klayout -ne doesn't highlight array references

[stefanottili]

klayout c.oas
=> display level 1: selecting one array reference highlights the origin reference with its bbox and the nine others with a + on their reference point.

klayout -ne c.oas
=> display level1: selecting one array reference only highlights this one.

The status message is the same in both cases.

test_klayout_display_aref.tgz

[klayoutmatthias]

Hi Stefan,

well, it is that way since the beginning.

The reasoning is that while in edit mode you cannot select parts of an array for modification, in viewer mode it is possible to treat every individual instance of an array as a separate instance. As you cannot modify something in viewer mode, there is not problem with that.

Further, the OASIS reader will keep the iterated instances as arrays in viewer mode. It can do so, because in viewer mode there is no need to differentiate between "intended" arrays and "for compression" arrays if there are not arrays at all.

If the selected instance is inside an array, it will indicate that in the Properties Window:

Matthias

[stefanottili]

in viewer mode it is possible to treat every individual instance of an array as a separate instance

But why ? Especially since in viewer mode nothing can be edited anyways.

I'd rather have klayout show the bbox for the reference instance and the + for all the other array elements.
Have the same highlight behavior for edit and viewer mode.
The status message is the same, the query information is the same, why not the highlight too ?

[klayoutmatthias]

But why ? Especially since in viewer mode nothing can be edited anyways.

Exactly that is why you can select individual instances from an array. With editing, you can only edit the array as a whole. So selecting one instance from an array does not make sense.

The status bar info should different, right.

Maybe it's possible to highlight the whole array too in viewer mode, but I can't guarantee that this doesn't have weird effects with OASIS "for compression only" arrays.

Happy new year,

Matthias

[stefanottili]

The current viewer only behavior violated the “principle of least surprise” for me.
The editor highlights exactly that I want to see, the origin reference bbox and the origins of the other array references. The viewer doesn’t.

Seems like a matter of taste, the viewer behavior gives me less information when debugging gds aref and their oasis repetition equivalents.