OpenAccess Interface

The following !set variables affect the OpenAccess interface. These variables have no effect unless the OpenAccess plug-in is loaded.

OaLibraryPath
Value: string.
This can specify a path to a directory, which will be searched if a library can not be found. When opening a library, and the library is not found in the lib.defs (or cds.lib) file, the system will look for the library as a subdirectory of the directory path specified in this variable, if any. This allows use of OpenAccess libraries that are hidden from other tools.

OaDefLibrary
Value: string.
This can be set to the name of a library in the OpenAccess lib.defs (or cds.lib) file, or a subdirectory of the OaLibraryPath if any. This will be used as the default library in certain commands, if no other library is given. Presently, the !oabrand, !oasave, and !oaload commands use this.

OaDefTechLibrary
Value: string.
This can be set to the name of a library in the OpenAccess lib.defs (or cds.lib) file, or a subdirectory of the OaLibraryPath if any. When a library is created, it will attach the technology database associated with the library name found in this variable, if set. If the named library has an attached technology, the same attachment will be applied to the new library. Otherwise, the new library will attach the local technology database of the named library.

OaDefLayoutView
Value: string.
This sets the view name assumed for physical data in OpenAccess. When not set, the default is ``layout''. This variable tracks an entry area in the OpenAccess Defaults panel.

OaDefSchematicView
Value: string.
This sets the view name assumed for schematic data in OpenAccess. When not set, the default is ``schematic''. This variable tracks an entry area in the OpenAccess Defaults panel.

OaDefSymbolView
Value: string.
This sets the view name assumed for symbol data in OpenAccess. When not set, the default is ``symbol''. This variable tracks an entry area in the OpenAccess Defaults panel.

OaDefDevPropView
Value: string.
This provides a default name for a simulator-specific view from which device properties are obtained. Often these peoperties are in a format intended for a specific simulator. If not set, the default is ``HspiceD'', which assumes the Hspice simulator, to which the WRspice simulator has compatibility. This variable tracks an entry area in the OpenAccess Defaults panel.

OaDmSystem
Value: string.
If this variable is set to a string starting with `t' or `T', OpenAccess will be set to use the Turbo design management system. Otherwise, OpenAccess will use the default FileSys system. Compatibility with Cadence seems to require use of the FileSys system. The Turbo system is claimed to have higher performance. The format of information stored on disk is very different in the two approaches. Supposedly, this should be invisible to the OpenAccess user.

OaDefTechLibrary
Value: boolean.
If this variable is set when a parameterized cell is opened in OpenAccess, the CDF data for the cell will be dumped to a file in the current directory. The file name is the cell name with a ``.cdf'' extension. This is for development/debugging.

OaUseOnly
Value: string.
This variable can be used to limit data imported from and exported to OpenAccess to physical only or electrical only. The variable tracks the state of the Data to use from OA radio group in the OpenAccess Libraries panel.

If set to ``1'', or to any text starting with `p' or `P', only physical layout data will be read from or written to OpenAccess. If set to ``2'', or to any text starting with `e' or `E', only electrical data (schematic and symbol) will be read or written. If not set, or set to anything else, both physical and electrical data will be read or written.

The restriction applies to conversion to and from OpenAccess, by any method in Xic.

One useful observation is that one can import a schematic from Virtuoso even if no provision has been made to export pcells. Unless the Express PCell feature is enabled in Virtuoso, conversion of Skill-based pcells will fail as they can not be evaluated outside of the Cadence environment. The Express PCell feature makes available a cache of pre-built sub-masters that can be exported. Without this, attempting to import physical data will produce a lot of errors, which can be avoided if only a schematic is needed by importing electrical data only.