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Hierarchy and layers

Hierarchy​

The hierarchy sidebar shows the open cell, its scopes, and the instances nested inside it. Select a scope before placing an instance to choose where the new call goes in the source.

The depth controls limit how many levels of hierarchy are drawn. When a child is collapsed to its bounding box, those edges are what std::layout::bbox(instance) refers to in the source, and a dimension drawn to one of them is written with that call.

Opening a child from the hierarchy opens it with the exact arguments of that instance.

Set as Top Cell shows that child in every view, and lasts until you return with Shift+E in the schematic view, or descend elsewhere. The step is kept by its scope across compiles, so editing the source does not undo it.

Layers​

The layer sidebar lists the layers in the active technology file. Pick a visible, valid layer before drawing.

Per layer, the technology file controls:

  • Fill and border colors.
  • Border width and line style.
  • Visibility and validity.
  • Grouping, and whether a group starts expanded.
  • Stipple and line patterns.
  • Transparency, markings, and animation.

An invalid layer can be shown but not drawn on. Hiding a layer hides its geometry without changing the source.