L-Edit 16 Changes

L-Edit version 16 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 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, CNF IT has updated the shortcuts for starting L-Edit. But, there are still side effects.

Starting L-Edit

The L-Edit shortcut now points directly to the CNF defaults file, ledit.tdb. 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?

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 - Z: - afs - cnf.cornell.edu - home - users - username and then some subfolder of the AFS home folder.

New TDB (Design) File

Re-start L-Edit

The best way to start a brand new L-Edit design file is to close and re-open L-Edit. Closing and re-opening L-Edit will reload the CNF defaults and start the user with a fresh cell in which to draw.

CreateNewTDBFile

With the help of Tanner technical support, CNF IT has installed a macro file to assist with the steps of creating a new TDB design file with the CNF defaults from ledit.tdb.

1. Make sure any currently open design files are saved under a unique name.
2. Tools menu
3. Macro submenu
4. Highlight CreateNewTDBFile
5. Click Run
6. Users will then receive the same Read-Only file error as when starting L-Edit. Users should again click Yes to open the ledit.tdb file as Read-Only.

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.

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... this will most likely be something like "Z:\usr\local\tanner\tannereda\tools\ledit.tdb" on Linux or "C:\Program Files\Tanner EDA\Tools\ledit.tdb" on Windows.
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.