Re: Beginner's questions about Electric

[Graham Petley]

Hi Steven,
> >Are libraries all writable? I am struggling to stop
> >corrupting one of the reference libraries copied from
> >the web site.
> 
> Can you be more specific.  What steps are you taking and
> what is the result?
This was connected with attempts to get a "naked" cell
separate from a library. For example, one sequence is
(using my own library pharosc.delib and technology mocmos2).

File>Open Recent Library>/home/graham/electric/pharosc.delib
View>Make Alternate Layout View>mocmos OK
enter pharosc2 for new library name

New window pops up with the original cell but now using mocmos
technology. in this window

File>Save Library

and a message appears in the message window saying pharosc.delib
written (not pharosc2). In fact, I see now that although the cell
in the window is pharosc2:dfnt1x2{lay}, there is also the text

Current library:pharosc.

But in the meantime, the original master library pharosc.delib
has been overwritten...

If you're working with externally supplied libs like the Artisan ones,
you certainly won't want this happening, even accidentally. Maybe the
solution is to set appropriate permissions at the OS level.

Best regards, Graham Petley

--- On Wed, 1/7/09, Steven Rubin <address@hidden> wrote:

> From: Steven Rubin <address@hidden>
> Subject: Re: Beginner's questions about Electric
> To: address@hidden
> Cc: "Graham Petley" <address@hidden>
> Date: Wednesday, January 7, 2009, 5:15 PM
> At 01:06 PM 1/7/2009, you wrote:
> >How can I change the technology of a cell? Up to now, I
> have edited
> >its text file!
> 
> You can use the "Cell Properties" dialog to
> examine a cell's 
> technology.  This does not change the actual components
> inside of the 
> cell...it only changes a technology pointer that is
> associated with 
> the cell.  If you want to convert a cell from one layout
> technology 
> to another, use the "View" menu and convert to an
> alternate layout technology.
> 
> >Is it true that a cell can only exist inside a library?
> I can't seem
> >to save a cell to the working directory.
> 
> This is true.  A library is written to disk as a single
> file, with 
> all of its cells.  There are "project management"
> facilities in 
> Electric that will break a library into single-cell
> libraries so that 
> each cell is in its own disk file, but that file is still a
> library file.
> 
>     -Steven Rubin