Display transformation

edited March 2011 in General
Hi Matthias, if this is easy it might be useful to implement: display transformation e.g. mirror and orthogonal rotation. Several GDS viewers support this - it can be useful sometimes to re-orient the view of a design.

If it would be difficult to implememnt, then never mind, there is always a workaround since KLayout has an edit mode: simply instantiate with, or later re-apply, required transformations.

Comments

  • edited March 2011

    Hi,

    that's easy to implement and therefore already there :-)

    Actually it is possible to transform each layer or layer group individually and in particular to transform one layout relative to another if multiple layouts are loaded.

    The feature is most conveniently to be used if you first create layer groups. Choose "Regroup Layers" -> "By layout index" from the layer list's context menu. After that you get one top-level expandable node per layout in the layer list below which you find all the layers for that layout.

    You can now attach a transformation to this node. Select the layout node and choose "Select Source" from the layer list's context menu. A entry box will be shown which says something like "*/*@1". If for example you want to rotate the layout by 90 degree and move it 1000 microns to the right, enter the following into the box:

    */*@1 (1000,0 r90)
    

    The expression in brackets is the transformation. For more details about this specification see here, where some more options are explained as well. For example, it is possible to specify multiple transformations essentially placing the layout multiple times without having to create a top-level cell.

    If you have two layouts you can assign an individual transformation to the second layout by repeating the step above for the second layout node.

    You can save the layers together with the transformation specification into a .lyp file or create multiple tabs in the layer panel with different transformations.

    Best regards,

    Matthias

  • edited November -1
    Hi Matthias,

    Aha, I thought I'd seen it somewhere. I think what I was hoping for was a simpler global setting, like the other programs have, so you can just flip and rotate the entire universe (=present window), rather than flipping or rotating particular layer views. There is a high quality tool set inside the tool case, but this time I'm just looking for a handy sledgehammer to turn the world upside down ;)

    What's already implemented is more powerful, but not as convenient for the simplest use (user?)...

    Typically the global setting would be right there alongside the Levels controls.

    Best regards,

    Brendan.
  • edited March 2011

    Hi Brendan,

    I have been asked for the feature some times already. It's always somewhat difficult to explain. Obviously you are right - it's somewhat too elaborate for simple use cases.

    It should not be a big issue to implement some more guidance and/or - as you suggested - some global options beside the fine tunable ones.

    Best regards,

    Matthias

  • edited November -1
    Hi Matthias,

    Yes, I think global options would be worthwhile. I hope it isn't too difficult to implement. I guess it would affect the drawing of everything including overlay pictures, so there's probably a lot to think about.

    Best regards,

    Brendan.
  • edited November -1

    Hi Brendan,

    that is a useful remark, thank you.

    I was thinking of simply transforming the layout, not the images and rulers. That is possible of course too.

    I was assuming that one use case is to transform a layout to match it to an image ..

    Best regards,

    Matthias

  • edited November -1
    Hi Matthias,

    I was thinking mainly of a convenience option, instead of rotating the monitor or using a mirror to show something to a colleague. Many tools have a similar convenience feature, but they don't all agree on what items are affected by layout/view orientation.

    I think sometimes, layout objects, images, markers and selection or net highlights are all flipped, mirrored and zoomed together, which makes sense, but rulers may or may not be affected.

    Best regards,

    Brendan.
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