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Recommended best practice for a User Interface GUI to control a pCell?

codetonic

I have a power grid pcell with stretch handles for width and height.

I also want to have a GUI for controlling the layer levels such as bottom most layers, top most layers, etc. 

The "Edit Instance Properties" (instance query) could work but it doesn't seem very elegant.

What is the best way to implement the user interface? In the code body of the pcell or as a standalone skill program?

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  • Hi Michael,

    The PCell can/should only be affected by its parameters, so you should create new parameters for the top-most and bottom-most layer(s) - these can be made to be presented as cyclic parameters for ease of entry for the user, but they will be string parameters (radio and cyclic CDF fields result in a string value). The PCell 'engine' can be a procedure that accepts all of the relevant parameters and creates the appropriate output. Call this procedure from inside the pcDefinePCell statement. Then the 'engine' can be tested separately, outside of the PCell environment - this is very handy for testing, development and debugging. This method is called 'encapsulation'. I quite often create the CDF parameters FROM the PCell parameters so that they are in sync, but at the very least I would recommend coding the CDF alongside the PCell itself so they tie together well.

    In short though, the PCell is controlled by its parameters, so you will need parameters to control the layers.

    I hope that this helps you.

    Best regards,

    Lawrence.
Reply
  • Hi Michael,

    The PCell can/should only be affected by its parameters, so you should create new parameters for the top-most and bottom-most layer(s) - these can be made to be presented as cyclic parameters for ease of entry for the user, but they will be string parameters (radio and cyclic CDF fields result in a string value). The PCell 'engine' can be a procedure that accepts all of the relevant parameters and creates the appropriate output. Call this procedure from inside the pcDefinePCell statement. Then the 'engine' can be tested separately, outside of the PCell environment - this is very handy for testing, development and debugging. This method is called 'encapsulation'. I quite often create the CDF parameters FROM the PCell parameters so that they are in sync, but at the very least I would recommend coding the CDF alongside the PCell itself so they tie together well.

    In short though, the PCell is controlled by its parameters, so you will need parameters to control the layers.

    I hope that this helps you.

    Best regards,

    Lawrence.
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