Show Vertices for PCells

lukasc

I like how the vertices for polygons show up in the layout when you select the object.

However, I can't figure out how to see the vertices of a PCell, except for flattening it.

When you drop down in the PCell instance (Show as New Top), you can't select the polygon to view the vertices..

Is there any way to do this? Perhaps allowing us to select objects within the PCell instance would be useful for debugging.

Thank you,
Lukas

davidnhutch

Actually Matthias recently added this feature. You must be using an older version of KLayout, or else don't know where to find it in File > Setup > Application > Selection > PCell content is selectable. In this case, you don't have to "Show as new top" to select it.

Matthias,

I discovered what might be a bug. I would expect that when you select "PCell content is selectable" that you can only select shapes inside the PCell when F3 > "Select top level objects only" is NOT selected. However you can select shapes inside PCells regardless of the F3 > "Select top level objects" is selected or not. Is this intended? I thought PCells should behave like regular cells in this regard.

David

lukasc

great, thank you.

this also lets you edit the geometries... eg. delete polygons. but when you save & reload the layout, the PCell is regenerated

davidnhutch

Correct. It is a somewhat dangerous feature but can be useful.

Matthias

Hi David,

I tried to reproduce the "Select top level objects" + "Select shapes in cell" problem with a simple CIRCLE PCell but I was not able to do so :-(

If I enable (EDITED: not disable) the "Select top level objects only" checkbox I can only select the PCell itself, not the circle polygon. Maybe the shape you refer to is the guiding shape? This does not count as "inside the cell" but as being on the same level as the instance, so it's selectable on top level too.

And yes, the feature can be dangerous, but useful :-)

Thanks,

Matthias

davidnhutch

Weird, I can reproduce it with Basic.CIRCLE.

Here are my steps:

1. Open KL 0.24.3 on Win 10
2. File > New layout
3. Edit > Layer > New layer > 1/0
4. Insert Basic.CIRCLE
5. Press "*" to show entire hierarchy
6. Ensure File > Setup > Application > Selection > PCell content is selectable -- is checked. Ensure F3 > Select Top Level Objects is not checked.
7. Click on the circle itself - it is selected.
8. Click off the circle but within the cell extents -- the cell is selected.
9. Now make "PCell content is selectable" not checked and repeat 7 and 8. I can only select the cell not its contents, as expected.

Here's a screenshot for steps 7 and 8 respectively. I've changed the selection color to bold red for clarity.

7:

8:

Matthias

Hi,

Exciting to see so many screenshots here :-)

And sorry: in my reply is should have written:

If I enable the "Select top level objects only" checkbox, I can only select the PCell itself, not the circle polygon.

I edited the above reply. I'm a bit puzzled. I'm referring to

However you can select shapes inside PCells regardless of the F3 > "Select top level objects" is selected or not

I still can't confirm there is no effect of F3's "select top level objects only" - if it's enabled, I can only select the PCell itself (the box). If it's disabled I can also select the PCell's shapes (the circle) if this is enabled in the settings.

I'm somewhat lost among these multiple negations ..

Thanks,

Matthias

davidnhutch

Haha sorry for confusion. I didn't not ever not mean to not confuse you. (Kidding.)

[EDITED]

Well, apparently there is no problem any more. I can't reproduce it, and am not sure if the problem was my misunderstanding of the settings or a real (transient) problem. Sorry. I'll post here again if I notice anything wrong.

David