Changing shapes during abutment.

 Hi,

I'm trying to understand using abutFunction in Virtuoso VXL but the manuals aren't clear enough for me. I've taken a look at the example codes in the installationdirectory but still cannot figuere out how to use it properly.

I've created a simple pcell which is an L-shaped object with pins at the ends as an example as below:

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 procedure(  TrialAbutFunc( instA instB pinA pinB dir conn event @optional group )
 prog(  (      result     )

    ;get affected parameters & values

        CellA = instA
        CellB = instB
    pinAoffset  = pinA~>OffsetStretchParam
    pinBoffset  = pinB~>OffsetStretchParam
    printf("    pinAoffset = %L\n" pinAoffset)
    printf("    pinBoffset = %L\n" pinBoffset)
    printf("\n********************\n")

    case(event
      (1 ; Compute offset
              printf(" # Calculating offset\n")

      )
      (2 ; Adjust pcell parameters
              printf(" # Calculating abutment\n")

        ;stretch!
        ;;;StretchTop = 1.3
        ;;;StretchSide = -1.0
        dbReplaceProp(instA pinAoffset "float" 1.3)
        dbReplaceProp(instB pinBoffset "float" -1.0)
                result = t
      )
      (3 ; Adjust pcell parameters back to default
               printf(" # Calculating un-abutment\n")

        dbReplaceProp(instA pinAoffset "float" 0.0)
        dbReplaceProp(instB pinBoffset "float" 0.0)
        result = t
      )
; ;e.g.     (4 ; To get the spacing offset when pins are on different nets
; ;             if( instA~>w > 3.0 && instB~>w > 3.0    then    result = 3
; ;             else    result = 1 )
; ;          );; end of case 4
      (t ; Anything else return a nil

               printf(" # Unknown event!\n")

        result = nil
      )
    ) ;case

    return(result)
 )

) ;TrialAbutFunc

 pcDefinePCell(
  list( ddGetObj("C05L") "AbutTrial" "layout" )
      ( (w 3.5) )
 let(( (cvId  pcCellView) tfId  techInfo   ;tech data
       netT  netS   idT idS                      ;nets & pins
       MAIN TOP SIDE                         ;physical shapes
       (M1    "M1")   (M2    "M2")            ;layers   
     )

     netT = dbCreateNet( cvId "TOP" )
     dbCreateTerm( netT "TOP" "inputOutput" )
     netS = dbCreateNet( cvId "SIDE" )
     dbCreateTerm( netS "SIDE" "inputOutput" )

     MAIN = rodCreateRect( ?layer M1   ?width   w    ?length 7.6 )
     TOP  = rodCreateRect( ?layer M2   ?width   w    ?length 3.5    /*+ StretchTop*/    ) 
     SIDE = rodCreateRect( ?layer M2   ?width w+1.0  ?length 4.8  /*+ StretchSide*/  )

     rodAlign( ?alignObj TOP ?alignHandle "lL" ?refObj MAIN ?refHandle "uL" )
     rodAlign( ?alignObj SIDE ?alignHandle "lL" ?refObj MAIN ?refHandle "lR" )

     idT = TOP ~> dbId
     dbReplaceProp(idT "vxlInstSpacingDir" "list" list("top" "right" "left"))
     dbReplaceProp(idT "vxlInstSpacingRule" "float" 0.8)

     dbReplaceProp(idT "abutClass" "string" cvId~>cellName)
     dbReplaceProp(idT "abutAccessDir" "list" list("top" "right" "left"))
     dbReplaceProp(idT "abutFunction" "string" "TrialAbutFunc")
     dbReplaceProp(idT "OffsetStretchParam" "string" "StretchTop")

     idS = SIDE ~> dbId
     dbReplaceProp(idS "vxlInstSpacingDir" "list" list("top" "bottom" "right"))
     dbReplaceProp(idS "vxlInstSpacingRule" "float" 0.8)

     dbReplaceProp(idS "abutClass" "string" cvId~>cellName)
     dbReplaceProp(idS "abutAccessDir" "list" list("top" "bottom" "right"))
     dbReplaceProp(idS "abutFunction" "string" "TrialAbutFunc")
     dbReplaceProp(idS "OffsetStretchParam" "string" "StretchSide")

     cvId~>lxBlockOverlapCheck=t
 ) ;let
)

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What I'm trying to do is make the pins "TOP" & "SIDE" overlap, and manipulate the M2 layers so the pins are exactly the same dimensions (TOP pin gets taller, SIDE pin gets narrower).

So far I haven't figured out how to put a dimension property on the pin which can be changed during abutment.

Obviously there's a lot of confusion because I've used "OffsetStretchParam" as a string type in the pcell while in the abutting code I'm using it as a floating number type.

I think my goal would be having the properties "StretchSide" & "StretchTop" on the pins (something like idS~>StretchSide == -0.1) but then again, I can't use it to specify the shape of SIDE before the pin is defined.

Can anybody clarify me on this?

Thanks in advance,

I-FAB