These commands work if you are pointing to the interior of a layout window. Commands are invoked by
typing a colon (``:'') or semi-colon (``;''), followed by a line containing a command name and zero or
more parameters. In addition, macros may be used to invoke commands with single keystrokes. Useful
default macros are set in the global .magicrc file (in ${CAD_ROOT}/magic/sys, normally
/usr/local/lib/magic/sys). You can list all current macros with the macro command, described under
``LONG COMMANDS FOR ALL WINDOWS''. Unique abbreviations are acceptable for all keywords in commands.
The commands are:
addpathsearchpath
Add more directories to the end of Magic's cell search path. See the documentation for the path
command for an explanation of the search path.
arrayxsizeysize
Make many copies of the selection. There will be xsize instances in the x-direction and ysize
instances in the y-direction. Paint and labels are arrayed by copying them. Subcells are not
copied, but instead each instance is turned into an array instance with elements numbered from 0
to xsize-1 in the x-direction, and from 0 to ysize-1 in the y-direction. The spacing between
elements of the array is determined by the box x- and y-dimensions.
arrayxloyloxhiyhi
Identical to the form of array above, except that the elements of arrayed cells are numbered left-
to-right from xlo to xhi and bottom-to-top from ylo to yhi. It is legal for xlo to be greater
than xhi, and also for ylo to be greater than yhi.
box [args]
Used to change the size of the box or to find out its size. There are several sorts of arguments
that may be given to this command:
(Noarguments.)
Show the box size and its location in the edit cell, or root cell of its window if the edit
cell isn't in that window.
direction [distance]
Move the box distance units in direction, which may be one of left, right, up, or down.
Distance defaults to the width of the box if direction is right or left, and to the height
of the box if direction is up or down.
width[size]
height[size]
Set the box to the width or height indicated. If size is not specified the width or height
is reported.
x1y1x2y2
Move the box to the coordinates specified (these are in edit cell coordinates if the edit
cell is in the window under the cursor; otherwise these are in the root coordinates of the
window). x1 and y1 are the coordinates of the lower left corner of the box, while x2 and y2
are the upper right corner. The coordinates must all be integers.
calma [option] [args]
This command is used to read and write files in Calma GDS II Stream format (version 3.0,
corresponding to GDS II Release 5.1). This format is like CIF, in that it describes physical mask
layers instead of Magic layers. In fact, the technology file specifies a correspondence between
CIF and Calma layers. The current CIF output style (see cifostyle) controls how Calma stream
layers are generated from Magic layers. If no arguments are given, the calma command generates a
Calma stream file for the layout in the window beneath the cursor in file.strm, where file is the
name of the root cell. This stream file describes the entire cell hierarchy in the window. The
name of the library is the same as the name of the root cell. Option and args may be used to
invoke one of several additional operations:
calmaflatten
Ordinarily, Magic arrays are output using the Calma ARRAY construct. After a calmaflatten
command, though, arrays will be output instead as a collection of individual cell uses, as
occurs when writing CIF.
calmahelp
Print a short synopsis of all of the calma command options.
calmalabels
Output labels whenever writing a Calma output file.
calmalower
Allow both upper and lower case to be output for label text. This is the default behavior;
calmanolower causes lower case to be converted to upper case on output.
calmanoflatten
Undoes the effect of a prior :calmaflatten command, re-enabling the output of Magic arrays
using the Calma ARRAY construct.
calmanolabels
Don't output labels when writing a Calma output file.
calmanolower
Convert lower to upper case when outputting labels.
calmareadfile
The file file.strm is read in Calma format and converted to a collection of Magic cells.
The current CIF input style determines how the Calma layers are converted to Magic layers.
The new cells are marked for design-rule checking. Calma format doesn't identify the root
of the collection of cells read in, so none of the cells read will appear on the display;
use load to make them visible. If the Calma file had been produced by Magic, then the name
of the root cell is the same as the library name printed by the :calmaread command.
calmawritefileName
Writes a stream file just as if no arguments had been entered, except that the output is
written into fileName.strm instead of using the root cell name for the file name.
channels
This command will run just the channel decomposition part of the Magic router, deriving channels
for the area under the box. The channels will be displayed as outlined feedback areas over the
edit cell.
cif [option] [args]
Read or write files in Caltech Intermediate Form (CIF). If no arguments are given, this command
generates a CIF file for the window beneath the cursor in file.cif, where file is the name of the
root cell. The CIF file describes the entire cell hierarchy in the window. Option and args may
be used to invoke one of several additional CIF operations:
cifarealabels [yes | no]
Enables/disables the cif area-label extension. If enabled, area labels are written via the
95 cif extension. If disabled, labels are collapsed to points when writing cif and the 94
cif construct is used. Area-labels are disabled by default (many programs don't understand
cif area-labels).
cifhelp
Print a short synopsis of all of the cif command options.
cifistyle [style]
Select the style to be used for CIF input. If no style argument is provided, then Magic
prints the names of all CIF input styles defined in the technology file and identifies the
current style. If style is provided, it is made the current style.
cifostyle [style]
Select the style to be used for CIF output. If no style argument is provided, then Magic
prints the names of all CIF output styles defined in the technology file and identifies the
current style. If style is provided, it is made the current style.
cifreadfile
The file file.cif is read in CIF format and converted to a collection of Magic cells. The
current input style determines how the CIF layers are converted to Magic layers. The new
cells are marked for design-rule checking. Any information in the top-level CIF cell is
copied into the edit cell. Note: this command is not undo-able (it would waste too much
space and time to save information for undoing).
cifseelayer
In this command layer must be the CIF name for a layer in the current output style. Magic
will display on the screen all the CIF for that layer that falls under the box, using
stippled feedback areas. It's a bad idea to look at CIF over a large area, since this
command requires the area under the box to be flattened and therefore is slow.
cifstatistics
Prints out statistics gathered by the CIF generator as it operates. This is probably not
useful to anyone except system maintainers.
cifwritefileName
Writes out CIF just as if no arguments had been entered, except that the CIF is written
into fileName.cif instead of using the root cell name for the file name. The current
output style controls how CIF layers are generated from Magic layers.
cifflatfileName
Writes out CIF as in the cifwrite command, but flattens the design first (e.g. creates an
internal version with the cell hierarchy removed). This is useful if one wishes to use the
and-not feature of the CIF output styles, but is having problems with interactions of
overlapping cells.
clockwise [degrees]
Rotate the selection by 90, 180 or 270 degrees. After the rotation, the lower-left corner of the
selection's bounding box will be in the same place as the lower-left corner of the bounding box
before the rotation. Degrees defaults to 90. If the box is in the same window as the selection,
it is rotated too. Only material in the edit cell is affected.
copy [direction [amount]]
copytoxy
If no arguments are given, a copy of the selection is picking up at the point lying underneath the
box lower-left corner, and placed so that this point lies at the cursor position. If direction is
given, it must be a Manhattan direction (e.g. north, see the ``DIRECTIONS'' section below). The
copy of the selection is moved in that direction by amount. If the box is in the same window as
the selection, it is moved too. Amount defaults to 1. The second form of the command behaves as
though the cursor were pointing to (x,y) in the edit cell; a copy of the selection is picked up
by the point beneath the lower-left corner of the box and placed so that this point lies at
(x, y).
cornerdirection1direction2 [layers]
This command is similar to fill, except that it generates L-shaped wires that travel across the
box first in direction1 and then in direction2. For example, cornernortheast finds all paint
under the bottom edge of the box and extends it up to the top of the box and then across to the
right side of the box, generating neat corners at the top of the box. The box should be at least
as tall as it is wide for this command to work correctly. Direction1 and direction2 must be
Manhattan directions (see the section DIRECTIONS below) and must be orthogonal to each other. If
layers is specified then only those layers are used; otherwise all layers are considered.
delete Delete all the information in the current selection that is in the edit cell. When cells are
deleted, only the selected use(s) of the cell is (are) deleted: other uses of the cell remain
intact, as does the disk file containing the cell. Selected material outside the edit cell is not
deleted.
drcoption [args]
This command is used to interact with the design rule checker. Option and args (if needed) are
used to invoke a drc command in one of the following ways:
drccatchup
Let the checker process all the areas that need rechecking. This command will not return
until design-rule checking is complete or an interrupt is typed. The checker will run even
if the background checker has been disabled with drcoff.
drccheck
Mark the area under the box for rechecking in all cells that intersect the box. The
recheck will occur in background after the command completes. This command is not normally
necessary, since Magic automatically remembers which areas need to be rechecked. It should
only be needed if the design rules are changed.
drccount
Print the number of errors in each cell under the box. Cells with no errors are skipped.
drcfind [nth]
Place the box over the nth error area in the selected cell or edit cell, and print out
information about the error just as if drcwhy had been typed. If nth isn't given (or is
less than 1), the command moves to the next error area. Successive invocations of drcfind
cycle through all the error tiles in the cell. If multiple cells are selected, this
command uses the upper-leftmost one. If no cells are selected, this command uses the edit
cell.
drchelp
Print a short synopsis of all the drc command options.
drcoff
Turn off the background checker. From now on, Magic will not recheck design rules
immediately after each command (but it will record the areas that need to be rechecked;
the command drcon can be used to restart the checker).
drcon Turn on the background checker. The checker will check whatever modifications have not
already been checked. From now on, the checker will reverify modified areas as they result
from commands. The checker is run in the background, not synchronously with commands, so
it may get temporarily behind if massive changes are made.
drcprintrules [file]
Print out the compiled rule set in file, or on the text terminal if file isn't given. For
system maintenance only.
drcrulestats
Print out summary statistics about the compiled rule set. This is primarily for use in
writing technology files.
drcstatistics
Print out statistics kept by the design-rule checker. For each statistic, two values are
printed: the count since the last time drcstatistics was invoked, and the total count in
this editing session. This command is intended primarily for system maintenance purposes.
drcwhy
Recheck the area underneath the box and print out the reason for each violation found.
Since this command causes a recheck, the box should normally be placed around a small area
(such as an error area).
dumpcellName [childrefPointC] [parentrefPointP]
Copy the contents of cell cellName into the edit cell so that refPointC in the child is positioned
at point refPointP in the edit cell. The reference points can either be the name of a label, in
which case the lower-left corner of the label's box is used as the reference point, or as a pair
of numbers giving the (x, y) coordinates of a point explicitly. If refPointC is not specified,
the lower-left corner of cellName cell is used. If refPointP is not specified, the lower-left
corner of the box tool is used (the box must be in a window on the edit cell). After this command
completes, the new information is selected.
edit Make the selected cell the edit cell, and edit it in context. The edit cell is normally displayed
in brighter colors than other cells (see the see command to change this). If more than one cell
is selected, or if the selected cell is an array, the cursor position is used to select one of
those cells as the new edit cell. Generally, Magic commands modify only the current edit cell.
erase [layers]
For the area enclosed by the box, erase all paint in layers. (See the ``LAYERS'' section for the
syntax of layer lists). If layers is omitted it defaults to *,labels. See your technology
manual, or use the layers command, to find out about the available layer names.
expand [toggle]
If the keyword toggle is supplied, all of the selected cells that are unexpanded are expanded, and
all of the selected cells that are expanded are unexpanded. If toggle isn't specified, then all
of the cells underneath the box are expanded recursively until there is nothing but paint under
the box.
extractoption [args]
Extract a layout, producing one or more hierarchical .ext files that describe the electrical
circuit implemented by the layout. The current extraction style (see extractstyle below)
determines the parameters for parasitic resistance, capacitance, etc. that will be used. The
extract command with no parameters checks timestamps and re-extracts as needed to bring all .ext
files up-to-date for the cell in the window beneath the crosshair, and all cells beneath it.
Magic displays any errors encountered during circuit extraction using stippled feedback areas over
the area of the error, along with a message describing the type of error. Option and args are
used in the following ways:
extractall
All cells in the window beneath the cursor are re-extracted regardless of whether they have
changed since last being extracted.
extractcellname
Extract only the currently selected cell, placing the output in the file name. If more
than one cell is selected, this command uses the upper-leftmost one.
extractdo [ option ]
extractnooption
Enable or disable various options governing how the extractor will work. Use :extractdo
with no arguments to print a list of available options and their current settings. When
the adjust option is enabled, the extractor will compute compensating capacitance and
resistance whenever cells overlap or abut; if disabled, the extractor will not compute
these adjustments but will run faster. If capacitance is enabled, node capacitances to
substrate (perimeter and area) are computed; otherwise, all node capacitances are set to
zero. Similarly, resistance governs whether or not node resistances are computed. The
coupling option controls whether coupling capacitances are computed or not; if disabled,
flat extraction is significantly faster than if coupling capacitance computation is
enabled. Finally, the length option determines whether or not pathlengths in the root cell
are computed (see extractlength below).
extracthelp
Prints a short synopsis of all the extract command options.
extractlength [ optionargs ]
Provides several options for controlling which point-to-point path lengths are extracted
explicitly. The extractor maintains two internal tables, one of drivers, or places where a
signal is generated, and one of receivers, or places where a signal is sent. The
components of each table are hierarchical label names, defined by means of the two commands
extractlengthdrivername1 [name2...] and extractlengthreceivername1 [name2...]. If
extraction of pathlengths is enabled (``:extractdolength''), then when the root cell in
an extract command is being extracted, the extractor will compute the shortest and longest
path between each driver and each receiver on the same electrical net, and output it to the
.ext file for the root cell. Normally, one should create a file of these Magic commands
for the circuit drivers and receivers of interest, and use source to read it in prior to
circuit extraction. Extractlengthclear removes all the entries from both the driver and
receiver tables.
extractparents
Extract the currently selected cell and all of its parents. All of its parents must be
loaded in order for this to work correctly. If more than one cell is selected, this
command uses the upper-leftmost one.
extractshowparents
Like extractparents, but only print the cells that would be extracted; don't actually
extract them.
extractstyle [style]
Select the style to be used for extraction parameters. If no style argument is provided,
then Magic prints the names of all extraction parameter styles defined in the technology
file and identifies the current style. If style is provided, it is made the current style.
extractunique [#]
For each cell in the window beneath the cursor, check to insure that no label is attached
to more than one node. If the # keyword was not specified, whenever a label is attached to
more than one node, the labels in all but one of the nodes are changed by appending a
numeric suffix to make them unique. If the # keyword is specified, only names that end in
a ``#'' are made unique; any other duplicate nodenames that don't end in a ``!'' are
reported by leaving a warning feedback area. This command is provided for converting old
designs that were intended for extraction with Mextra, which would automatically append
unique suffixes to node names when they appeared more than once.
extractwarn [ [no] option | [no] all ]
The extractor always reports fatal errors. This command controls the types of warnings
that are reported. Option may be one of the following: dup, to warn about two or more
unconnected nodes in the same cell that have the same name, fets, to warn about transistors
with fewer than the minimum number of terminals, and labels, to warn when nodes are not
labeled in the area of cell overlap. In addition, all may be used to refer to all
warnings. If a warning is preceded by no, it is disabled. To disable all warnings, use
``extractwarnnoall''. To see which warning options are in effect, use ``extractwarn''.
extresist[cell [threshold] ]
Postprocessor for improving on the resistance calculation performed by the circuit extractor. To
use this command, you first have to extract the design rooted at cell with :extractcell, and then
flatten the design using ext2sim(1), producing the files cell.sim and cell.nodes. Then run
:extresistcell to produce a file, cell.res.ext, containing differences between the network
described by the .ext files produced the first time around, and a new network that incorporates
explicit two-point resistors where appropriate (see below). This file may be appended to
cell.ext, and then ext2simrun for a second time, to produce a new network with explicit resistors.
The threshold parameter is used to control which nodes are turned into resistor networks: any node
whose total resistance exceeds threshold times the smallest on-resistance of any transistor
connected to that node will be approximated as a resistor network.
feedbackoption [args]
Examine feedback information that is created by several of the Magic commands to report problems
or highlight certain things for users. Option and args are used in the following ways:
feedbackaddtext [style]
Used to create a feedback area manually at the location of the box. This is intended as a
way for other programs like Crystal to highlight things on a layout. They can generate a
command file consisting of a feedbackclear command, and a sequence of box and feedbackadd
commands. Text is associated with the feedback (it will be printed by feedbackwhy and
feedbackfind). Style tells how to display the feedback, and is one of dotted, medium,
outline, pale, and solid (if unspecified, style defaults to pale).
feedbackclear
Clears all existing feedback information from the screen.
feedbackcount
Prints out a count of the current number of feedback areas.
feedbackfind [nth]
Used to locate a particular feedback area. If nth is specified, the box is moved to the
location of the nth feedback area. If nth isn't specified, then the box is moved to the
next sequential feedback area after the last one located with feedbackfind. In either
event, the explanation associated with the feedback area is printed.
feedbackhelp
Prints a short synopsis of all the feedback command options.
feedbacksavefile
This option will save information about all existing feedback areas in file. The
information is stored as a collection of Magic commands, so that it can be recovered with
the command sourcefile.
feedbackwhy
Prints out the explanations associated with all feedback areas underneath the box.
filldirection [layers]
Direction is a Manhattan direction (see the section DIRECTIONS below). The paint visible under
one edge of the box is sampled. Everywhere that the edge touches paint, the paint is extended in
the given direction to the opposite side of the box. For example, if direction is north, then
paint is sampled under the bottom edge of the box and extended to the top edge. If layers is
specified, then only the given layers are considered; if layers isn't specified, then all layers
are considered.
findbox [zoom]
Center the view on the box. If the optional zoom argument is present, zoom into the area
specified by the box. This command will complain if the box is not in the window you are pointing
to.
flush [cellname]
Cell cellname is reloaded from disk. All changes made to the cell since it was last saved are
discarded. If cellname is not given, the edit cell is flushed.
garouteoption [args]
This command, with no option or arg, is like the route command: it generates routing in the edit
cell to make connections specified in the current netlist. (See the route command for further
information). Unlike the route command, this command is intended to be used for routing types of
circuits, such as gate-arrays, whose routing channels can be determined in advance, and which
require the ability to river-route across the tops of cells. The channels must have been
predefined using garoutechannel commands prior to this command being invoked. Unlike the route
command, where the box indicates the routing area, this command ignores the box entirely. The new
wires are placed in the edit cell. The netlist used is that selected by the routenetlist
command, or the current netlist being edited in a netlist window if no routenetlist command has
been given. Options and args have the following effects:
garoutechannel [type]
garoutechannelxloyloxhiyhi [type]
Define a channel. If xlo, ylo, xhi, and yhi are provided, they are interpreted as the
coordinates of the lower-left and upper-right of the bounding box for the channel
respectively. Otherwise, the coordinates of the box are used. The boundary of each
channel is adjusted inward to lie halfway between routing grid lines if it does not lie
there already; if the channel is adjusted, a warning message is printed. The channel
defined is an ordinary routing channel if type is not specified; such channels are
identical to those used by the router of the route command. If type is given, it must be
either h or v. The channel thereby created will be a river-routing channel inside which
only left-to-right routes are possible (``h'') or top-to-bottom (``v''). Unlike a normal
channel, a river-routing channel may contain terminals in its interior.
garoutegeneratetype [file]
Provides a primitive form of channel decomposition for regular structures such as gate-
array or standard-cell layouts. Generates a collection of garoutechannel commands, either
to the standard output, or to file if the latter is specified. The type parameter must be
either h or v. The entire area contained within the box is turned into routing channels.
Each cell inside this area has its bounding box computed for purposes of routing by looking
only at those layers considered to be ``obstacles'' to routing (see ``Tutorial #7: Netlists
and Routing'' for details). The bounding box just computed is then extended all the way to
the sides of the area of the box tool, vertically if type is h or horizontally if type is
v. This extended area is then marked as belonging to a river-routing channel of type type;
adjacent channels of this type are merged into a single channel. After all cells are
processed, the areas not marked as being river-routing channels are output as normal
channels.
garoutehelp
Print a short synopsis of all the garoute command options.
garoutenowarn
If a given terminal appears in more than one place inside a cell, the router can leave
feedback if it is not possible to route to all of the places where the terminal appears.
The garoutenowarn command instructs the router to leave feedback only if it is not
possible to route to any of the locations of a terminal. (This is the default behavior of
garoute router).
garouteroute [netlist]
Route the edit cell. If netlist is not specified, the netlist used is the same as when
garoute is given with no options. If netlist is given, then it is used instead.
garoutereset
Clear all channels defined by garoutechannel in preparation for redefining a new set of
channels.
garoutewarn
The opposite of garoutenowarn, this command instructs the router to leave feedback if it
is not possible to route to all of the places where a terminal appears when a terminal has
more than one location, even if not all of those locations are actually selected for
routing by the global router.
getcellcellName [childrefPointC] [parentrefPointP]
This command adds a child cell instance to the edit cell. The instance refers to the cell
cellName; it is positioned so that refPointC in the child is at point refPointP in the edit cell.
The reference points can either be the name of a label, in which case the lower-left corner of the
label's box is used as the reference point, or as a pair of numbers giving the (x, y) coordinates
of a point explicitly. If refPointC is not specified, the lower-left corner of cellName cell is
used. If refPointP is not specified, the lower-left corner of the box tool is used (the box must
be in a window on the edit cell). The new subcell is selected. The difference between this
command and dump is that dump copies the contents of the cell, while getcell simply makes a
reference to the original cell. Cellname must not be the edit cell or one of its ancestors.
getnode [aliason | aliasoff]
getnode [abort [str]]
Getnode prints out the node names (used by the extractor) for all selected paint. If aliasing
turned on, getnode prints all the names it finds for a given node. It may not print every name
that exists, however. When turned off, it just prints one name. The abort option allows the user
to tell getnode that it is not important to completely search nodes that have certain names. For
example, getnodeabortVdd will tell getnode not to continue searching the node if it determines
that one of its names is Vdd. A getnodeabort, without a string argument, will erase the list of
names previously created by calling getnodeabort with string arguments. Getnode can be safely
aborted at any time by typing the interrupt character, usually ^C. See Tutorial#11:UsingIRSIMandRSIMwithMagic for more information on this command.
grid [xSpacing [ySpacing [xOriginyOrigin]]]
gridoff
If no arguments are given, a one-unit grid is toggled on or off in the window underneath the
cursor. Gridoff always turns the grid off, regardless of whether it was on or off previously.
If numerical arguments are given, the arguments determine the grid spacing and origin for the
window under the cursor. In its most general form, grid takes four integer arguments. XOrigin
and yOrigin specify an origin for the grid: horizontal and vertical grid lines will pass through
this point. XSpacing and ySpacing determine the number of units between adjacent grid lines. If
xOrigin and yOrigin are omitted, they default to 0. If ySpacing is also omitted, the xSpacing
value is used for both spacings. Grid parameters will be retained for a window until explicitly
changed by another grid command. When the grid is displayed, a solid box is drawn to show the
origin of the edit cell.
identifyinstance_id
Set the instance identifier of the selected cell use to instance_id. Instance_id must be unique
among all instance identifiers in the parent of the selected cell. Initially, Magic guarantees
uniqueness of identifiers by giving each cell an initial identifier consisting of the cell
definition name followed by an underscore and a small integer.
iroutesubcommand [args]
This command provides an interactive interface to the Magic maze-router. Routing is done one
connection at a time. Three internal hint layers, magnet, fence, and rotate, allow the user to
guide routing graphically. Routes are chosen close to magnets (if possible), routing does not
cross fence boundaries, and rotate areas reverse the preferred routing directions for each layer.
The maze-router seeks to find a lowest-cost path. Parameters specifying costs for horizontal and
vertical routing on each layer, cost for jogs and contacts, and cost (per unit area) for distance
between a path and magnets, help determine the nature of the routes. Several search parameters
permit tuning to achieve acceptable routes in as short a time as possible. Routing can always be
interrupted with ^C. The iroute subcommands are as follows:
iroute Routes from cursor to inside box.
iroutecontact [type] [parameter] [value1] ... [valuen]
An asterisk, *, can be used for type and parameter. This command is for setting and
examining parameters related to contacts.
iroutehelp [subcommand]
Summarizes irouter commands. If a subcommand is given, usage information for that
subcommand is printed.
iroutelayers [type] [parameter] [value1] ... [valuen]
An asterisk, *, can be used for type and parameter. This command is for setting and
examining parameters related to route layers.
irouteroute [options]
Invokes the router. Options are as follows:
-sLayerslayers = layers route may start on
-sCursor = start route at cursor (DEFAULT)
-sLabelname = start route at label of given name
-sPointxy = start route at given coordinates
-dLayerslayers = layers route may end on
-dBox = route to box (DEFAULT)
-dLabelname = route to label of given name
-dRectxbotybotxtopytop = route to rectangle of given coordinates
-dSelection=routetoselectioniroutesaveParameters <filename>
Saves all current irouter parameter settings. The parameters can be restored to these
values with the command ``sourcefilename''.
iroutesearch [searchParameter] [value]
Allows parameters controlling the search to be modified. If routing is too slow try
increasing rate. If the router is producing bad results, try reducing rate. Its a good
idea to make width at least twice as big as rate.
iroutespacings [route-type] [type] [spacing] ... [typenspacingn]
Default minimum spacings between a route-type placed by the router and other types are
derived from the drc section of the technology file. The defaults can be overridden by
this command. The special type SUBCELL is used to specify minimum spacing to unexpanded
subcells.
irouteverbosity [level]
Controls the number of messages printed during routing:
0 = errors and warnings only,
1 = brief,
2 = lots of statistics.
irouteversion
Prints irouter version information.
iroutewizard [wizardparameter] [value]
Used to examine and set miscellaneous parameters. Most of these are best left alone by the
unadventurous user.
labelstring [pos [layer]]
A label with text string is positioned at the box location. Labels may cover points, lines, or
areas, and are associated with specific layers. Normally the box is collapsed to either a point
or to a line (when labeling terminals on the edges of cells). Normally also, the area under the
box is occupied by a single layer. If no layer argument is specified, then the label is attached
to the layer under the box, or space if no layer covers the entire area of the box. If layer is
specified but layer doesn't cover the entire area of the box, the label will be moved to another
layer or space. Labels attached to space will be considered by CIF processing programs to be
attached to all layers overlapping the area of the label. Pos is optional, and specifies where
the label text is to be displayed relative to the box (e.g. ``north''). If pos isn't given, Magic
will pick a position to ensure that the label text doesn't stick out past the edge of the cell.
layers Prints out the names of all the layers defined for the current technology.
load [file]
Load the cell hierarchy rooted at file.mag into the window underneath the cursor. If no file is
supplied, a new unnamed cell is created. The root cell of the hierarchy is made the edit cell
unless there is already an edit cell in a different window.
move [direction [amount]]
movetoxy
If no arguments are given, the selection is picked up by the point underneath the lower-left
corner of the box and moved so that this point lies at the cursor location. If direction is
given, it must be a Manhattan direction (e.g. north). The selection is moved in that direction by
amount. If the box is in the same window as the selection, it is moved too. Amount defaults to
1. Selected material that is not in the edit cell, is not affected. The second form of the
command is as though the cursor were pointing to (x,y) in the edit cell; the selection is picked
up by the point beneath the lower-left corner of the box and moved so that this point lies at
(x, y).
paintlayers
The area underneath the box is painted in layers.
path [searchpath]
This command tells Magic where to look for cells. Searchpath contains a list of directories
separated by colons or spaces (if spaces are used, then searchpath must be surrounded by quotes).
When looking for a cell, Magic will check each directory in the path in order, until the cell is
found. If the cell is not found anywhere in the path, Magic will look in the system library for
it. If the path command is invoked with no arguments, the current search path is printed.
plotoption [args]
Used to generate hardcopy plots direct from Magic. Options and args are used in the following
ways:
plotgremlinfile [layers]
Generate a Gremlin-format description of everything under the box, and write the
description in file. If layers isn't specified, paint, labels, and unexpanded subcells are
all included in the Gremlin file just as they appear on the screen. If layers is
specified, then just the indicated layers are output in the Gremlin file. Layers may
include the special layers labels and subcell. The Gremlin file is scaled to have a total
size between 256 and 512 units; you should use the width and/or height Grn commands to
ensure that the printed version is the size you want. Use the mg stipples in Grn. No plot
parameters are used in Gremlin plotting.
plothelp
Print a short synopsis of all the plot command options.
plotparameters[namevalue]
If plotparameters is invoked with no additional arguments, the values for all of the plot
parameters are printed. If name and value are provided, then name is the name of a plot
parameter and value is a new value for it. Plot parameters are used to control various
aspects of plotting; all of them have ``reasonable'' initial values. Most of the
parameters available now are used to control Versatec-style plotting. They are:
cellIdFont
The name of the font to use for cell instance ids in Versatec plots. This must be a
file in Vfont format.
cellNameFont
The name of the font to use for cell names in Versatec plots. This must be a file
in Vfont format.
color If this is set to true, the :plotversatec command will generate output suitable for
a four-color Versatec plotter, using the styles defined in the colorversatec style
of the plot section of the technology file. If color is false (the default), then
:plotversatec generates normal black-and-white plots.
directory
The name of the directory in which to create raster files for the Versatec. The
raster files have names of the form magicPlotXXXXXX, where XXXXXX is a process-
specific identifier.
dotsPerInch
Indicates how many dots per inch there are on the Versatec printer. This parameter
is used only for computing the scale factor for plotting. Must be an integer
greater than zero.
labelFont
The name of the font to use for labels in Versatec plots. This must be a file in
Vfont format.
printer
The name of the printer to which to spool Versatec raster files.
showcellnames
If ``true'' (the default) then the name and instance-identifier of each unexpanded
subcell is displayed inside its bounding box. If this parameter is ``false'' then
only the bounding box of the cell is displayed.
spoolCommand
The command used to spool Versatec raster files. This must be a text string
containing two ``%s'' formatting fields. The first ``%s'' will be replaced with the
printer name, and the second one will be replaced with the name of the raster file.
swathHeight
How many raster lines of Versatec output to generate in memory at one time. The
raster file is generated in swaths in order to keep the memory requirements
reasonable. This parameter determines the size of the swaths. It must be an
integer greater than zero, and should be a multiple of 16 in order to avoid
misalignment of stipple patterns.
width The number of pixels across the Versatec printer. Must be an integer greater than
0, and must be an even multiple of 32.
plotversatec [size [layers]]
Generate a raster file describing all the the information underneath the box in a format
suitable for printing on Versatec black-and-white or color printers, and spool the file for
printing. See the plot parameters above for information about the parameters that are used
to control Versatec plotting. Size is used to scale the plot: a scalefactor is chosen so
that the area of the box is size inches across on the printed page. Size defaults to the
width of the printer. Layers selects which layers (including labels and subcells) to plot;
it defaults to everything visible on the screen.
plowdirection [layers]
plowoption [args]
The first form of this command invokes the plowing operation to stretch and/or compact a cell.
Direction is a Manhattan direction. Layers is an optional collection of mask layers, which
defaults to *. One of the edges of the box is treated as a plow and dragged to the opposite edge
of the box (e.g. the left edge is used as the plow when plowright is invoked). All edges on
layers that lie in the plow's path are pushed ahead of it, and they push other edges ahead of them
to maintain design rules, connectivity, and transistor and contact sizes. Subcells are moved in
their entirety without being modified internally. Any mask information overlapping a subcell
moved by plowing is also moved by the same amount. Option and args are used in the following
ways:
plowboundary
The box specifies the area that may be modified by plowing. This area is highlighted with
a pale stipple outline. Subsequent plows are not allowed to modify any area outside that
specified by the box; if they do, the distance the plow moves is reduced by an amount
sufficient to insure that no geometry outside the boundary gets affected.
plowhelp
Prints a short synopsis of all the plow command options.
plowhorizonnplowhorizon
The first form sets the plowing jog horizon to n units. The second form simply prints the
value of the jog horizon. Every time plowing considers introducing a jog in a piece of
material, it looks up and down that piece of material for a distance equal to the jog
horizon. If it finds an existing jog within this distance, it uses it. Only if no jog is
found within the jog horizon does plowing introduce one of its own. A jog horizon of zero
means that plowing will always introduce new jogs where needed. A jog horizon of infinity
(plownojogs) means that plowing will not introduce any new jogs of its own.
plowjogs
Re-enable jog insertion with a horizon of 0. This command is equivalent to plowhorizon0.
plownoboundary
Remove any boundary specified with a previous plowboundary command.
plownojogs
Sets the jog horizon to infinity. This means that plowing will not introduce any jogs of
its own; it will only use existing ones.
plownostraighten
Don't straighten jogs automatically after each plow operation.
plowselection [direction [distance]]
Like the move or stretch commands, this moves all the material in the selection that
belongs to the edit cell. However, any material not in the selection is pushed out of its
way, just as though each piece of the selection were plowed individually. If no arguments
are given, the selection is picked up by the point underneath the lower-left corner of the
box and plowed so that this point lies at the cursor location. The box is moved along with
the selection. If direction is given, it must be a Manhattan direction (e.g. north). The
selection is moved in that direction by amount. If the box is in the same window as the
selection, it is moved too. Amount defaults to 1. If there is selected material that
isn't in the edit cell, it is ignored (note that this is different from select and move).
If direction isn't given and the cursor isn't exactly left, right, up, or down from the box
corner, then Magic first rounds the cursor position off to a position that is one of those
(whichever is closest).
plowstraighten
Straighten jogs automatically after each plow operation. The effect will be as though the
straighten command were invoked after each plow operation, with the same direction, and
over the area changed by plowing.
resistcell [tolerance]
This command is similar to extresist above, but used for extracting resistance networks for
individual nodes. Only the node underneath the box is processed. The network for this node is
output to the file cell.res.ext. See the description for extresist for an explanation of
tolerance.
routeoption [args]
This command, with no option or arg, is used to generate routing using the Magic router in the
edit cell to make connections specified in the current netlist. The box is used to indicate the
routing area: no routing will be placed outside the area of the box. The new wires are placed in
the edit cell. Options and args have the following effects:
routeend [real]
Print the value of the channel end constant used by the channel router. If a value is
supplied, the channel end constant is set to that value. The channel end constant is a
dimensionless multiplier used to compute how far from the end of a channel to begin
preparations to make end connections.
routehelp
Print a short synopsis of all the route command options.
routejog [int]
Print the value of the minimum jog length used by the channel router. If a value is
supplied, the minimum jog length is set to that value. The channel router makes no
vertical jogs shorter than the minimum jog length, measured in router grid units. Higher
values for this constant may improve the quality of the routing by removing unnecessary
jogs; however, prohibiting short jogs may make some channels unroutable.
routemetal
Toggle metal maximization on or off. The route command routes the preferred routing layer
(termed ``metal'') horizontally and the alternate routing layer vertically. By default
wires on the alternate routing layer are then converted, as much as possible, to the
preferred layer before being painted into the layout. Enabling metal maximization improves
the quality of the resulting routing, since the preferred routing layer generally has
better electrical characteristics; however, designers wishing to do hand routing after
automatic routing may find it easier to disable metal maximization and deal with a layer-
per-direction layout.
routenetlist [file]
Print the name of the current netlist. If a file name is specified, it is opened if
possible, and the new netlist is loaded. This option is provided primarily as a
convenience so you need not open the netlist menu before routing.
routeobstacle [real]
Print the obstacle constant used by the channel router. If a value is supplied, set the
channel router obstacle constant to that value. The obstacle constant is a dimensionless
multiplier used in deciding how far in front of an obstacle the channel router should begin
jogging nets out of the way. Larger values mean that nets will jog out of the way earlier;
however, if nets jog out of the way too early routing area is wasted.
routeorigin [xy]
Print the x- and y-coordinates of the origin of the routing grid. By default, the routing
grid starts from (0,0). However, by supplying an x and y coordinate to the routeorigin
command, the origin can be set to any other value. This command is primarily useful when
routing a chip that has been designed with routing on the same pitch as the router will
use, but where the left and bottom edges of the pre-existing routing don't line up with the
routing grid lines (for example, the pre-existing routing might have been centered on
routing grid lines). The alternative to specifying a different origin for the routing grid
would be to translate all the material in the cell to be routed so that the prewiring lined
up properly with routing grid lines.
routesettings
Print the values of all router parameters.
routesteady [int]
Print the value of the channel router's steady net constant. If a value is supplied, set
the steady net constant to the value. The steady net constant, measured in router grid
units, specifies how far beyond the next terminal the channel router should look for a
conflicting terminal before deciding that a net is rising or falling. Larger values mean
that the net rises and falls less often.
routetech
Print the router technology information. This includes information such as the names of
the preferred and alternate routing layers, their wire widths, the router grid spacing, and
the contact size.
routeviamin
Minimize vias in (previously) routed netlist. This subcommand removes unnecessary layer
changes in all nets in the current netlist to minimize via count. The preferred routing
layer, layer1 in the router section of the technology file, is favored by the algorithm.
Note that ``routeviamin'' is an independent routing postpass that can be applied even if
the routing was not generated by the route command, provided the layers and widths agree
with the router section of the technology file.
routevias [int]
Print the value of the metal maximization via constant. If a value is supplied, set the
via constant to the value. The via constant, measured in router grid units, represents the
tradeoff between metal maximization and the via count. In many cases it is possible to
convert wiring on the alternate routing layer into routing on the preferred routing layer
(``metal'') at the expense of introducing one or two vias. The via constant specifies the
amount of converted wiring that makes it worthwhile to add vias to the routing.
rsim [options] [filename]
Runs rsim under Magic. See Tutorial#11:UsingIRSIMandRSIMwithMagic for more information on
what options and files are required by rsim. Normally, IRSIM requires a parameter file for the
technology and a .sim file describing the circuit.
The rsim command without any options can be used to interact with a previously-started rsim. Type
rsim and you will see the rsim prompt. To get back to magic, type q.
save [name]
Save the edit cell on disk. If the edit cell is currently the ``(UNNAMED)'' cell, name must be
specified; in this case the edit cell is renamed to name as well as being saved in the file
name.mag. Otherwise, name is optional. If specified, the edit cell is saved in the file
name.mag; otherwise, it is saved in the file from which it was originally read.
seeoption
This command is used to control which layers are to be displayed in the window under the cursor.
It has several forms:
seenolayers
Do not display the given layers in the window under the cursor. If labels is given as a
layer name, don't display labels in that window either. If errors is given as a layer, no
design-rule violations will be displayed (the checker will continue to run, though). If
layers is given as "*", all mask layers will be disabled, but errors and labels will still
be shown. See the "LAYERS" section at the end of this manual page for an explanation of
layer naming in Magic.
seelayers
Reenable display of the given layers. Note that "*" expands to all mask layers, but does
not include the label or error layers. See the "LAYERS" section at the end of this manual
page for details.
seeno Don't display any mask layers or labels. Only subcell bounding boxes will be displayed.
see Reenable display of all mask layers, labels, and errors.
seeallSame
Display all cells the same way. This disables the facility where the edit cell is
displayed in bright colors and non-edit cells are in paler colors. After seeallSame, all
mask information will be displayed in bright colors.
seenoallSame
Reenable the facility where non-edit cells are drawn in paler colors.
selectoption
This command is used to select paint, labels, and subcells before operating on them with commands
like move and copy and delete. It has several forms:
select If the cursor is over empty space, then this command is identical to selectcell.
Otherwise, paint is selected. The first time the command is invoked, a chunk of paint is
selected: the largest rectangular area of material of the same type visible underneath the
cursor. If the command is invoked again without moving the cursor, the selection is
extended to include all material of the same type, regardless of shape. If the command is
invoked a third time, the selection is extended again to include all material that is
visible and electrically connected to the point underneath the cursor.
selectmore
This command is identical to select except that the selection is not first cleared. The
result is to add the newly-selected material to what is already in the selection.
selectless
This chooses material just as select does, but the material is removed from the selection,
rather than added to it. The result is to deselect the chosen material.
select [more | less] arealayers
Select material by area. If layers are not specified, then all paint, labels, and
unexpanded subcells visible underneath the box are selected. If layers is specified, then
only those layers are selected. If more is specified, the new material is added to the
current selection rather than replacing it. If less is specified, the new material is
removed from the selection (deselected).
select [more | less] cellname
Select a subcell. If name isn't given, this command finds a subcell that is visible
underneath the cursor and selects it. If the command is repeated without moving the cursor
then it will step through all the subcells under the cursor. If name is given, it is
treated as a hierarchical instance identifier starting from the root of the window
underneath the cursor. The named cell is selected. If more is specified, the new subcell
is added to the current selection instead of replacing it. If less is specified, the new
subcell is removed from the selection (deselected).
selectclear
Clear out the selection. This does not affect the layout; it merely deselects everything.
selecthelp
Print a short synopsis of the selection commands.
selectsavecell
Save all the information in the selection as a Magic cell on disk. The selection will be
saved in file cell.mag.
selectandtheseecommand
Select interacts with the see command. When selecting individual pieces of material, only
visible layers are candidates for selection. When selecting an entire area, however, both
visible and non-visible material is selected. This behavior allows entire regions of
material to be moved, even if see has been used to turn off the display of some of the
layers.
sideways
Flip the selection left-to-right about a vertical axis running through the center of the
selection's area. If the box is in the same window as the selection, it is flipped too. Selected
material not in the edit cell is not affected.
simcmdcmd
Sends the command cmd to rsim for execution. See Tutorial#11:UsingIRSIMandRSIMwithMagic
for more information.
snap [on]
snap [off]
Control whether the box and point are snapped to the grid selected for the windows in which they
appear (the grid was set by the grid command), or to the standard 1x1 grid. The default is for
snapping to be off, i.e., snapping to a 1x1 grid. With no arguments, snap prints whether snapping
is enabled or not.
startrsim [options] [filename]
Similar to the rsim command, except it returns to Magic as soon as rsim is started. See Tutorial#11:UsingIRSIMandRSIMwithMagic for more information.
straightendirection
Straighten jogs in wires underneath the box by pulling them in direction. Jogs are only
straightened if doing so will cause no additional geometry to move.
stretch [direction [amount]]
This command is identical to move except that simple stretching occurs as the selection is moved.
Each piece of paint in the selection causes the area through which it's moved to be erased in that
layer. Also, each piece of paint in the selection that touches unselected material along its back
side causes extra material to be painted to fill in the gap left by the move. If direction isn't
given and the cursor isn't exactly left, right, up, or down from the box corner, then Magic first
rounds the cursor position off to a position that is one of those (whichever is closest).
tool [name | info]
Change the current tool. The result is that the cursor shape is different and the mouse buttons
mean different things. The command toolinfo prints out the meanings of the buttons for the
current tool. Toolname changes the current tool to name, where name is one of box, wiring, or
netlist. If tool is invoked with no arguments, it picks a new tool in circular sequence:
multiple invocations will cycle through all of the available tools.
unexpand
Unexpand all cells that touch the box but don't completely contain it.
upsidedown
Flip the selection upside down about a horizontal axis running through the center of the
selection's area. If the box is in the same window as the selection then it is flipped too.
Selected material that is not in the edit cell is not changed.
what Print out information about all the things that are selected.
wireoption [args]
This command provides a centerline-wiring style user interface. Option and args specify a
particular wiring option, as described below. Some of the options can be invoked via mouse
buttons when the wiring tool is active.
wirehelp
Print out a synopsis of the various wiring commands.
wirehorizontal
Just like wireleg except that the new segment is forced to be horizontal.
wireleg
Paint a horizontal or vertical segment of wire from one side of the box over to the
cursor's x- or y-location (respectively). The direction (horizontal or vertical) is chosen
so as to produce the longest possible segment. The segment is painted in the current
wiring material and thickness. The new segment is selected, and the box is placed at its
tip.
wireswitch[layerwidth]
Switch routing layers and place a contact at the box location. The contact type is chosen
to connect the old and new routing materials. The box is placed at the position of the
contact, and the contact is selected. If layer and width are specified, they are used as
the new routing material and width, respectively. If they are not specified, the new
material and width are chosen to correspond to the material underneath the cursor.
wiretype[layerwidth]
Pick a material and width for wiring. If layer and width are not given, then they are
chosen from the material underneath the cursor, a square chunk of material is selected to
indicate the layer and width that were chosen, and the box is placed over this chunk. If
layer and width are given, then this command does not modify the box position.
wirevertical
Just like wireleg except that the new segment is forced to be vertical.
writeall [force]
This command steps through all the cells that have been modified in this edit session and gives
you a chance to write them out. If the force option is specified, then ``autowrite'' mode is
used: all modified cells are automatically written without asking for permission.
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