Preface

This manual is a language reference for users of the Cadence^® Library Exchange Format (LEF) and Design Exchange Format (DEF) integrated circuit (IC) description languages.

LEF defines the elements of an IC process technology and associated library of cell models. DEF defines the elements of an IC design relevant to physical layout, including the netlist and design constraints. LEF and DEF inputs are in ASCII form.

This manual assumes that you are familiar with the development and design of integrated circuits.

This preface provides the following information:

What's New

For information on what is new or changed in LEF and DEF for version 5.8 see What's New in LEF/DEF.

Typographic and Syntax Conventions

This list describes the conventions used in this manual.

text

Words in monospace type indicate keywords that you must enter literally. These keywords represent language tokens. Note that keywords are case insensitive. They are shown in uppercase in this document, but a keyword like LAYER can also be Layer or layer in a LEF or DEF file.

variable

Words in italics indicate user-defined information for which you must substitute a name or a value.

objRegExpr

An object name with the identifier objRegExpr represents a regular expression for the object name.

pt

Represents a point in the design. This value corresponds to a coordinate pair, such as x y. You must enclose a point within parentheses, with space between the parentheses and the coordinates. For example,

RECT ( 1000 2000 ) ( 1500 400 ).

|

Vertical bars separate possible choices for a single argument. They take precedence over any other character.

[ ]

Brackets denote optional arguments. When used with vertical bars, they enclose a list of choices from which you can choose one.

{ } ...

Braces followed by three dots indicate that you must specify the argument at least once, but you can specify it multiple times.

{ }

Braces used with vertical bars enclose a list of choices from which you must choose one.

...

Three dots indicate that you can repeat the previous argument. If they are used with brackets, you can specify zero or more arguments. If they are used with braces, you must specify at least one argument, but you can specify more.

,...

A comma and three dots together indicate that if you specify more than one argument, you must separate those arguments with commas.

" "

Quotation marks enclose string values. Write quotation marks within a string as \". Write a backslash within a string as \\.

Any characters not included in the list above are required by the language and must be entered literally.