This page contains the summary of OASIS to Gerber release dates, versions and changes/fixes made for that release.
Execution path length was increased to 220 characters.
Updated to a later version of Installshield.
Hasp Key SupportAdded support to HASP USB keys for our OEM partners.
Updated Boolean LibraryUpdated the Boolean library to Artwork's latest version.
MS VS 2015 64 bitBuilt using Microsoft's Visual Studio 2015 (previous versions built using VS 2008)
Enhanced logging with full report of errors / warnings arising from Boolean operations on polygons. If polygons are dropped, error counts are reported in the log file and the program returns with the exit code 9.
-revalidate argument obsoleteNo need to use -revalidate anymore. This command-line option has no effect and is obsolete.
built using MS VS2015Build with Visual Studio 2015. Previous versions built with VS2008. This requires that the MS C++ Redistributibles 2015 are installed on Windows.
In -mode:speed, the computation of the optimal nesting level for finding repeating patterns has been re-engineered resulting in better analysis and much improved performance in certain cases. Each nesting level is assigned an 'optimality score' (0.0 - 142.0) and the nesting level with the *LOWEST* score is selected. If the best available score > 50.0, the application switches to -mode:compact as the data hierarchy is assumed to be insufficient for generation of compact gerber. One can see the computed nesting level and it's score on stdout (if -silent is not used) or in the log file (if -log is used).
Speed ModeIn marginal cases (when the optimality score is just less then 50.0), one can force the application to work with the best available nesting level in speed mode instead of reverting to compact mode. To do this, use -mode:speed=[level] where [level] != 0 and [level] was presented as the best available nesting level. For flat files, the optimal nesting level is 0 with a score of 142.0 and -mode:compact is the only solution.
This version fixes an issue with the circularizing code.
This version fixes some problems related to processing files that have units other than micron.
This version enables the user to override the defaults on the Gerber output format statement. For files in inches the default is 2.6; for files in mm the default is 3.5. We believe these to be the optimum settings for microelectronic work.
Some users may have reasons for needing different a different Gerber format. They are able to use the command line argument: -format:MN where M is the number of digits to the left of the decimal and N is the number to the right of the decimal point.
ExampleIf a user wanted the Gerber to be 3.6 they would use -format:36 on the command line.
Note - that this does not really increase the precision of the output data by a factor of 10. Precision is determined first by the program's internal database and computations - only then by the format used to write out the Gerber data. The program does not check to validate that the data extents matches the Gerber format set by the user.
e.g -format:36 implies 3 places before decimal point and 6 places after for co-ordinate values.
Default (if not specified) is -format:35
Fix to hierarchy extractor
previous version encountered a file that it incorrectly determined the hierarchy of the layout.
program ported to Linux (64) for end user. Plan is to use it on Amazon AWS multi-CPU virtual machines to speed up the conversion time.
Windows 64 updated after feedback from end user. There will be no more updates for the 32 bit version.
This version further improves the quality of the output polygons after self intersecting polygons were found after a conversion.
This version further improves the quality of the output polygons by fixing some bugs in the overlap and circularize computations.
When present, Oasis2Gerber re-validates (post overlap) output polygons and fixes any polygon considered to be illegal. This will ensure that the output data is much more clean but will incur additional processing cost and therefore slower speed.
In absence of -revalidate, the behavior is same as v1.17
This version further improves the quality of the output polygons by fixing some bugs in the overlap and circularize computations.
Fixed a bug in the circularization that resulted in self-intersecting and thin polygons.
Fixed a bug which caused Oasis2Gerber to crash occasionally on low-spec machines.
Fixed an issue that caused Oasis2Gerber to run very slow on certain files on low-spec machines.
Multi-threaded circularization (converting arc/circle-like polygons to arcs and flashes) to significantly reduce processing times for certain files.
New command-line option -circularize:max_chord_error to be used to control the circularization process. Only those polygons whose chord-error is smaller than the specified max_chord_error will be circularized.
This new feature significantly reduces the output Gerber file size by converting circular polygons into arcs (G02, G03) and circles to pads/flashes (%AD, G54)
In compact mode, Oasis2Gerber took very long time to translate certain files because of some redundant computations. This has been fixed.
New command-line option -overlap:overlap_in_file_units to specify amount of overlap between butting polygons.
The overlap amount is in the input file units (e.g microns).
Default: there is no overlap between butting polygons (overlap = 0.0)
This overlap is applied even to the butting polygons present in the original data set (polygons that are not created as a result of compaction).
ImprovementsImproved compaction and reduction in number of SRs: In both speed and compact mode, all SRs with the same X,Y,I and J parameters are merged into a single SR
Improved logging and performance measurement
In compact mode, the program generates butting polygons instead of self-touching polygons.
li>Fixed a bug that caused the translator to run out of resource handles for certain input files because of improper cleanup in default mode (-mode:speed)
Oasis2Gerber v1.05 uses a new algorithm that takes advantage of GDSII/OASIS cell hierarchy to perform extremely fast translation.
This algorithm only works when the input GDSII/OASIS file has sufficient hierarchy using cell references/placements.
For flat files, Oasis2Gerber uses the older (v1.04) algorithm.
Oasis2Gerber v1.05 does not support extracting a specific region of the input file anymore.
New Command line option -mode:speed|compact-mode:speed (default) checks the input file for hierarchy. If sufficient hierarchy is found, it uses the new algorithm and emphasizes speed over compaction. If sufficient hierarchy is not found, it uses the old (v1.04) algorithm for superior compaction.
-mode:compact uses the old algorithm (v1.04) and emphasizes compaction over speed.
Oasis2Gerber cleans up all working files when the execution is complete.
New Command-Line -error:file_pathUse the new command-line to specify the path of an 'error' file. If Oasis2Gerber fails, this 'error' file (created by Oasis2Gerber) with contain the information about the cause of failure. If Oasis2Gerber succeeds, no such file will be created.
Improved Performance on multi-core machinesIf Oasis2Gerber finds the input data to be larger than a certain threshold, it partitions the data into bands/stripes to reduce overhead on memory and performance.
Summary of benchmark results for customer file D000290_A_rdl_30.gds on a 8-CPU Intel Core-i7 machine running Windows Vista 64.
case 1) v1.03.1
Win32 : Fails because of insufficient system memory
Win64 : Completes successfully in 0h 54m
Case 2) v1.03.1 + Multi-CPU optimization
Win32: Fails because of insufficient system memory
Win64: Completes successfully in 0h 30m
Case 3) v1.04
Win32: Completes successfully in 0h 18m
Win64: Completes successfully in 0h 33m
Fixed a bug that caused Oasis2Gerber to return error for OASIS Files with 'space' in the path.
Fixed gscan to support OASIS Files with 'space' in the name.
Removed the G75 code from the Gerber output.
Added LN and LP (%LPD*%) codes.
This package contains a new EXE 'qscan64.exe'. qscan64.exe reads a GDSII/OASIS file and generates a parser-friendly text file.
The command-line is
qscan64.exe input_file output_file
The output text file contains the following sections:
Added support for USB licensing.
First release of OASIS to Gerber running on Windows 64 bit.