General

Where can i buy a commercial license of the LayoutEditor?

Commercial licenses is distributed by http://www.juspertor.com and some other distributors.

Where can i get commercial support?

Commercial support is part of the commercial license. See above.

Is there a free version of the LayoutEditor?

Yes, the basic version of the LayoutEditor is also published under the GPL with its source code. You just need to compile it. Beside the GPL version you can also ask for a time limited evaluation license for the full version.

Installation

Which platforms/operating systems are supported?

There are compiled package for Windows, Mac OS X and many Linux distribution.

How to install the LayoutEditor on RedHat Linux/CentOS/Scientific Linux?

RedHat, Scientific Linux and CentOS are absolute binary compatible. If a package for you distribution does not exist, please use an other of these packages with the same major version number. The LayoutEditor will not run on CentOS-3 / RedHat-3 and below.

How to choose the language?

The LayoutEditor tries to guess your language from the operation system setup. If the guess is not correct, you can change it within the LayoutEditor in the SetupDialog.

Features

Can i open big files with the LayoutEditor?

Yes, there are no limitations in file size in the LayoutEditor -- in no version. So even with the basic version you can open 100Mb, 5Gb or even 30Gb files. The only limitation you have is your amount of memory. As a rule of thumb you will need about 4 time more memory than the GDSII file size has. The LayoutEditor make no difference between RAM and virtual memory (except performance of cause).

Boxes got lost with photo mask creation. What to do?

The box feature was introduced to the GDSII file format more than 20 years ago. However it is still not supported by some other programs. Activate the option 'box elements are saved as polygons' to avoid this GDSII feature. (SetupDialog -> Fileformat ->GDSII)

I just need a simple viewer. How to get it?

Open the setup (F10 or utilities/setup) and change the mode to 'basic' under user_interface/mode. After a restart you will get a simple user interface.

How to make a feature request or a bug beport?

This Wiki has pages for reporting bugs and ask for new features. Holder of a commercial license of the LayoutEditor may also contact support@layouteditor.net .

Macro/Scripting

What is the macro language?

Macros are ether in pseudo C++ or in python. Please see the macro documentation for details.

What Version is required for macros?

Macro/Scripting is available in the full version only.

Designing

What is the design flow?

A fix flow how to do a new IC or any other design may be convenient for an inexperienced user as any step is given and you don't need to think about the way your develop. However it reduces your freedom to design in the best way and may limit to archieve the maximum possible innovation of your product. So the LayoutEditor did not force you to do a fix design flow, but supports you to setup an optimal flow by a large variety of features. Even if an existing feature does not satisfy you, you can easily integrate an external tool.

What design kit exists?

Of course there exists a lot of productive design kit in the world, but one is shipped with the LayoutEditor. However by useing standard interfaced and file formarts (e.g. interoperable physical design kits, iPDK) existing design kits can be used with the LayoutEditor. If you want to build your own kits, templates are available for the LayoutEditor.

Compilation

Where is the source code?

The source code is shipped in any package. To extract it select the GPL-source option in the opening screen. Screenshot: opening window Holders of a commercial license the LayoutEditor will start directly without an opening window. To extract the GPL-source in that case start the LayoutEditor with the option '-s' as parameter.