);
 extern int descend_symbol(void);
diff --git a/src/xschem.tcl b/src/xschem.tcl
index cd038356..cc33acce 100644
--- a/src/xschem.tcl
+++ b/src/xschem.tcl
@@ -4069,10 +4069,18 @@ proc is_xschem_file {f} {
         set generator 1
         # continue
       }
-      if { [regexp {^[TKGVSE] \{} $line] } { incr score }
+      if { [regexp {^[TKFGVSE] \{} $line] } { incr score }
       if { [regexp {^[BL] +[0-9]+ +[-0-9.eE]+ +[-0-9.eE]+ +[-0-9.eE]+ +[-0-9.eE]+ +\{} $line] } {incr score}
       if { [regexp {^N +[-0-9.eE]+ +[-0-9.eE]+ +[-0-9.eE]+ +[-0-9.eE]+ +\{} $line] } {incr score}
-      if { [regexp {^C +\{[^{}]+\} +[-0-9.eE]+ +[-0-9.eE]+ +[0-3]+ +[0-3]+ +\{} $line] } {incr instances; incr score}
+      if { [regexp {^C +\{[^{}]+\} +[-0-9.eE]+ +[-0-9.eE]+ +[0-3]+ +[0-3]+ +\{} $line] } {
+        set symname [regsub {([^{]+{)([^}]+)(}.*)} $line {\2}]
+        set type [xschem get_sym_type $symname]
+        # title/launcher instances in symbols are allowed, do not indicate it is a schematic.
+        if {![regexp "^(logo|launcher)$" $type]} {
+          incr instances
+          incr score
+        }
+      }
       if { [regexp "^v\[ \t\]+\{xschem\[ \t\]+version\[ \t\]*=.*\[ \t\]+file_version\[ \t\]*=" $line] } {
         set ret 1
       }