This is a new Linux 64 bit release. The Linux version only supports command line execution. The Windows version includes the GUI and engine.
With this version both gdsfilt and xgdsfilt are now wrapper scripts so that LD_LIBRARY_PATH points to the required libraries which are also included with the release. The original gdsfilt and xgdsfilt binaries are now renamed to gdsfilt.exe and xgdsfilt.exe during installation.
Linux CompatibilityThis version was tested successfully on the following:
Fixed an issue where gscan reported wrong extents for top cell.
LicensingThis package contains an updated installer, shell, gscan and gdsfilt engine. This package will *not* run nodelocked on a non eth0 interface. Running CheckFlexVer yields
centos771:tester: $ /SUN2/LINUX/cad_util/CheckFlexVer
The following files ARE FLEX enabled
gdsfilt v11.3.0.0 gdsplt v11.3.0.0 liseater v11.13.1.2 xgdsfilt v11.13.1.2 xgdsvu v11.3.0.0 xPreview v11.3.0.0
Fixed an issue where gscan reported wrong extents for top cell.
Added a new feature which allows the user to remove specific cell names in the output file when using the -remove command line option. The -remove option now supports regular expressions instead of DOS wildcard characters. This feature was added specifically to remove a large number of cells containing dummy metal fill in order to reduce the file size.
A example of removing dummy metal cells using the -remove function is shown here.
Added a new feature which allows the user to define the top cell name in the output file when using the -explode command line option.
The new command line usage is as follows:
-explode create TOP as the
output top structure
(as before)
OR
-explode:new_top_structure_name creates new_top_structure_name
as the output top structure
The cell rename function created corrupt GDSII file when it encountered text strings with over 256 characters. This has been fixed.
corrected some problems handling large files.
Explodingcorrected a flow problem (Unix/Linux) that occured when exploding files.
GDSFILT had a rounding error of 1nm when exploding arrays. This version fixes the problem.
This version is fixes a crash problem when the PATH (environmental variable) was longer than 1024 characters.
New -remove option to remove structuresThis version has a new -remove command line option which allows the user to remove specific cell names from the file.
This version is equivalent to previous releases of GDSFILT with the exception that the GDSXPLODE module now preserves DATATYPES during explosion. Previously all DATATYPES were mapped to "0" in the output.
Major revisions to the GDSFILT code.
Major revisions to GDSFILT were made in response to customer feedback. In particular, users are processing very large GDSII files through gdsfilt requiring in some cases 64 bit hardware. Speed has become a very significant issue. Also, many users are building their final GDSII tape out file using the blend mode -- this mode ran very slow as it had never been tested with very large files.
revised GSCAN ModuleThe GSCAN (GDSII scanning module) has been speeded up and a memory allocation problem seen in earlier versions has been corrected. (Reported by Applied Materials)
Blend Mode Speeded UpIn response to customer requests the blend mode has been greatly optimized and speeded up. For example, blending of a 4GB (approx. 1500 structures) and a 2GB (approx. 1000 structures) file on a 1.7GHz CPU now takes just 10 minutes where previously this required several hours. (reported by ATI and by 3DLabs)
Shared Library Problem ResolvedThe shared libraries issue has been resolved. (reported by Intel)
This version includes the latest gscan which is parallel safe - you can run it on different files and at the same time on the same workstation.
Blend option was dropping dataThis has ben fixed.
Flexlm licensing issues under Linuxgdsfilt would crash when running on Linux with Flexlm. This has been fixed. Current version was tested successfully on Red Hat 7.2, 9.0, and Enterprise WS 3.
This version is now now synched on all platforms with Flexlm. Several Motif issues were fixed in the shell. Added HPUX 64 bit support.
This version supports the Globetrotter FLEXlm license manager. Requires that you run lmgrd 8.1 or newer.
The new version includes the new installation which makes life much easier for the user.
Files over 2GBEven though the program is still 32 bit, it is able to process files that are up to 4-5GB.
This version has a floating point diagnostic tool. We've added a -fpchk:N
command line argument. See what
gdsfilt -h
returns. The new option emits information regarding FP data encountered
in HEADER, SREF, AREF and TEXT entities. These entities contain FP data
per the following table:
GDSII ENTITY FP VALUE(S) OPTIONAL DEFAULT
HEADER user unit
database unit
SREF, AREF insertion MAGnitude YES 1.0
ANGLE YES 0.0
TEXT MAGnitude YES 1.0
ANGLE YES 0.0
The :N in -fpchk is optional. If specified gdsfilt checks for FP data
associated only with the desired entities by ORing the following values
1 HEADER information
2 SREF, AREF data
4 TEXT data
Option Value Info Output
-fpchk:1 HEADER
-fpchk:2 REF
-fpchk:3 HEADER and REF
-fpchk:4 TEXT
-fpchk:5 HEADER and TEXT
-fpchk:6 REF and TEXT
-fpchk:7 HEADER and REF and TEXT
NOTE: -fpchk and -fpchk:7 are equivalent
-fpchk option will tabulate all unique FP values, and output counts and
the exact binary image for each, as well as flag an un-normalized numbers.
The information collected regarding FP numbers is NOT reset when a new
file is input, i.e. as the result of a -merge or -add.
A sample output follows:
FP values for HEADER and REF and TEXT data:
Count Value
1 0.01
1 2.54e-07
4 0.99999995886464
1 1.5950381620042e-85
1 0.99999995886464
1 1.5950381632027e-85
MAG values
Value Image
0.01 00111111.00101000.11110101.11000010.10001111.01011100.00101000.11110110
2.54e-07 00111011.01000100.00101110.10111111.01000001.01011010.00100011.10100011
1 01000000.11111111.11111111.11111111.01001111.01010011.00110000.00110001
1.54e-85 00000000.00000000.00000000.00000000.01001111.01010011.00110000.00110001
^^^^
|
|___ un-normalized floating point number
1 01000000.11111111.11111111.11111111.01001111.01010011.00110000.00110010
1.54e-85 00000000.00000000.00000000.00000000.01001111.01010011.00110000.00110010
^^^^
|
|___ un-normalized floating point number
Finally, the -fpchk command line option can be used in conjunction with
ANY gdsfilt operation, but for purposes of gleaning FP information you
might want to run gdsfilt in the most simplistic way and specify that
the output file be "/dev/null", i.e.
gdsfilt TEST.gds /dev/null = -fpchk:7
You will want to refer to TEST.log.
This version supports cell names longer than 32 characters.
New feature is added for Combine Mode where for each file to combine, users can specify the structure in the file to insert to the output and the insertion point to insert to.
Drop Boundary Segments Shorter ThanNew feature to drop boundary segments shorter than a user specified value.
Output Text OnlyNew feature to explode all text only into the output file.
Polygon Filtering No TextIn previous versions, all text are dropped if polygon filtering is turned on. The feature to keep text under polygon filtering is added in this version.
New HostID LockingThis version applies the new HostID locking scheme without the need for special system network setup.
This function requires a license for product ID 5336.
Translation ProgressBetter progress reporting. The polygon filtering process has 3 passes:
If TEXT Mag was not explicitly set, i.e. (takes on default of MAG = 1.0), then the corresponding TEXT entity was not filtered by size.
Default Output File Name
Default GDS output file name is "inputfile_out.gds" in the working directory.
Maximum Number of Structures
New limit is raised from 8192 to 32768. Older versions would just crash
when the input file has more than 8192 structures.
Combine Function
Added combine function for merge and add for users to specify a new top structure
in the output which refers to the top structures of the files to add or merge.
Trimming Speed Up
Trimming is speeded up up to 10x +.
This version added an explode function to flatten the GDS file.
Specifying a New Top StructureAdded -combine option to the engine, gdsfilt, which allows users to combine (merge and add) structures with a new top structure referring to the top structures in the input files. Refer to gdsfilt -h for more information.
LicensingUpdated the licensing to support the new 7x7 ACS.KEY file codes.
Incorporated the new LSERV4 license manager; program is now Y2K compatible.
Major GUI RevisionMajor facelift with all other motif standard dialogs added to xgdsfilt.
XGDSVU Viewer LinkageThis version now ships with Artwork's GDSII viewer, Xgdsvu. Xgdsvu and Xgdsfilt are keyed separately during the installation, so Xgdsvu requires it's own license.
Added Layer and Datatype MappingLayer numbers and datatype numbers can be mapped to different values in the output file using the interface provided. Requested by multiple customers who wanted to do filtering by datatype.
Merge/Add/Blend Two GDSII FilesXgdsfilt provides a new feature to merge/add/blend 2 or more GDS files together. A user interface is available for selecting the way the two files are combined.
Text TranslationAdded text control to omit text greater than a certain size.
Released a version of GDSFILT designed for Windows 95/NT. This is a full Windows GUI implementation of GDSFILT.
Corrected a bug that occurred when the GDSII file contained more than one top level structure names where the first 8 or more characters were identical.