Engine Arguments

Mandatory Arguments

These parameters must be passed to the library via the GdsRipSetup function. The first four parameters (calling program name, input_gds_file, top_stucture and input_layer set must be entered first and in the exact order. The balance of mandatory arguments are order independent.

program_name

Example Syntax:

/cad/rip/gdsrip

Description

Name of the program that uses the gdsriplib.

Note:

input_gds_file

Example Syntax:

/home/steve/test/mask1.gds

Description

Complete path of the GDS file to be ripped.

top_structure

Example Syntax:

topmostst

Description

Name of the structure in the GDS file to start ripping.All its children structures will also be ripped.The special character "=" refers to the first TOP structure of the input GDS file.

Note:

the string is case sensitive.

input_layer_set

Example Syntax:

=

+20

+1+2+3+4+10+12

Description

The special character "=" tells the library to process all layers; to process a list of specific layers use: +layer_number[+layer_number]

resolution

Resolution may be specified as dots per inch (dpi), dots per mm (dpm) or a pixel size (um) depending on which is more convienent.

Example Syntax:

-dpi:12700

-dpm:2000

-pixelsize:0.5

Description

the library will rasterize the input data at the specified resolution. Note that certain other functions, such as extents calculation are snapped to the bitmap resolution.

RAM

Example Syntax:

-ram:512

-ram:1024

Description

The library must be told how much RAM can be allocated to build a bitmapped image. It is the calling program's responsibility to insure that the amount of RAM specified is in fact available to the library. The RAM is specified in MBytes.

Threads

Example Syntax:

-thrnum:2

Description

The number of concurrent threads that the rasterizer can start. Generally it only makes sense to run more than one thread if the machine has more than one CPU core.

Optional Arguments

These arguments may be passed to the library. If an argument is not passed, the default setting will be used.

Extents

Example Syntax:

-extents:xlow,ylow,xhigh,yhigh

Description

Specifies the window to be extracted in GDSII units/coordinates. Note that this extents window is defined prior to any transformations such as mirror, rotate and scale. By default, the library uses the computed extents of the structure passed as the "top_structure" parameter

Only

Example Syntax:

Consider a run that would require 25 bands to complete. During testing you only want to examine the results of a few bands.

-only:1,7,15       - bands 1,7 and 15 will be processed

-only:1,7,N       - bands 1,7 and 25(N) will be processed

-only:1,7,N-5,N       - bands 1,7 and 20 and 25(N) will be processed

Description

Used primarily during testing and debugging when you want to limit the bands which are output. The parameter N represents the last band (something which the calling program may not know a priori)

Conditioned Input

Example Syntax:

-input_is_conditioned

Description

Only use this if one is sure the input data is guaranteed to be convex in X. When used, this parameter disables polygon checking which can improve throughput in the rasterizer somewhat. However if input data is not convex in X then the rasterizer could produce incorrect bitmaps.

Output Basename

Example Syntax:

-out:<output_file_base_name>

-out:stripe

Description

Base name for the output .log and .err files. Default base name is "Band".

Databuffer Size

Example Syntax:

-dbs:<DSize>

-dbs:400000

Description

Specify the number of vertices to fill the polygon data buffer. This is a reference point used to determine how to subdivide a band. Unless you have a particular reason for changing it from the default, do not specify this value. Do not confuse with -RAM option. Default=2000000. See Dividing a Band into Windows

Memory Statistics

Example Syntax:

-memstats

Description

Logs the amount of memory in the heap used by the library at various stages of execution. Primarily use is for testing and debugging purposes.

Log Calls

Example Syntax:

-logcalls

Description

Log the functions calls to the library and the values of the parameters passed to them. Primary usage is for testing and debugging.

Mirror

Example Syntax:

-mirror:M[,m]

-mirror:x

-mirror:y

-mirror:x,y

Description

Transforms the input data by scaling it. S and s are scale factors in x and y respectively. (default S = s) Scaling is applied after mirroring, but before rotation. See the Data Transformation Page

Scale

Example Syntax:

-scale:S[,s]

-scale:1.05

-scale:1.05,1.04

Description

This transformation is applied to the input data. M and m can take on the values of x and/or y. Mirroring is applied before the other transformations: rotate and scale. See the Data Transformation Page

Rotation

Example Syntax:

-rotate:R

-rotate:1

Description

This transformation is applied to the input data. R can be 1,2,3 or 4 where 1=90, 2=180, 3=270 and 4=360. Negative values invert the rotation direction i.e. -1=-90 degree rotation.See the Data Transformation Page

Complement

Example Syntax:

-complement

Description

Inverts each bit in the raster buffer before output, i.e. take complement of raster buffer. Use this option for -bmp output since bmp does not have a header parameter that controls the polarity.See the Data Transformation Page

Invert

Example Syntax:

-invert

Description

Inverts the TIFF image by setting inverse flag in TIFF header. This does not actually change the bits in the file, just the header setting.See the Data Transformation Page

Geometry Only

Example Syntax:

-geometry_only

Description

Include text and node info to determine data extents, not just geometries. By default text entities and cell insertion points are not included when calculating the extents of a GDSII file.

Vertical Banding

Example Syntax:

-vertical

Description

rasterizing bands run vertically through the data instead of (default) horizontally.

Bitmap Clipping

Example Syntax:

-bitmap_clip_dim:M,N

Description

Specify bitmap clipping dimensions. M refers to the number of pixels in X (along the width) and N refers to the number of pixels in Y (along the height). This option can be used to limit the size of a bitmap output to a value smaller than the band. (In particular, when the band would produce an output file greater than 4GB and the output format is bmp (which does not support file size greater than 4GB)

Bitmap Clipping (2)

Example Syntax:

-bitmap_clip_dim:M

Description

If the -vertical option is in use, M refers to the number of pixels in X (along the width) otherwise, it refers to the number of pixels in Y (along the height).

Top Edge Golden

Example Syntax:

-top_edge_golden

Description

The raster image is anchored to the highest quantized y window value (this is the default golden edge).

Bottom Edge Golden

Example Syntax:

-bottom_edge_golden

Description

The raster image is anchored to the lowest quantized y window value.

Right Edge Golden

Example Syntax:

-right_edge_golden

Description

The raster image is anchored to the highest quantisized x window value

Left Edge Golden

Example Syntax:

-left_edge_golden

Description

The raster image is anchored to the lowest quantized x window value. This is the default golden edge.