QCADesigner Documentation

Managing Layers

Layers allow for a separation of objects into different groups which can be manipulated together. Layers also separate different objects by virtue of their type, i.e. cells go into cell layers. Layers exsist for cells (), drawing objects (), substrates (), etc. The present listing of layers can be viewed by pulling down the layers pulldown.

As you can see the present design consists of seven layers. Notice that the last four layers are cell layers and are displayed with the icon. When a layer is set visible, the objects in that layer are displayed in the design area. When a layer is set active, the user can manipulated the objects in that layer. Of course when a layer is not visible it is also not active.

Layer Ordering

The order in which layers appear in the layers list is important for cell layers becuase it determines their physical relation to one another, i.e. one layer of cells is directly above another but below yet another. To reorder the list of layers click the reorder button in the layers toolbar. Once the layers list pops up you can drag and drop layers to achieve the correct order as shown below.

The cell layer which appears at the top most position in the list is considered to be at the lowest physical location. Layers appearing below this layer are considered to be physically stacked on top of this layer.

Creating a New Layer

To create a new layer click the button in the toolbar. The new layer dialog will pop up.

In this dialog you can set the layer type, layer status, and layer description (which is the layer name), as well as the default properties for that particular layer. When satisfied with the new layer click ok.

Deleting a Layer

To delete the presently selected layer click the button.

Concentrating On A Layer

When working for a protracted period of time with a certain layer, you may want to make sure that no other active layer interferes with your work. To this end, you can quickly hide all layers except the selected one, by pressing Ctrl+H, or by choosing "Main Menu:Tools→Hide All But The Selected Layer".