Symbol view
The symbol view shows the symbol of the cell on screen, at its origin over the grid. Press V from the schematic view or Shift+V from the layout view, or click Symbol in the view control.
Every pin is drawn with its port's name, whether or not its pin call asked for a label, so a pin can always be identified. inst_name shows the instance name of the last descend step, or X? at the open cell, and param shows the value the cell was compiled with.
Generated symbols
A cell that draws no symbol shows its generated box, locked. Its pins are the cell's ports: supplies on top, grounds on the bottom, and the rest split between the left and right sides. The drawing tools are disabled until the box is made the cell's own.
Create Symbol, in either sidebar, writes the box as std::symbol calls with the same pins, so the wires of every parent stay where they are. The pins get label=true, so their names move beside the pins. For a cell inv with ports a and out, the source gets:
std::symbol::rect(x0=0., y0=-4., x1=4., y1=0.);
std::symbol::inst_name(x=0., y=1.);
std::symbol::text("inv", x=0., y=-5.);
std::symbol::pin(a, x=0, y=-2, label=true);
std::symbol::pin(out, x=4, y=-2, label=true);
Create Symbol is refused when the cell already draws a symbol, or when a port cannot be named from the cell body, and says which ports those are.
Drawing
Each tool writes one std::symbol call at the end of the cell body, naming the module by its full path. Shapes and text snap to quarter grid units, and pins to whole grid units, so a parent's wires meet them on the grid. Float coordinates are written with the fewest digits that read back as the same value, always with a point, and keywords at their defaults (fill=false, size=1., align=Left) are left out.
| Tool | Key | Gesture | What the source gets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Line | L | Click each point. Double-click or Enter finishes; Backspace drops the last point. | std::symbol::line([(-4., 0.), (-2., 0.)]); |
| Polygon | P | Click each point. Double-click or Enter closes it. | std::symbol::polygon([(-2., 2.), (-2., -2.), (2., 0.)]); |
| Rectangle | R | Click one corner, then the opposite one. | std::symbol::rect(x0=0., y0=-4., x1=4., y1=0.); |
| Circle | C | Click the center, then a point on the circle. | std::symbol::circle(x=2.25, y=0., r=0.25); |
| Arc | A | Click the center, the start, and the end. The arc runs counterclockwise, and its angles snap to 5°. | std::symbol::arc(x=0., y=0., r=1., start=90., end=270.); |
| Text | T | Type the text in the right sidebar, then click to place it. The sidebar also offers the instance name and each cell parameter. | std::symbol::text("VDD", x=1., y=3.);, std::symbol::inst_name(x=2., y=2.);, or std::symbol::param("w", w, x=2., y=-2.); |
| Pin | N | The first port without a pin is chosen, and Tab cycles through the others; clicking a missing port in the left sidebar picks it. A click places the pin with its name, and the tool moves on to the next port without a pin. | std::symbol::pin(a, x=-4, y=0, label=true); |
New items are drawn as ghosts until the recompiled result arrives.
Editing
In the select tool (S), drag an item or a pin to move it, or drag one of a selected item's handles to reshape it: a point of a line or polygon, a corner of a rectangle, the radius of a circle, or an end of an arc. Shift+click adds to the selection. Clicking an item that a function drew, such as one of std::symbol::nmos's, selects the whole group, and the properties panel names the call that drew it.
| Gesture | What the source gets |
|---|---|
| Move or reshape | Every coordinate of the item rewritten: x= and y=, the corners, the radius, the angles, or the points of a line or polygon |
| X, Shift+X | The selection rotated by 90° or mirrored left to right about its center, snapped to the grid, with every coordinate rewritten. Mirroring reverses an arc and swaps Left and Right alignment, so text stays beside what it labels. |
| Edit a value in the properties panel | That argument rewritten or inserted: fill, size, align, the text, or a pin's label |
| Delete, Backspace | The item's statement, or for a group, the statement of the call that drew it |
Moving a pin moves the wire ends in every parent that places the cell, since routes end at pins. The properties of a pin say so.
Cmd+C copies the selected items, and Cmd+V pastes them with the corner of their bounds at the pointer, snapped to quarter grid units. Pins and the items a function drew are not copied, since a port has one pin and a group comes from its call.
An item drawn by a function or placed by an expression is locked: it is drawn muted, it has no handles, and the properties panel says why. A group can only be deleted when the call that drew it is a whole statement in the cell body.
Sidebars
The left sidebar lists the cell's ports in port order, each marked as pinned or missing. Clicking a pinned port selects its pin and brings it into view; clicking a missing port, which is marked in red since it has no position on the canvas, picks it for the pin tool. A generated symbol shows the Create Symbol button here.
The right sidebar offers the text tool's placeholders, the name prompt of the text tool, and the properties of the selection: the item's kind and bounds, every argument of its call, the group a function drew, and whether it is locked. Each argument is editable in place: click it, or press Q for the first, type the new value, and press Enter.
Navigation
Panning, zooming, and fitting work as in the schematic view. Shift+V returns to the schematic view, V goes on to the layout view, and Esc drops the shape being drawn, leaves the tool, or clears the selection.