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Colors |
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On color displays, up to five of the layers can be overlappable, meaning that when they overlap each other, it is possible to see all of them. Typically, the most commonly used layers are overlappable because it is both faster to draw and clearer to distinguish. The remaining layers in a technology are nonoverlappable, meaning that when drawn, they completely obscure anything underneath. These layers typically have stipple patterns so that they do not cover all of the bits. In this way, the nonoverlappable layers can combine without obscuring the display. Since stipple patterns are slower to draw, and since nonoverlapping color does obscure, the less common layers are drawn in this style. When editing colors, the nonoverlappable layers have only one color, whereas the overlappable layers have up to 16 different colors, considering their interaction with other overlappable layers.
The first Colors and Patterns subcommand is Edit Colors..., which presents a color mixing palette in the current editing window. At the top are seven buttons which select the set of colors to edit. The choices are PRIMARIES, SPECIALS, or any of the five overlappable layers (in MOSIS CMOS Submicron, the default technology, these layers are Metal-1, Polysilicon-1, S-Active, Metal-2, and Polysilicon-2). Below the seven selector buttons are 16 color buttons that can be selected and edited.
The seven selector buttons determine the contents of the 16 color buttons. The PRIMARIES selector places the overlappable layers and all combinations of two overlappable layers in the color buttons. The overlappable selectors place all 16 combinations of the overlappable layer in the color buttons. Note that the color buttons use the 1-character abbreviations for layer names that are shown in the selector buttons.
When the SPECIALS selector button is hit, the color buttons have these meanings:
Button Name | Meaning | Default |
Bkgr | Background Color | Grey |
Grid | Grid Color | Black |
High | Highlight Color | White |
FName | Facet Name Color | Black |
FOutl | Facet Outline Color | Black |
Wind | Window Border Color | Black |
HWind | Current Window Border Color | Green |
MnBor | Component Menu Border Color | Black |
HMnBor | Highlighted Component Menu Border Color | White |
MenTxt | Color of Text in Component Menu | Black |
MenGly | Color of Glyphs in Component Menu | Black |
Note that the background color must contrast with both the highlight color and the inverse of the highlight color (the inverse is black in the default settings).
To edit colors, choose a set with a selector button and then choose a particular color button. Below the buttons are the mixing palette: a hue/saturation wheel and an intensity slider. Clicking in the hue/intensity/saturation area affects the current color button.
Another command for color manipulation is Highlight Layer, which prompts for a single layer and changes the colors so that all other layers are dimmer (actually 20% less saturated). The selected layer is thus highlighted on the display.
The Edit Patterns... subcommand allows you to modify stipple patterns associated with each layer. Although many layers are drawn with solid colors on a color display, they all have patterns that are used for hardcopy output. The dialog that appears with this command allows the patterns to be edited, provides a set of predefined patterns, and allows you to determine whether or not the pattern is used on the display. You also have the option of surrounding stippled polygons with a solid line. | ![]() |
There are two color control subcommands that are used to save and restore the color state. Save Colors to Disk prompts for a disk file name and writes the current color information to that file. Restore Colors from Disk reads a color information disk file and makes those the current colors.
The final color subcommands are Restore Default Colors, which resets all colors to the default set for the current technology, Black Background Colors which resets all colors to the default for the current technology but with a black background, and White Background Colors which resets all colors to the default for the current technology but with a white background.
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