Hints, Tips and Solutions – September 2004

Q: How can I become a more efficient user of Expert?

A: Maximize my layout viewing area Default screen layout with many toolbars around is sometimes inconvenient; layout area can be maximized as desired by the user. You may switch control bars on/off. Layer Bar is resizable, both in height and in width. Also toolbars can be docked/undocked or dragged into another location or completely turn off depending upon user’s desire.

Window Arrangements: To simply the management of opened windows, the Window submenu provides features that automatically arrange windows to suit your needs into different arrangements i.e Cascade, Tile, Tile Vertically and Tile horizontally.

Shortcuts: It is possible to assign keyboard shortcuts to all menu commands, so that the commands maybe quickly executed by hitting the associated key instead of selecting them from Menu. Also if you click the right-mouse button inside the layout window, the custom menu appears and it contains a user-definable list of commands.

Scripting Repetitive Tasks: Repetitive tasks or a series of commands can be easily be scripted using LISA and can be executed when desired, hence saving time by automating the execution of those commands rather than individually executing them every time.

Edit in Place: Allows the user to select and edit an instance of a cell at any level of hierarchy within the current cell which is open in Expert. During Edit in place session you may enter into a cell instance, then enter into another instance what belongs to first instance and so on, going deeper and deeper into hierarchy.

Q: How can I navigate through my layout?

A: You can navigate through your layout by doing the following:

a. Project Tree:
Project Tree (Hierarchy -> Explorer -> Project Tree) helps to view the libraries being used in addition to the actual hierarchy of a specific cell being used in a layout. This is a convenient tool for fast loading, editing, or inspecting any desired cell instance or primitives at any level of hierarchy.