1
2GDSreader - simple Calma (GDSii) parser/printer tool.
3
4This software has as target the printing/plotting/displaying of Calma (GDSii)
5files without using true layout editors. I had once to visualize an unknown
6Calma file and customizing LEdit or Magic (the two layout editors I had access
7to) was so difficult that I decided to write this program.
8
9License
10gdsreader is placed under the GNU Public License (GPL) version 2.0. See the
11COPYING file for more information.
12
13Current status:
14- gdsreader is in an alpha stage and you should not expect too much from it;
15- the Calma files are almost completely parsed (had no layout example that makes
16  use of BOX/NODE elements);
17- given a Calma structure name, a PostScript file and a HPGL/2 file are
18  generated. The way each layer is handled is controlled by an ASCII
19  configuration file. The properties that can be set are color, fill (only
20  solid is supported), hatch (simple or cross, the angle and spacing are user
21  customizable too).
22
23Installation
24Take a look at the Makefile and change it accordingly to your setup. Type make.
25In order to produce an useful PostScript output, you need to write a
26configuration file (default is .layers.config). The one you'll find with the
27distribution is suitable for the Calma example test.gds (an actual Bandgap
28reference).
29
30What needs to be done:
31- to try a different way to do hatching in PostScript (e.g. by using custom
32  patterns);
33- to do shape merging for a better output;
34- to rewrite parts of the current C code in order to make it more efficient
35  (there are lots of repeating loops for seeking same things, linear search
36  might be replaced by more clever ways). Up to now, the code was written only
37  to work, the efficiency was not a major concern;
38- an unified rc file, for setting all aspects of the printing/plotting (page
39  size etc.);
40- documentation etc.
41Any other ideas are welcome.
42
43For suggestions, comments or bug reports, please drop an email to:
44serbanp@ix.netcom.com
45
46Thanks
47Have to thank to Steve Tell (tell@cs.unc.edu) for its stream_utils-0.10 package,
48useful as an example of how to deal with the Calma binary file, and to various
49people who have been so kind to reply my posts in the comp.cad.lsi and
50comp.lang.postscript newsgroups.
51
52
53Good luck!
54