coriolis/documentation/UsersGuide/UsersGuide.rst

.. -*- Mode: rst -*-

.. role:: ul
.. role:: cb
.. role:: sc
.. role:: fboxtt

.. Acronyms & names.
.. |GNU|                            replace:: :sc:`gnu`
.. |LGPL|                           replace:: :sc:`lgpl`
.. |GPL|                            replace:: :sc:`gpl`
.. |UPMC|                           replace:: :sc:`upmc`
.. |Bull|                           replace:: :sc:`Bull`
.. |Cadence|                        replace:: :sc:`Cadence`
.. |Si2|                            replace:: :sc:`Si2`
.. |LEFDEF|                         replace:: :sc:`lefdef`
.. |Flute|                          replace:: :sc:`Flute`
.. |MacOS|                          replace:: :sc:`MacOS`

.. |Alexandre|                      replace:: :sc:`Alexandre`
.. |Belloeil|                       replace:: :sc:`Belloeil`
.. |Chaput|                         replace:: :sc:`Chaput`
.. |Chu|                            replace:: :sc:`Chu`
.. |Dupuis|                         replace:: :sc:`Dupuis`
.. |Escassut|                       replace:: :sc:`Escassut`
.. |Masson|                         replace:: :sc:`Masson`

.. |ANSI|                           replace:: :sc:`ansi`
.. |MIPS|                           replace:: :sc:`mips`
.. |Am2901|                         replace:: :sc:`Am2901`
.. |Hurricane|                      replace:: :sc:`Hurricane`
.. |HurricaneAMS|                   replace:: :sc:`HurricaneAMS`
.. |Alliance|                       replace:: :sc:`Alliance`
.. |GenLib|                         replace:: :sc:`GenLib`
.. |Nero|                           replace:: :sc:`Nero`
.. |Druc|                           replace:: :cb:`Druc`
.. |Coriolis|                       replace:: :sc:`Coriolis`
.. |Coriolis1|                      replace:: :sc:`Coriolis 1`
.. |Coriolis2|                      replace:: :sc:`Coriolis 2`
.. |VLSISAPD|                       replace:: :sc:`vlsisapd`
.. |CRLcore|                        replace:: :sc:`CRLcore`
.. |Cyclop|                         replace:: :sc:`Cyclop`
.. |Nimbus|                         replace:: :sc:`Nimbus`
.. |hMetis|                         replace:: :sc:`hMetis`
.. |Mauka|                          replace:: :sc:`Mauka`
.. |Knik|                           replace:: :sc:`Knik`
.. |Katabatic|                      replace:: :sc:`Katabatic`
.. |Kite|                           replace:: :sc:`Kite`
.. |Stratus|                        replace:: :sc:`Stratus`
.. |Stratus1|                       replace:: :sc:`Stratus1`
.. |Stratus2|                       replace:: :sc:`Stratus2`
.. |Unicorn|                        replace:: :sc:`Unicorn`
.. |ccb|                            replace:: :cb:`ccb`
.. |cgt|                            replace:: :cb:`cgt`
.. |Chams|                          replace:: :sc:`Chams`
.. |OpenChams|                      replace:: :sc:`OpenChams`
.. |Pharos|                         replace:: :cb:`Pharos`
.. |API|                            replace:: :sc:`api`
.. |STL|                            replace:: :sc:`stl`
.. |XML|                            replace:: :sc:`xml`
.. |pdf|                            replace:: :sc:`pdf`
.. |UTF-8|                          replace:: :sc:`utf-8`
.. |Python|                         replace:: :sc:`Python`
.. |Linux|                          replace:: :sc:`Linux`
.. |Scientific Linux|               replace:: :sc:`Scientific Linux`
.. |RedHat|                         replace:: :sc:`RedHat`
.. |Fedora|                         replace:: :sc:`Fedora`
.. |FC13|                           replace:: :sc:`fc13`
.. |Debian|                         replace:: :sc:`Debian`
.. |Ubuntu|                         replace:: :sc:`Ubuntu`
.. |MacPorts|                       replace:: :sc:`MacPorts`
.. |boost|                          replace:: :cb:`boost`
.. |Qt|                             replace:: :sc:`qt`
.. |tty|                            replace:: :cb:`tty`
.. |svn|                            replace:: :cb:`svn`
.. |git|                            replace:: :cb:`git`
.. |rpm|                            replace:: :cb:`rpm`

.. URLs
.. _FGR:         http://vlsicad.eecs.umich.edu/BK/FGR/
.. _Box Router:  http://www.cerc.utexas.edu/~thyeros/boxrouter/boxrouter.htm
.. _hMETIS:      http://glaros.dtc.umn.edu/gkhome/views/metis
.. _Knik Thesis: http://www-soc.lip6.fr/en/users/damiendupuis/PhD/

.. _coriolis2-1.0.2049-1.slsoc6.i686.rpm:    http://asim.lip6.fr/pub/coriolis/2.0/coriolis2-1.0.2049-1.slsoc6.i686.rpm
.. _coriolis2-1.0.2049-1.slsoc6.x86_64.rpm:  http://asim.lip6.fr/pub/coriolis/2.0/coriolis2-1.0.2049-1.slsoc6.x86_64.rpm
.. _coriolis2-1.0.2049-1.fc16.i686.rpm:      http://asim.lip6.fr/pub/coriolis/2.0/coriolis2-1.0.2049-1.fc16.i686.rpm
.. _coriolis2-1.0.2049-1.fc16.x86_64.rpm:    http://asim.lip6.fr/pub/coriolis/2.0/coriolis2-1.0.2049-1.fc16.x86_64.rpm
.. _coriolis2_1.0-2049-1_.i386.rpm (10.04):  http://asim.lip6.fr/pub/coriolis/2.0/Ubuntu/10.04/coriolis2_1.0-2049-1_i386.rpm
.. _coriolis2_1.0-2049-1_.amd64.rpm (10.04): http://asim.lip6.fr/pub/coriolis/2.0/Ubuntu/10.04/coriolis2_1.0-2049-1_i386.rpm
.. _coriolis2_1.0-2049-1_.i386.rpm (12.04):  http://asim.lip6.fr/pub/coriolis/2.0/Ubuntu/12.04/coriolis2_1.0-2049-1_i386.rpm
.. _coriolis2_1.0-2049-1_.amd64.rpm (12.04): http://asim.lip6.fr/pub/coriolis/2.0/Ubuntu/12.04/coriolis2_1.0-2049-1_i386.rpm

.. Standard CAO/VLSI Concepts.
.. |netlist|                        replace:: *netlist*
.. |netlists|                       replace:: *netlists*
.. |layout|                         replace:: *layout*
.. |layouts|                        replace:: *layouts*
.. |CMOS|                           replace:: :sc:`cmos`
.. |VHDL|                           replace:: :sc:`vhdl`
.. |NWELL|                          replace:: :sc:`nwell`
.. |POWER|                          replace:: :sc:`power`
.. |GROUND|                         replace:: :sc:`ground`

.. MBK Concepts
.. |MBK|                            replace:: :sc:`mbk`
.. |LOFIG|                          replace:: :cb:`Lofig`
.. |PHFIG|                          replace:: :cb:`Phfig`
.. |SxLib|                          replace:: :sc:`SxLib`

.. Hurricane Concepts.
.. |hypernet|                       replace:: *hypernet*
.. |hypernets|                      replace:: *hypernets*
.. |Cell|                           replace:: *Cell*
.. |Rings|                          replace:: *Rings*
.. |QuadTrees|                      replace:: *QuadTrees*
.. |Collections|                    replace:: *Collections*
.. |ap|                             replace:: :cb:`ap`
.. |vst|                            replace:: :cb:`vst`
.. |kgr|                            replace:: :cb:`kgr`
.. |dot_conf|                       replace:: :cb:`.conf`


|medskip|

=====================
Coriolis User's Guide
=====================

|medskip|

.. raw:: html

   <div id="centered">
     The pdf version of this document is available here:<br>
     <a href="https://www-soc.lip6.fr/sesi-docs/coriolis2-docs/coriolis2/en/latex/users-guide/UsersGuide.pdf">Coriolis User's Guide</a>
   </div>

.. contents::

|newpage|


Credits & License
=================

.. raw:: html

   <p class="credit"><span class="left"><span class="sc">Hurricane</span></span>
   <span class="right">Rémy <span class="sc">Escassut</span> &amp;
                       Christian <span class="sc">Masson</span></span></p>
   <br>
   <p class="credit"><span class="left"><span class="sc">Mauka</span></span>
   <span class="right">Christophe <span class="sc">Alexandre</span></span></p>
   <br>
   <p class="credit"><span class="left"><span class="sc">Stratus</span></span>
   <span class="right">Sophie <span class="sc">Belloeil</span></span></p>
   <br>
   <p class="credit"><span class="left"><span class="sc">Knik</span></span>
   <span class="right">Damien <span class="sc">Dupuis</span></span></p>
   <br>
   <p class="credit"><span class="left"><span class="sc">Kite</span>,
                                        <span class="sc">Unicorn</span></span></span>
   <span class="right">Jean-Paul <span class="sc">Chaput</span></span></p>
   <br>


.. raw:: latex

   \begin{center}\begin{minipage}[t]{.8\textwidth}
     \noindent\DUrole{sc}{Hurricane} \dotfill Rémy       \DUrole{sc}{Escassut}  \&
                                              Christian  \DUrole{Masson}        \\
     \noindent\DUrole{sc}{Mauka}     \dotfill Christophe \DUrole{sc}{Alexandre} \\
     \noindent\DUrole{sc}{Stratus}   \dotfill Sophie     \DUrole{sc}{Belloeil}  \\
     \noindent\DUrole{sc}{Knik}      \dotfill Damien     \DUrole{sc}{Dupuis}    \\
     \noindent\DUrole{sc}{Kite},
              \DUrole{sc}{Unicorn}   \dotfill Jean-Paul \DUrole{sc}{Chaput}     \\
   \end{minipage}\end{center}


|medskip|

The |Hurricane| data-base is copyright© |Bull| 2000-2014 and is
released under the terms of the |LGPL| license. All other tools are
copyright© |UPMC| 2008-2014 and released under the |GPL|
license.

The |Knik| router makes use of the |Flute| software, which is
copyright© Chris C. N. |Chu| from the Iowa State University
(http://home.eng.iastate.edu/~cnchu/).

|newpage|


Release Notes
=============

Release 1.0.1475
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is the first preliminary release of the |Coriolis2| framework.

This release mainly ships the global router |Knik| and the detailed router
|Kite|. Together they aim to replace the |Alliance| |Nero| router.
Unlike |Nero|, |Kite| is based on an innovating routing modeling and ad-hoc
algorithm. Although it is released under |GPL| license, the source code
will be avalaible later.
|medskip|


|noindent| Contents of this release:

1. A graphical user interface (viewer only).
2. The |Knik| global router.
3. The |Kite| detailed router.

|noindent| Supported input/output formats:

* |Alliance| |vst| (netlist) & |ap| (physical) formats.
* Even if there are some references to the |Cadence| |LEFDEF| format, its
  support is not included because it depends on a library only available
  to |Si2| affiliated members.


Release 1.0.1963
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Release 1963 is alpha. All the tools from |Coriolis1| have been ported into
this release.

|noindent| Contents of this release:

#. The |Stratus| netlist capture language (|GenLib| replacement).
#. The |Mauka| placer (still contains bugs).
#. A graphical user interface (viewer only).
#. The |Knik| global router.
#. The |Kite| detailed router.
#. Partially implemented python support for configuration files
   (alternative to |XML|).
#. A documentation (imcomplete/obsoleted in |Hurricane|'s case). 


Release 1.0.2049
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Release `2049` is Alpha.

|noindent| Changes of this release:

#. The |Hurricane| documentation is now accurate. Documentation
   for the Cell viewer and |CRLcore| has been added.
#. More extensive Python support for all the components of
   |Coriolis|.
#. Configuration is now completly migrated under Python.
   |XML| loaders can still be useds for compatibilty.
#. The |cgt| main has been rewritten in Python. 


Release **v2.0.1**
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

#. Migrated the repository from |svn| to |git|, and release complete sources.
   As a consequence, we drop the distribution packaging support and give
   public read-only access to the repository.
#. Deep rewrite of the |Katabatic| database and |Kite| detailed router,
   achieve a speedup factor greater than 20...


|newpage|


Installation
============

.. note::
   As the sources are being released, the binary packaging is dropped.
   You still may find older version here: http://asim.lip6.fr/pub/coriolis/2.0 .

In a nutshell, building source consist in pulling the |git| repository then
running the |ccb| installer. 

Main building prerequisites:

* cmake
* g++
* boost
* libxml2
* yacc & lex.
* Qt 4
* LEF/DEF (optional).
* hMetis (optional).
* doxygen.
* latex
* latex2html.
* python-docutils (for reStructuredText).


Fixed Directory Tree
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In order to simplificate the work of the |ccb| installer, the source, build
and installation tree is fixed. To successfully compile |Coriolis| you must
follow it exactly. The tree is relative to the home directory of the user
building it (noted :fboxtt:`~/` or :fboxtt:`$HOME/`). Only the source
directory needs to be manually created by the user, all others will be
automatically created either by |ccb| or the build system.

+--------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **Sources**                                                                                            |
+--------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | Sources root           | | ~/coriolis-2.x/src                                                        |
| | **under git**          | | ~/coriolis-2.x/src/coriolis                                               |
+--------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **Architecture Dependant Build**                                                                       |
+--------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | Linux, SL 6, 32 bits   | | ~/coriolis-2.x/Linux.slsoc6x/Release.Shared/build/<tool>                  |
| | Linux, SL 6, 64 bits   | | ~/coriolis-2.x/Linux.slsoc6x_64/Release.Shared/build/<tool>               |
| | FreeBSD 8, 32 bits     | | ~/coriolis-2.x/FreeBSD.8x.i386/Release.Shared/build/<tool>                |
| | FreeBSD 8, 64 bits     | | ~/coriolis-2.x/FreeBSD.8x.amd64/Release.Shared/build/<tool>               |
+--------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **Architecture Dependant Install**                                                                     |
+--------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|   Linux, SL 6, 32 bits   |   ~/coriolis-2.x/Linux.slsoc6x/Release.Shared/install/                      |
+--------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **FHS Compliant Structure under Install**                                                              |
+--------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | Binaries               | | .../install/bin                                                           |
| | Libraries (Python)     | | .../install/lib                                                           |
| | Include by tool        | | .../install/include/coriolis2/<project>/<tool>                            |
| | Configuration files    | | .../install/etc/coriolis2/                                                |
| | Doc, by tool           | | .../install/share/doc/coriolis2/en/html/<tool>                            |
+--------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

.. note:: *Alternate build types:* the ``Release.Shared`` means an optimized build
   with shared libraries. But there are also available ``Static`` instead of ``Shared``
   and ``Debug`` instead of ``Release`` and any combination of them.

   ``Static`` do not work because I don't know yet to mix statically linked binaries
   and Python modules (which must be dynamic).


Building Coriolis
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first step is to create the source directory and pull the |git| repository: ::

   dummy@lepka:~$ mkdir -p ~/coriolis-2.x/src
   dummy@lepka:~$ cd ~/coriolis-2.x/src
   dummy@lepka:~$ git clone https://www-soc.lip6.fr/git/coriolis.git
   dummy@lepka:~$ cd coriolis

Second and final step, build & install: ::

   dummy@lepka:src$ ./bootstrap/ccp.py --project=coriolis --make="-j4 install"
   dummy@lepka:src$ ./bootstrap/ccb.py --project=coriolis --doc --make="-j1 install"

We need two steps because the documentation do not support to be generated with
a parallel build. So we compile & install in a first step in ``-j4`` (or whatever)
then we generate the documentation in ``-j1``

The complete list of |ccb| functionalities can be accessed with the ``--help`` argument.
It also may be run in graphical mode (``--gui``).


Additionnal Requirement under |MacOS|
-------------------------------------

|Coriolis| make uses of the :cb:`boost::python` module, but the |macports| |boost|
seems unable to work with the |Python| bundled with |MacOS|. So you have to install
both of them from |macports|: ::

    dummy@macos:~$ port install boost +python27
    dummy@macos:~$ port select python python27

Then proceed with the generic install instructions.


Packaging Coriolis
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Packager should not uses |ccb|, instead ``bootstrap/Makefile.package`` is provided
to emulate a top-level ``autotool`` makefile. Just copy it in the root of the
|Coriolis| git repository (``~/corriolis-2.x/src/coriolis/``) and build.

Sligthly outaded packaging configuration files can also be found under ``bootstrap/``:

* ``bootstrap/coriolis2.spec.in`` for |rpm| based distributions.
* ``bootstrap/debian`` for |Debian| based distributions.


Hooking up into |Alliance|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

|Coriolis| relies on |Alliance| for the cell libraries. So after installing or
packaging, you must configure it so that it can found those libraries.

This is done by editing the one variable :cb:`cellsTop` in the |Alliance| helper
(see `Alliance Helper`_). This variable must point to the directory of the
cells libraries. In a typical installation, this is generally
:cb:`/usr/share/alliance/cells`.


Environment Helper
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To simplify the tedious task of configuring your environment, a helper is provided
in the ``bootstrap`` source directory: ::

    ~/coriolis-2.x/src/bootstrap/coriolisEnv.py

Use it like this: ::

    dummy@lepka:~> eval `~/coriolis-2.x/src/bootstrap/coriolisEnv.py`


|newpage|


Documentation
=============

The general index of the documentation for the various parts of Coriolis
are avalaibles here `Coriolis Tools Documentation`_.

.. note:: **Python Documentation:**
   Most of the documentation is related to the C++ API and implemetation of
   the tools. However, the |Python| bindings have been created so they
   mimic *as closely as possible* the C++ interface, so the documentation
   applies to both languages with only minor syntactic changes.

**General Software Architecture**

|Coriolis| has been build with respect of the classical paradigm that the
computational instensive parts have been written in C++, and almost
everything else in |Python|. To build the |Python| interface we used
two methods:

* For self-contained modules :cb:`boost::python` (mainly in :cb:`vlsisapd`).
* For all modules based on |Hurricane|, we created our own wrappers due
  to very specific requirements such as shared functions between modules
  or C++/|Python| secure bi-directional object deletion.


Coriolis Configuration & Initialisation
=======================================

All configuration & initialization files are Python scripts, despite their
|dot_conf| extention. From a syntactic point of view, there is no difference
between the system-wide configuration files and the user's configuration, 
they may use the same Python helpers.
|medskip|

|noindent|
The initialization process is done by executing, in order, the following
file(s):

+-------+----------------------------------+----------------------------------------------+
| Order | Meaning                          | File                                         |
+=======+==================================+==============================================+
| **1** | The system initialization        | :cb:`/etc/coriolis2/<TOOL>.conf`             |
+-------+----------------------------------+----------------------------------------------+
| **2** | The user's global initialization | :cb:`${HOME}/.coriolis2.conf`                |
+-------+----------------------------------+----------------------------------------------+
| **3** | The user's local initialization  | :cb:`<CWD>/.coriolis2.conf`                  |
+-------+----------------------------------+----------------------------------------------+

.. note:: *The loading policy is not hard-coded.* It is implemented
   at Python level in :cb:`/etc/coriolis2/coriolisInit.py`, and thus may be easyly be
   amended to whatever site policy.

   The truly mandatory requirement is the existence of :cb:`coriolisInit.py`
   which *must* contain a :cb:`coriolisConfigure()` function with no argument.


Configuration Helpers
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To ease the writing of configuration files, a set of small helpers
is available. They allow to setup the configuration parameters through
simple assembly of tuples. The helpers are installed under the directory: ::

    <install>/etc/coriolis2/

Where :cb:`<install>/` is the root of the installation.


.. _Alliance Helper:

|Alliance| Helper
-----------------

The configuration file must provide a :cb:`allianceConfig` tuple of
the form: ::

    cellsTop = '/usr/share/alliance/cells/'

    allianceConfig = \
        ( ( 'SYMBOLIC_TECHNOLOGY', helpers.sysConfDir+'/technology.symbolic.xml'   )
        , ( 'REAL_TECHNOLOGY'    , helpers.sysConfDir+'/technology.cmos130.s2r.xml')
        , ( 'DISPLAY'            , helpers.sysConfDir+'/display.xml'               )
        , ( 'CATALOG'            , 'CATAL')
        , ( 'WORKING_LIBRARY'    , '.')
        , ( 'SYSTEM_LIBRARY'     , ( (cellsTop+'sxlib'   , Environment.Append)
                                   , (cellsTop+'dp_sxlib', Environment.Append)
                                   , (cellsTop+'ramlib'  , Environment.Append)
                                   , (cellsTop+'romlib'  , Environment.Append)
                                   , (cellsTop+'rflib'   , Environment.Append)
                                   , (cellsTop+'rf2lib'  , Environment.Append)
                                   , (cellsTop+'pxlib'   , Environment.Append) ) )
        , ( 'SCALE_X'            , 100)
        , ( 'IN_LO'              , 'vst')
        , ( 'IN_PH'              , 'ap')
        , ( 'OUT_LO'             , 'vst')
        , ( 'OUT_PH'             , 'ap')
        , ( 'POWER'              , 'vdd')
        , ( 'GROUND'             , 'vss')
        , ( 'CLOCK'              , '^ck.*')
        , ( 'BLOCKAGE'           , '^blockageNet*')
        )


|noindent| The example above shows the system configuration file, with all the
available settings. Some important remarks about thoses settings:

* In it's configuration file, the user do not need to redefine all the settings,
  just the one he wants to change. In most of the cases, the ``SYSTEM_LIBRARY``,
  the ``WORKING_LIBRARY`` and the special net names (at this point there is not
  much alternatives for the others settings).

* ``SYSTEM_LIBRARY`` setting: Setting up the library search path.
  Each library entry in the tuple will be added to the search path according
  to the second parameter:

  * :cb:`Environment::Append`:  append to the search path.

  * :cb:`Environment::Prepend`: insert in head of the search path.

  * :cb:`Environment::Replace`: look for a library of the same name and replace
    it, whithout changing the search path order. If no library of that name
    already exists, it is appended.

  A library is identified by it's name, this name is the last component of the
  path name. For instance: ``/soc/alliance/sxlib`` will be named ``sxlib``.
  Implementing the |Alliance| specification, when looking for a |Cell| ``name``,
  the system will browse sequentially trought the library list and returns
  the first |Cell| whose name match.

* For ``POWER``, ``GROUND``, ``CLOCK`` and ``BLOCKAGE`` net names, a regular
  expression (|GNU| regexp) is expected.

* The ``helpers.sysConfDir`` variable is supplied by the helpers, it is the
  directory in which the system-wide configuration files are locateds.
  For a standard installation it would be: ``/soc/coriolis2``.

* Trick and naming convention about ``SYMBOLIC_TECHNOLOGY``, ``REAL_TECHNOLOGY``
  and ``DISPLAY``. In the previous releases, thoses files where to read by
  |XML| parsers, and still do if you triggers the |XML| compatibility mode.
  But now, they have Python conterparts. In the configuration files, you
  still have to name them as |XML| files, the Python file name will be
  deduced from this one with thoses two translation rules: 

  #. In the filename, all dots, except for the last (the file extention), 
     are replaced by underscores.

  #. The ``.xml`` extention is substituted by a ``.conf``.
  
  For the symbolic technology, it would give: ::

      /soc/coriolis2/technology.symbolic.xml
                             --> /soc/coriolis2/technology_symbolic.conf

A typical user's configuration file would be: ::

    import os

    homeDir = os.getenv('HOME')

    allianceConfig = \
        ( ('WORKING_LIBRARY'    , homeDir+'/worklib')
        , ('SYSTEM_LIBRARY'     , ( (homeDir+'/mylib', Environment.Append) ) )
        , ('POWER'              , 'vdd.*')
        , ('GROUND'             , 'vss.*')
        )


Tools Configuration Helpers
---------------------------

All the tools uses the same helper to load their configuration (a.k.a. 
*Configuration Helper*). Currently the following configuration system-wide
configuration files are defined:

* :cb:`misc.conf`: commons settings or not belonging specifically to a tool.
* :cb:`nimbus.conf`: for the |Nimbus| tool.
* :cb:`hMetis.conf`: for the |hMetis| wrapper.
* :cb:`mauka.conf`: for the |Mauka| tool.
* :cb:`kite.conf`: for the |Kite| tool.
* :cb:`stratus1.conf`: for the |stratus1| tool.

Here is the contents of :cb:`mauka.conf`: ::

    # Mauka parameters.
    parametersTable = \
        ( ('mauka.annealingBinMult' , TypePercentage, 5      )
        , ('mauka.annealingNetMult' , TypePercentage, 90     )
        , ('mauka.annealingRowMult' , TypePercentage, 5      )
        , ('mauka.ignorePins'       , TypeBool      , False  )
        , ('mauka.insertFeeds'      , TypeBool      , True   )
        , ('mauka.plotBins'         , TypeBool      , True   )
        , ('mauka.searchRatio'      , TypePercentage, 50     )
        , ('mauka.standardAnnealing', TypeBool      , False  )
        )
    
    layoutTable = \
        ( (TypeTab   , 'Mauka', 'mauka')
        # Mauka part.
        , (TypeOption, "mauka.standardAnnealing", "Standart Annealing"    , 0 )
        , (TypeOption, "mauka.ignorePins"       , "Ignore Pins"           , 0 )
        , (TypeOption, "mauka.plotBins"         , "Plot Bins"             , 0 )
        , (TypeOption, "mauka.insertFeeds"      , "Insert Feeds"          , 0 )
        , (TypeOption, "mauka.searchRatio"      , "Search Ratio (%)"      , 1 )
        , (TypeOption, "mauka.annealingNetMult" , "Annealing Net Mult (%)", 1 )
        , (TypeOption, "mauka.annealingBinMult" , "Annealing Bin Mult (%)", 1 )
        , (TypeOption, "mauka.annealingRowMult" , "Annealing Row Mult (%)", 1 )
        , (TypeRule  ,)
        )

Taxonomy of the file:

* It must contains, at least, the two tables:

  * ``parametersTable``, defines & initialise the configuration variables.

  * ``layoutTables``, defines how the various parameters will be displayed
    in the configuration window (`The Settings Tab`_).

* The ``parametersTable``, is a tuple (list) of tuples. Each entry in the list
  describe a configuration parameter. In it's simplest form, it's a quadruplet
  :cb:`(TypeOption, 'paramId', ParameterType, DefaultValue)` with:

  #. ``TypeOption``, tells that this tuple describe a parameter.

  #. ``paramId``, the identifier of the parameter. Identifiers are defined
     by the tools. The list of parameters is detailed in each tool section.

  #. ``ParameterType``, the kind of parameter. Could be:

     * ``TypeBool``, boolean.
     * ``TypeInt``, signed integer.
     * ``TypeEnumerate``, enumerated type, needs extra entry.
     * ``TypePercentage``, percentage, expressed between 0 and 100.
     * ``TypeDouble``, float.
     * ``TypeString``, character string.
  
  #. ``DefaultValue``, the default value for that parameter.


CGT - The Graphical Interface
=============================

The |Coriolis| graphical interface is split up into two windows.

* The **Viewer**, with the following features:

  * Basic load/save capabilities.
  * Display the current working cell. Could be empty if the design
    is not yet placed.
  * Execute Stratus Scripts.
  * Menu to run the tools (placement, routage).

Features are detailed in `Viewer & Tools`_.

|ViewerSnapShot_1|

* The **Controller**, which allows:

  * Tweak what is displayer by the *Viewer*. Through the *Look*,
    *Filter* and *Layers&Gos* tabs.
  * Browse the |netlist| with eponym tab.
  * Show the list of selected objects (if any) with *selection*
  * Walk through the Database, the Cell or the Selection with *Inspector*.
    This is an advanced feature, reserved for experimented users.
  * The tab *Settings* which give access to all the settings.
    They are closely related to Configuration & Initialisation.

|ControllerSnapShot_1|
     

.. _Viewer & Tools:

Viewer & Tools
==============

|Stratus| Netlist Capture
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

|Stratus| is the replacement for |GenLib| procedural netlist capture language.
It is designed as a set of |Python| classes, and comes with it's own documentation
(`Stratus Documentation`_)


The |Hurricane| Data-Base
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The |Alliance| flow is based on the |MBK| data-base, which has one data-structure
for each view. That is, |LOFIG| for the *logical* view and |PHFIG| for the *physical*
view. The place and route tools were responsible for maintaining (or not) the
coherency between views. Reflecting this weak coupling between views, each one
was stored in a separate file with a specific format. The *logical* view is stored
in a |vst| file in |VHDL| format and the *physical* in an |ap| file in an ad-hoc format.

The |Coriolis| flow is based on the |Hurricane| data-base, which has a unified
structure for *logical* and *physical* view. That data structure is the |Cell| object.
The |Cell| can have any state between pure netlist and completly placed and
routed design. Although the memory representation of the views has deeply
changed we still use the |Alliance| files format, but they now really represent
views of the same object. The point is that one must be very careful about
view coherency when going to and from |Coriolis|.

As for the first release, |Coriolis| can be used only for two purposes :

* **Routing a design**, in that case the |netlist|
  view and the |layout| view must be present and  |layout| view must contain
  a placement. Both views must have the same name. When saving the routed design,
  it is advised to change the design name otherwise the original unrouted placement
  in the |layout| view will be overwritten.
* **Viewing a design**, the |netlist| view must be present, if a |layout|
  view is present it still must have the same name but it can be in any
  state. 


Mauka -- Placer
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

|Mauka| was originally designed to be a recursive quadri-partionner. Unfortunatly
it is was based on the hMETIS_ library (*not* :sc:`METIS`) which is no longer
maintained (only an old binary 32 bits version is available).

So now it is only working in simulated annealing, with performances identical to
the |Alliance| placer :cb:`ocp`. In other words, it is slow...

.. note:: *Instance Duplication Problem:* a same logical instance cannot have
   two different placements. So, either you manually make a clone of it or you
   supply a placement for it. This is currently a drawback of our *folded hierarchy*
   approach.

**Reseting the Placement**

Once a placement has been done, the placer cannot reset it (will be implemented
later). To perform a new placement, you must restart |cgt|. In addition, if you
have saved the placement on disk, you must erase any :cb:`.ap` file, which are
automatically reloaded along with the netlist (:cb:`.vst`).


Knik -- Global Router
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The quality of |Knik| global routing solutions are equivalent to those of FGR_ 1.0.
For an in-depth description of |Knik| algorithms, you may download the thesis of
D. |Dupuis| avalaible from here~: `Knik Thesis`_.

The global router is (not yet) deterministic. To circumvent this limitation,
a global routing *solution* can be saved to disk and reloaded for later uses.

A global routing is saved into a file with the same name as the design and a
|kgr| extention. It is in `Box Router`_ output format.

|noindent| Menus:

* |menu_P&R| |rightarrow| |menu_StepByStep| |rightarrow| |menu_KiteSaveGlobalRouting|. 
* |menu_P&R| |rightarrow| |menu_StepByStep| |rightarrow| |menu_KiteLoadGlobalRouting|. 


Kite -- Detailed Router
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

|Kite| no longer suffers from the limitations of |Nero|. It can route big designs
as its runtime and memory footprint is almost linear (with respect to the number
of gates). It has successfully routed design of more than `150K` gates.
|medskip|

|noindent| However, this first release comes with the temporary the following
restrictions:

* Works only with |SxLib| standard cell gauge.
* Works always with 4 routing metal layers (`M2` through `M5`).
* Do not allow (take into account) pre-routed wires on signals
  other than |POWER| or |GROUND|.

.. note::
   **Slow Layer Assignment.** Most of the time, the layer assignment stage is
   fast (less than a dozen seconds), but in some instances it can take more
   than a dozen *minutes*. This is a known bug and will be corrected in later
   releases.

After each run, |Kite| displays a set of *completion ratios* which must all
be equal to `100%` if the detailed routing has been successfull.
In the event of a failure, on a saturated design, you may decrease the
`edge saturation ratio` (argument `--edge`) to balance more evenly the design
saturation. That is, the maximum saturation decrease at the price of a wider
saturated area and increased wirelength. This is the saturation of the
*global* router |Knik|, and you may increase/decrease by steps of ``5%``,
which represent one track. The maximum capacity of the |SxLib| gauge is
10 tracks in two layers, that makes 20 tracks by |Knik| edge.

|newpage|

Routing a design is done in three ordered steps:

#. Global routing   |menu_P&R| |rightarrow| |menu_StepByStep| |rightarrow| |menu_KiteGlobalRoute|. 
#. Detailed routing |menu_P&R| |rightarrow| |menu_StepByStep| |rightarrow| |menu_KiteDetailedRoute|. 
#. Finalize routing |menu_P&R| |rightarrow| |menu_StepByStep| |rightarrow| |menu_KiteFinalizeRoute|. 

After the detailed routing step the |Kite| data-structure is still active.
The wiring is thus represented in a way that allows |Kite| to manage it but
which is not completly finished. The finalize step performs the removal of
the |Kite| data-structure and finish/cleanup the wiring so that its
connex in the sense of |Hurricane|. *Do not* try to save
your design before that step, you would get gaps in it.

You may visualize the density (saturation) of either |Knik| (on edges) or
|Kite| (on GCells) until the routing is finalized. Special layers appears
to that effect in the `The Layers&Go Tab`_.


Kite Configuration Parameters
-----------------------------

As |Knik| is only called through |Kite|, it's parameters also have
the :cb:`kite.` prefix.

The |Katabatic| parameters control the layer assignment step.

+-----------------------------------+------------------+----------------------------+
| Parameter Identifier              |   Type           |  Default                   |
+===================================+==================+============================+
| **Katabatic Parameters**                                                          |
+-----------------------------------+------------------+----------------------------+
|``katabatic.globalLengthThreshold``| TypeInt          | :cb:`1450`                 |
|                                   +------------------+----------------------------+
|                                   | This parameter is used by a layer assignment  |
|                                   | method which is no longer used (did not give  |
|                                   | good results)                                 |
+-----------------------------------+------------------+----------------------------+
| ``katabatic.saturateRatio``       | TypePercentage   | :cb:`80`                   |
|                                   +------------------+----------------------------+
|                                   | If ``M(x)`` density is above this ratio,      |
|                                   | move up feedthru  global segments up from     |
|                                   | depth ``x`` to ``x+2``                        |
+-----------------------------------+------------------+----------------------------+
| ``katabatic.saturateRp``          | TypeInt          | :cb:`8`                    |
|                                   +------------------+----------------------------+
|                                   | If a GCell contains more terminals            |
|                                   | (:cb:`RoutingPad`) than that number, force a  |
|                                   | move up of the connecting segments to those   |
|                                   | in excess                                     |
+-----------------------------------+------------------+----------------------------+
| **Knik Parameters**                                                               |
+-----------------------------------+------------------+----------------------------+
| ``kite.edgeCapacity``             | TypePercentage   | :cb:`85`                   |
|                                   +------------------+----------------------------+
|                                   | Adjust the maximum capacity of the global     |
|                                   | router's edges. The GCells would be too       |
|                                   | saturated for the detailed router if the edge |
|                                   | capacity is left to 100%.                     |
+-----------------------------------+------------------+----------------------------+
| **Kite Parameters**                                                               |
+-----------------------------------+------------------+----------------------------+
| ``kite.eventsLimit``              | TypeInt          | :cb:`4000002`              |
|                                   +------------------+----------------------------+
|                                   | The maximum number of segment displacements,  |
|                                   | this is a last ditch safety against infinite  |
|                                   | loop. It's perhaps a  little too low for big  |
|                                   | designs                                       |
+-----------------------------------+------------------+----------------------------+
| ``kite.ripupCost``                | TypeInt          | :cb:`3`                    |
|                                   +------------------+----------------------------+
|                                   | Differential introduced between two ripup     |
|                                   | cost to avoid a loop between two ripped up    |
|                                   | segments                                      |
+-----------------------------------+------------------+----------------------------+
| ``kite.strapRipupLimit``          | TypeInt          | :cb:`16`                   |
|                                   +------------------+----------------------------+
|                                   | Maximum number of ripup for *strap* segments  |
+-----------------------------------+------------------+----------------------------+
| ``kite.localRipupLimit``          | TypeInt          | :cb:`9`                    |
|                                   +------------------+----------------------------+
|                                   | Maximum number of ripup for *local* segments  |
+-----------------------------------+------------------+----------------------------+
| ``kite.globalRipupLimit``         | TypeInt          | :cb:`5`                    |
|                                   +------------------+----------------------------+
|                                   | Maximum number of ripup for *global* segments,|
|                                   | when this limit is reached, triggers topologic|
|                                   | modification                                  |
+-----------------------------------+------------------+----------------------------+
| ``kite.longGlobalRipupLimit``     | TypeInt          | :cb:`5`                    |
|                                   +------------------+----------------------------+
|                                   | Maximum number of ripup for *long global*     |
|                                   | segments, when this limit is reached, triggers|
|                                   | topological modification                      |
+-----------------------------------+------------------+----------------------------+



.. _Python Scripts in Cgt:

Executing Python Scripts in Cgt
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Python/Stratus scripts can be executed either in text or graphical mode.

.. note:: **How Cgt Locates Python Scripts:**
   |cgt| uses the Python ``import`` mechanism to load Python scripts.
   So you must give the name of your script whitout ``.py`` extention and
   it must be reachable through the ``PYTHONPATH``. You may uses the
   dotted module notation.

A Python/Stratus script must contains a function called ``StratusScript``
with one optional argument, the graphical editor into which it may be
running (will be set to ``None`` in text mode).

Asides for this requirement, the python script can contains anything valid
in |Python|, so don't hesitate to use any package or extention.

Any script given on the command line will be run immediatly *after* the
initializations and *before* any other argument is processed.

Small example of Python/Stratus script: ::

    from status import *

    def doSomething ():
        # ...
        return

    def StratusScript ( editor=None ):
      if globals().has_key ( "__editor" ): editor = __editor
      if editor: setEditor ( editor )

      doSomething()
      return
    
    if __name__ == "__main__" :
      StratusScript ()

This script could be run directly with Python (thanks to the two last lines)
or through |cgt| in both text and graphical modes.


Printing & Snapshots
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Printing or saving into a |pdf| is fairly simple, just uses the **File -> Print**
menu or the |Key_CTRL| |Plus| |Key_p| shortcut to open the dialog box.

The print functionality uses exactly the same rendering mechanism as for the
screen, beeing almost *WYSIWYG*. Thus, to obtain the best results it is advisable
to select the ``Coriolis.Printer`` look (in the *Controller*), which uses a
white background and much suited for high resolutions ``32x32`` pixels patterns  

There is also two mode of printing selectable through the *Controller*
**Settings -> Misc -> Printer/Snapshot Mode**:

===============  =================  =====================================================
Mode             DPI (approx.)      Intended Usage
---------------  -----------------  -----------------------------------------------------
**Cell Mode**    150                For single ``Cell`` printing or very small designs.
                                    Patterns will be bigger and more readable. 
**Design Mode**  300                For designs (mostly commposed of wires and cells
                                    outlines).
===============  =================  =====================================================

.. note:: *The pdf file size*
          Be aware that the generated |pdf| files are indeed only pixmaps.
          So they can grew very large if you select paper format above ``A2``
          or similar.


|noindent|
Saving into an image is subject to the same remarks as for |pdf|.


Memento of Shortcuts in Graphic Mode
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The main application binary is |cgt|.

+---------------+-------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| Category      | Keys              | Action                                                    |
+===============+===================+===========================================================+
| **Moves**     | | |Key_Up|,       | Shift the view in the according direction                 |
|               |   |Key_Down|      |                                                           |
|               | | |Key_Left|,     |                                                           |
|               |   |Key_Right|     |                                                           |
+---------------+-------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| **Fit**       |   |Key_f|         | Fit to the Cell abutment box                              |
+---------------+-------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| **Refresh**   |   |Key_CTRL|      | Triggers a complete display redraw                        |
|               |   |Plus| |Key_l|  |                                                           |
+---------------+-------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| **Goto**      |   |Key_g|         | *apperture* is the minimum side of the area               |
|               |                   | displayed around the point to go to. It's an              |
|               |                   | alternative way of setting the zoom level                 |
+---------------+-------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| **Zoom**      |   |Key_z|,        | Respectively zoom by a 2 factor and *unzoom*              |
|               |   |Key_m|         | by a 2 factor                                             |
|               +-------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
|               | | |BigMouse|      | You can perform a zoom to an area.                        |
|               | | Area Zoom       | Define the zoom area by *holding down the left            |
|               |                   | mouse button* while moving the mouse.                     |
+---------------+-------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| **Selection** | | |BigMouse|      | You can select displayed objects under an area.           |
|               | | Area Selection  | Define the selection area by *holding down the            |
|               |                   | right mouse button* while moving the mouse.               |
|               +-------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
|               | | |BigMouse|      | You can toggle the selection of one object under          |
|               | | Toggle Selection| the mouse position by pressing |key_CTRL| and             |
|               |                   | pressing down *the right mouse button*. A popup           |
|               |                   | list of what's under the position shows up into           |
|               |                   | which you can toggle the selection state of one           |
|               |                   | item.                                                     |
|               +-------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
|               |   |Key_S|         | Toggle  the selection visibility                          |
+---------------+-------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| **Controller**| |Key_CTRL|        | Show/hide the controller window.                          |
|               | |Plus| |Key_i|    |                                                           |
|               |                   |                                                           |
|               |                   | It's the Swiss Army Knife of the viewer.                  |
|               |                   | From it, you can fine-control the display and             |
|               |                   | inspect almost everything in your design.                 |
+---------------+-------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| **Rulers**    | |Key_k|,          | One stroke on |Key_k| enters the ruler mode, in           |
|               | |Key_ESC|         | which you can draw one ruler. You can exit the            |
|               |                   | ruler mode by pressing |Key_ESC|. Once in ruler           |
|               |                   | mode, the first click on the *left mouse button*          |
|               |                   | sets the ruler's starting point and the second            |
|               |                   | click the ruler's end point. The second click             |
|               |                   | exits automatically the ruler mode.                       |
|               +-------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
|               | |Key_K|           | Clears all the drawn rulers                               |
+---------------+-------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| **Print**     | |Key_CTRL|        | Currently rather crude. It's a direct copy of             |
|               | |Plus| |Key_p|    | what's displayed in pixels. So the resulting              |
|               |                   | picture will be a little blurred due to                   |
|               |                   | anti-aliasing mechanism.                                  |
+---------------+-------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| **Open/Close**| |Key_CTRL|        | Opens a new design. The design name must be               |
|               | |Plus| |Key_o|    | given without path or extention.                          |
|               +-------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
|               | |Key_CTRL|        | Close the current viewer window, but do not quit          |
|               | |Plus| |Key_w|    | the application.                                          |
|               +-------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
|               | |Key_CTRL|        | `CTRL+Q` quit the application                             |
|               | |Plus| |Key_q|    | (closing all windows).                                    |
+---------------+-------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| **Hierarchy** | |Key_CTRL| |Plus| | Go one hierarchy level down. That is, if there            |
|               | |Key_Down|        | is an *instance* under the cursor position, load          |
|               |                   | it's *model* Cell in place of the current one.            |
|               +-------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
|               | |Key_CTRL| |Plus| | Go one hierarchy level up. if we have entered             |
|               | |Key_Up|          | the current model through |Key_CTRL| |Plus|               |
|               |                   | |Key_Down|, reload the previous model (the one            |
|               |                   | in which this model is instanciated).                     |
+---------------+-------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------+


Cgt Command Line Options
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Appart from the obvious ``--text`` options, all can be used for text and graphical mode.

+-----------------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| Arguments                   | Meaning                                        |
+=============================+================================================+
| `-t|--text`                 | Instruct |cgt| to run in text mode.            |
+-----------------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| `-L|--log-mode`             | Disable the uses of |ANSI| escape sequence on  |
|                             | the |tty|. Useful when the output is           |
|                             | redirected to a file.                          |
+-----------------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| `-c <cell>|--cell=<cell>`   | The name of the design to load, without        |
|                             | leading path or extention.                     |
+-----------------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| `-g|--load-global`          | Reload a global routing solution from disk.    |
|                             | The file containing the solution must be named |
|                             | `<cell>.kgr`.                                  |
+-----------------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| `--save-global`             | Save the global routing solution, into a file  |
|                             | named `<design>.kgr`.                          |
+-----------------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| `-e <ratio>|--edge=<ratio>` | Change the edge capacity for the global        |
|                             | router, between 0 and 1 (|Knik|).              |
+-----------------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| `-G|--global-route`         | Run the global router (|Knik|).                |
+-----------------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| `-R|--detailed-route`       | Run the detailed router (|Kite|).              |
+-----------------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| `-s|--save-design=<routed>` | The design into which the routed layout will   |
|                             | be saved. It is strongly recommanded to choose |
|                             | a different name from the source (unrouted)    |
|                             | design.                                        |
+-----------------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| `--events-limit=<count>`    | The maximal number of events after which the   |
|                             | router will stops. This is mainly a failsafe   |
|                             | against looping. The limit is sets to 4        |
|                             | millions of iteration which should suffice to  |
|                             | any design of `100K`. gates. For bigger        |
|                             | designs you may wants to increase this limit.  |
+-----------------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| `--stratus-script=<module>` | Run the Python/Stratus script ``module``.      |
|                             | See `Python Scripts in Cgt`_.                  |
+-----------------------------+------------------------------------------------+


Some Examples :

* Run both global and detailed router, then save the routed design : ::

      > cgt -v -t -G -R --cell=design --save-design=design_kite

* Load a previous global solution, run the detailed router, then save the
  routed design : :: 

      > cgt -v -t --load-global -R --cell=design --save-design=design_kite

* Run the global router, then save the global routing solution : ::

      > cgt -v -t -G --save-global --cell=design


Miscellaneous Settings
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

+---------------------------------------+------------------+----------------------------+
| Parameter Identifier                  |   Type           |  Default                   |
+=======================================+==================+============================+
| **Verbosity/Log Parameters**                                                          |
+---------------------------------------+------------------+----------------------------+
| ``misc.info``                         | TypeBool         | :cb:`False`                |
|                                       +------------------+----------------------------+
|                                       | Enable display of *info* level message        |
|                                       | (:cb:`cinfo` stream)                          |
+---------------------------------------+------------------+----------------------------+
| ``misc.bug``                          | TypeBool         | :cb:`False`                |
|                                       +------------------+----------------------------+
|                                       | Enable display of *bug* level message         |
|                                       | (:cb:`cbug` stream), messages can be a little |
|                                       | scarry                                        |
+---------------------------------------+------------------+----------------------------+
| ``misc.logMode``                      | TypeBool         | :cb:`False`                |
|                                       +------------------+----------------------------+
|                                       | If enabled, assume that the output device     |
|                                       | is not a ``tty`` and suppress any escaped     |
|                                       | sequences                                     |
+---------------------------------------+------------------+----------------------------+
| ``misc.verboseLevel1``                | TypeBool         | :cb:`True`                 |
|                                       +------------------+----------------------------+
|                                       | First level of verbosity, disable level 2     | 
+---------------------------------------+------------------+----------------------------+
| ``misc.verboseLevel2``                | TypeBool         | :cb:`False`                |
|                                       +------------------+----------------------------+
|                                       | Second level of verbosity                     | 
+---------------------------------------+------------------+----------------------------+
| **Development/Debug Parameters**                                                      |
+---------------------------------------+------------------+----------------------------+
| ``misc.traceLevel``                   | TypeInt          | :cb:`0`                    |
|                                       +------------------+----------------------------+
|                                       | Display trace information *below* that level  |
|                                       | (:cb:`ltrace` stream)                         | 
+---------------------------------------+------------------+----------------------------+
| ``misc.catchCore``                    | TypeBool         | :cb:`False`                |
|                                       +------------------+----------------------------+
|                                       | By default, |cgt| do not dump core.           |
|                                       | To generate one set this flag to :cb:`True`   |
+---------------------------------------+------------------+----------------------------+

.. _The Controller:

The Controller
==============

The *Controller* window is composed of seven tabs:

#. `The Look Tab`_ to select the display style.
#. `The Filter Tab`_ the hierarchical levels to be displayed, the look of
   rubbers and the dimension units.
#. `The Layers&Go Tab`_ to selectively hide/display layers.
#. `The Netlist Tab`_ to browse through the |netlist|. Works in association
   with the *Selection* tab.
#. `The Selection Tab`_ allow to view all the currently selected elements.
#. `The Inspector Tab`_ browse through either the DataBase, the Cell or
   the current selection.
#. `The Settings Tab`_ access all the tool's configuration settings.


.. _The Look Tab:

The Look Tab
~~~~~~~~~~~~

You can select how the layout will be displayed. There is a special one
``Printer.Coriolis`` specifically designed for `Printing & Snapshots`_.
You should select it prior to calling the print or snapshot dialog boxes.

|ControllerLook_1|


.. _The Filter Tab:

The Filter Tab
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The filter tab let you select what hierarchical levels of your design will be
displayed. Hierarchy level are numbered top-down: the level 0 correspond to
the top-level cell, the level one to the instances of the top-level Cell and
so on.

There are also check boxes to enable/disable the processing of Terminal Cell,
Master Cells and Compnents. The processing of Terminal Cell (hierarchy leaf
cells) is disabled by default when you load a hierarchical design and enabled
when you load a single Cell.

You can choose what kind of form to give to the rubbers and the type of
unit used to display coordinates.

.. note:: *What are Rubbers:* |Hurricane| uses *Rubbers* to materialize
   physical gaps in net topology. That is, if some wires are missing to
   connect two or more parts of net, a *rubber* will be drawn between them
   to signal the gap.

   For example, after the detailed routing no *rubbers* should remains.
   They have been made *very* visibles as big violet lines...

|ControllerFilter_1|


.. _The Layers&Go Tab:

The Layers&Go Tab
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Control the individual display of all *layers* and *Gos*.

* *Layers* correspond to a true physical layer. From a |Hurricane| point of
  view they are all the *BasicLayers* (could be matched to GDSII).
* *Gos* stands from *Graphical Objects*, they are drawings that have no
  physical existence but are added by the various tools to display extra
  information. One good exemple is the density map of the detailed router,
  to easily locate congested areas.

For each layer/Go there are two check boxes:

* The normal one triggers the display.
* The red-outlined allows objects of that layer to be selectable or not.

|ControllerLayersGos_1|


.. _The Netlist Tab:

The Netlist Tab
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The *Netlist* tab shows the list of nets... By default the tab is not
*synched* with the displayed Cell. To see the nets you must check the
**Sync Netlist** checkbox. You can narrow the set of displayed nets by
using the filter pattern (supports regular expressions).

An very useful feature is to enable the **Sync Selection**, which will
automatically select all the components of the selected net(s). You can
select multiple nets. In the figure the net ``auxsc35`` is selected and
is highlited in the *Viewer*.

|ControllerNetlist_1|
|ViewerNetlist_1|


.. _The Selection Tab:

The Selection Tab
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The *Selection* tab list all the components currently selecteds. They
can be filtered thanks to the filter pattern.

Used in conjunction with the *Netlist* **Sync Selection** you will all see
all the components part of *net*.

In this list, you can toggle individually the selection of component by
pressing the ``t`` key. When unselected in this way a component is not
removed from the the selection list but instead displayed in red italic.
To see where a component is you may make it blink by repeatedly press
the ``t`` key...

|ControllerSelection_1|


.. _The Inspector Tab:

The Inspector Tab
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This tab is very useful, but mostly for |Coriolis| developpers. It allows
to browse through the live DataBase. The *Inspector* provide three entry points:

* **DataBase**: Starts from the whole |Hurricane| DataBase.
* **Cell**: Inspect the currently loaded Cell.
* **Selection**: Inspect the object currently highlited in the *Selection* tab.

Once an entry point has been activated, you may recursively expore all
it's fields using the right/left arrows.

.. note:: *Do not put your fingers in the socket:* when inspecting 
   anything, do not modify the DataBase. If the any object under inspection
   is deleted, you will crash the application...

.. note:: *Implementation Detail:* the inspector support is done with
   ``Slot``, ``Record`` and ``getString()``.
   
|ControllerInspector_1|
|ControllerInspector_2|
|ControllerInspector_3|


.. _The Settings Tab:

The Settings Tab
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here comes the description of the *Settings* tab.

|ControllerSettings_1|


A Simple Example: AM2901
========================

To illustrate the capabilities of |Coriolis| tools and |Python| scripting, a small
example, derived from the |Alliance| :cb:`AM2901` is supplied.

This example contains only the synthetized netlists and the :cb:`design.py` script
which perform the whole P&R of the design. Just lanch |cgt| then execute :cb:`design.py`.