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how to "lock" cells?
my layout has a "seal-ring" cell. and all 5' i select it by accident. some time i delete it, and dont realize it, until i have the choice of press 20i times ctrl-Z or draw it new...
is there a "lock cell" attribute, i can apply to this cell? or what is the way to prevent destroying done work?
Comments
I don't believe so, although this is something I've also asked for in the past. Personally I prefer a "selectable extent" polygon approach (ala Brand X's use of the instance/dwg layer, although this is becoming "busted" in some cellView types in IC6) but a means to simply prevent accidental selection of an object would be a plan B; I seem to recall some discussion of a "not prevented, but more difficult" selection like ctrl-click overriding a soft "not me, bro" property?
Been a while, I may not be up to date on this. But it's a persistent interest, affecting workflow bigly when you're working top level of deep hierarchy with objects that overlap (like anything chip-scale).
Is there such a thing in Virtuoso? I personally have this problem more often there than in KLayout. That is because KLayout's transient selection seems more reliable and selecting objects is looking for real edges first and cell box second. But of course it is possible to get the selection wrong.
As cell locking is a feature that is hard to persist in GDS (similar to visibility), I think it is worth discussing other solutions first. For example, KLayout could simply refuse to select cells if they extend beyond the layout window and cover it entirely. So you cannot select a cell and not realizing that, because the selection edges will always be visible. How about this?
Alternatively, one could display the selection clipped to the layout window - so the box would show up as a border around the edge of the window even if the selected cell is bigger than that.
But even now, if you choose a fill style for the selection, it is basically impossible to note that you have selected something outside the window. However, currently the effect is kind of ugly, because the fill pattern also applies to the transient selection. But I could fix that too.
Anyway, @olisnr: You're invited to raise a ticket on GitHub (https://github.com/KLayout/klayout/issues). This is a better place to discuss new features as code branch and release tracking is included. I think this is a topic for a new major release.
Matthias
@olisnr
Hi sir,
Maybe you could check "editor options" ,
the option of "Select top level objescts only" if that is enable or distable.
Or you could zip your GDS file to share to all .
Maybe that will helpful to find what you means.
may be the problem is, that i dont really understand the way of moving cells or shapes in KLayout. if im in the select-mode, then the world is ok: i can select via rectangle and nothing goes broken, but if i switch to the move-mode, i often destroy something, and if i dont cntr-Z in the right moment, i find out much later...
what costs me most time is: i cntr-B somthing, and forget to change to the move-mode. while i then try to move the new copy i select something different, and get tow copies of all the dublikated opbject, laying perfect over each other, that i dont see them, and have to try, if i should cntr-Z one time more.
what is the idea of KLayout for editing, moving, dubblicating and so on?
While my preference remains for the "instance
selectable extent modifier rectangle" (Brand X
use of instance/drawing layer object to supersede
the raw cell-extent), I could see something like use
of GDS properties to make a per-instance default
property like "selectEnabled". Presumably the
selection (or maybe pre-selection) would have to
query every "candidate" to get to the "short list"
for action.
Now about the "action", I vaguely recall some
discussion about another angle, which is when
a situation of multiple selectable objects is in
play, the click instead of "picking first" or rotating
through the selectable-list in order, a "chooser"
popup gets presented and the user gets to say
which one(s).
I can't recall specifically but I have gathered that
using whatever properties (klayout or GDS) might
make for incompatibility or failure to out-then-input
as-original.
Let's talk now about labeling layout cells. This
could hold opportunity as well. When I do Brand X
layout (and that's been many) my "signature move"
is to place the "instance box" with sensibly sized
cellName text (hard coded) inside it. So that's a
visual and a functional cue, where to select and
where not, to me and the machine both.
Now suppose we simply declared that 0,0 or 255,255
or whatever, is klayout's "instance extent" marker layer.
Or maybe we make that definition a config setting
(Brand X layertables in my possession seem to use
0/60 for instance/drawing, maybe a Brand X default
more widely? I see that layer 0 in the layertables has
all the Brand X "generic" process layers segregated.
So would it be difficult to modify the preselection or
selection to query cell content for (say) a 0/60 object,
maybe a rectangle including a same layer text origin
(like safety and arm), and modify the "selectable set"
it's holding by just "dropping out" any cells which do
not present, within the field of view (point, or dragged,
or global)?
Show of hands, who uses GDS layer 0 for anything?
Essay question, "for what?"
i dont understand the meaning of "instance selectable extent modifier rectangle".
i think the easiest way could be:
1. after duplicating or pasting, go to the move-mode. an option, to select only cell full in the view would be help-full.
2. i also would like to have an option to change the move-mode so, that it only moves, something that is already selected. is this possible?
3. i would like to know, if there is a way to select via rectangle only "inside" or also "touching"?
i did raise a ticket...
then i have the question, if its possible to save my layer-tab-settings: i normally change the stipples and colors of some layers, and i have to do it every time new after opening a file.
i could change the sg13g2.lyp file, but then i change something from an openPDK that i dont want to touch.
i found it
I think a feature to lock or disallow selecting cells would be useful. In context, I think this would only be useful if the View -> Select Top Level Objects method is turned on. In Virtuoso it is possible to individually check the box on whether you would like to be able to select Cells/Instances and Mosaics.
Alternatively, another way to accomplish this effect without changing much would be to add an option to deselect objects within the Object Properties window. Since this window categories the selected objects by Instances, Boxes, Polygons, etc., if a deselect option were implemented, this would allow for easy deselection of instances to prevent bulk modifications.
Personally, I find the second option of "locking cells" through deselection within the Object Properties window to be more attractive.