mbschk Utility

mbschk is a lightweight MEBES pattern file reader that can report information and statistics about a pattern file (not a job deck) and output boundary equivalents to a GDSII file.

Text messaging/reporting is sent to stderr.

GDSII boundaries are not unionized.

mbschk is not based on the code used by mbs2tiff in order to provide a sterile environment that provides an independent method of testing mbs2tiff.

mbschk Syntax

mbschk is command line driven and the syntax is shown below:

[hagai@asmsc37 examples]$ ../bin/mbschk -h

mbschk Version 1.05  (rcs 1.133) (11/23/10)
(C)2010 Artwork Conversion Software, Inc.  (831)426-6163
info@artwork.com,  http://www.artwork.com


mbschk <mebes_file> [options]

options

-strict     do not quit on syntax errors

-info       header information only

-gds[:N]    create gds stream optionally using N as the output name
            (a GDSII file might be 100 to 1000X larger than the source
            MEBES so don't use this unless you understand the size of
            the file to be created.]

-win:LLx,LLy,URx,URy  extract data defined by the corners of this
                      window. Use with -gds argument.

-win:@filename   extract a number of windows as defined in the text file.
                 each row contains LLx,LLy,URx,URy

-offset     Instead of using absolute coordinates taken from the MEBES
            file, the GDSII coordinates are  taken from the LL corner 
            of the user defined extraction window. This is useful when
            the combination of MEBES data extents and grid resolution 
            would overflow the dynamic range of the GDSII data format.
            works in conjunction with -win

-opt       turns off optimization seeking in conjunction with -win

-seektest  perform N random seeks and report the results. Used for
           testing the performance of the IO system.

-bystripe   create a GDSI structure for each stripe (implies -bysegment)

-bysegment  create a GDSII structure for each segment

-aref       convert repetitions to GDSII AREF records

-native     gds stream user units are derived from MEBES file

-grid:G     set gds stream user units to G

-layer:L    output stream data to layer L in the GDSII; -1 directs
            the program to place data in GDSII based on the MEBES
            stripe number.

Examples of mbschk command line

Reporting Only

../bin/mbschk my_mebes_file.mbs

Displays information about the mebes file found in the file header, as well as, summaries found in each segment. This is sent to stderr where it can be piped to a file.

GDSII Output

../bin/mbschk my_mebes_file.mbs -gds

In addition to the usual informational summaries, a GDSII filenamed my_mebes_file.gds will be created in the units of um with a (default) precision of 1000 ticks/um.

GDSII Output with Granular Controls

../bin/mbschk ref5_l1.mbs -gds:aref5_l1.gds -native -bysegment -aref -layer:1

In this example, the MEBES file contained repetition records which are equivalent to GDSII array reference. The -aref option tells mbschk to convert repetitions to AREFs in the GDSII output. The output GDSII file will be much smaller compare to not using this option. mbschk has also been instructed to convert each MEBES segment into a structure and to put the resulting polygons on layer 1.

GDSII Output with User Defined Grid

../bin/mbschk my_mebes_file.mbs -gds -grid:0.25

In addition to the usual informational summaries sent to stderr, a GDSII file named my_mebes_file.gds will be written to disk with units of um and a grid of 0.25 um.

GDSII Output with Grid Defined by Source MEBES

../bin/mbschk my_mebes_file.mbs -gds -native

In addition to the usual informational summaries, a GDSII file named my_mebes_file.gds will be written to disk in units um with a precision equal to whatever was found in the MEBES pattern file.

MEBES Scan Information Directed to Display via more

../bin/mbschk test.m5 2>&1 | more

The mbschk scan information is sent from stderr to the screen through the more filter so that the statistics don't just run off the screen.

Sample Scan Report Output

mbschk Version 1.05  (rcs 1.133) (11/23/10) FLEXlm v11.3 LICENSE (blade1500)
(C)2010 Artwork Conversion Software, Inc.  (831)426-6163
info@artwork.com,  http://www.artwork.com


file: test.m5 (8632320) bytes
format is 5
number of data fields: 3
address size (bit pattern): 00000000.00100000.00011000.11001001
grid: 0.001000
step height: 1024
cx: 6932000
cy: 8799000
month: 2 day: 15 year: 2008
rdos filename: 32G170PDA.M5
pattern file length in 2048 byte records: 4215 or 8632320 (bytes) compared to 8632320 bytes
format is 5
segment @ 2048, 0x800
segment @ 6144, 0x1800
segment @ 12288, 0x3000
.
.
.
mask shop info: PATACON

segment 0 @ 2048 0x800
segment: mode 5: 1
first stripe: mode 5: 1
segment summary:
  stripes      : 137
  compact      : 0
  manhattan    : 138
  parallelogram: 0
  trapezoid 1  : 0
  trapezoid 2  : 0
  trapezoid 3  : 0
  repetitions  : 138

segment 1 @ 6144 0x1800
segment: mode 5: 2
first stripe: mode 5: 1
segment summary:
  stripes      : 135
  compact      : 0
  manhattan    : 272
.
.
.
end drawing @ 8631774 0x83b5de