How to Change a Net Name

This is a question that comes up once every few months or so: "How do I change the name of a net that I routed by hand? Do I have to delete it and route it again?"

The answer (thankfully) is no. When would you find yourself in this situation? One example is that you hand-routed a complicated analog or power net, and then got a netlist ECO in which the connections didn't change, but the name of the net did. You could always write out a DEF file, edit the net name there, and read the new DEF back in, but there's an easier way.

Here's how to do it:

First, you need to select the wires (and vias) of the net that you want to change the name of:

      editSelect -nets AVDD1
      editSelectVia -nets AVDD1

Then, use the editChangeNet command to rename the net to its new name: (editChangeNet works on the selected net)

      editChangeNet -to AVDD2

Easy!