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Instance a cell

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New cell

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L-Edit 16/2020 Changes

L-Edit version 16 and up introduces several UI changes from previous versions of L-Edit. CNF IT has worked with Tanner support to document and work around these changes as best as possible.

Layer List

No longer a standalone UI panel, the list of layers is now combined with the list of cells in the open design file. This UI panel contains two tabs: Libraries and Layer Palette. For new design files, the default is to display the list of cells and not the list of layers. To see the usual list of layers, click the Layer Palette tab.

New Database File Type

L-Edit 16 and up supports a second database file type called OpenAccess. As a result, L-Edit 16 does not automatically read in the CNF defaults file (ledit.tdb) and does not start with a new cell in a new design file, ready for the user to begin drawing. To work around this problem, one can first open the CNF ledit.tdb file. See below for more information.

CNF Files Locations

These directories includes the ledit.tdb file .

Windows

c:\Program Files\MentorGraphics\cnf

Linux

/usr/local/cnf/ledit

Other Linux File Locations

On linux, in the file dialogue you can type in windows equivalent drive letters 'W:' and 'V:' to access your home folder or the lab transfer share.

DO NOT attempt to browse into the top level "/afs" folder. This will lock up L-Edit.

Starting L-Edit and Opening ledit.tdb

On the CNF conversion computers, Korat and Minx, type in: ledit . (DO NOT attempt to run more than one copy of LEdit at the same time).

Use File - Open to open ledit.tdb from the CNF Files Location mentioned above.

This file is a system file and cannot be updated by users. So, upon starting L-Edit, users will receive the following error message:


File "...ledit.tdb" can be opened only for reading. Changes to it cannot be saved.

Do you want to open it as Read-Only?

Answer Yes. If users answer "No", L-Edit will not load the CNF default settings and will not start with a new Cell in which to draw.


When saving the design file for the first time, users will choose Save As from the File menu. In the Save dialog box, users will then need to browse to a location to save the ledit TDB file. In the Linux version of L-Edit, this will be My Computer - W: and then some subfolder of the AFS home folder.

New TDB (Design) File

After creating a new TDB design file, you will not get a new cell in which to draw (this would appear to be a bug in L-Edit). Users can instantiate a new cell by either:

  1. Cell menu → New
  2. Right click in the Libraries UI and choose New

In both cases, the cell name will default to Cell1 and not Cell0. But, users can simply choose to name the new cell Cell0 if so desired.

File → New

  1. Make sure any currently open design files are saved under a unique name.
  2. File menu
  3. New
  4. Design
  5. TDB (single-user, single file)
  6. Select to browse to a location to save the new TDB file and give the file a name. L-Edit will complain if this dialog is not filled in with a full path to the TDB file.
  7. Technology Reference drop box
    1. TDB
    2. from the lower droplist, choose one of the paths containing ledit.tdb.
  8. Click OK

Unlike when freshly starting L-Edit, users will not get a new cell in which to draw (this would appear to be a bug in L-Edit). Users can instantiate a new cell by either:

  1. Cell menu → New
  2. Right click in the Libraries UI and choose New

In both cases, the cell name will default to Cell1 and not Cell0. But, users can simply choose to name the new cell Cell0 if so desired.

Instantiating a Cell from an External Library

CNF Libraries are located in /usr/local/cnf/ledit (Linux) .

Unlike the Windows v15 version of LEdit, the window for instantiating a new cell does not allow you to select a library file. The dropdown only allows selection of existing libraries. 

  1. Right click in the top pane of the "Libraries" window.
  2. Choose "Add/Remove Libraries"

OR

  1. Setup menu → Design
  2. Libraries tab

Now that you are in the Libraries tab:

  1. Click the column in the first blank row under "Path". That will highlight that cell.
  2. Click the 3 dots to the right of the cell.
  3. That opens the "Choose File" window.
  4. Browse to the .tdb file containing your library of cells. – CNF cells are in /usr/local/cnf/ledit
  5. Click OK
  6. Click OK again
  7. The new Library will now show in the "Libraries" window. And highlighting that library will show cells contained in that library.
  8. To make an instance of a cell, right-click on the cell name in the middle pane of the "Libraries" window and pick Instance.

Viewing Multiple Cells Simultaneously

This is a preference item you can set.

Setup → Application

For "When opening a view of a cell" select "Open a new window" instead of the default "Reuse the active window".

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