General Structure and Miscellaneous Utilities

In the KQCircuits root folder the most important folder for most users is the klayout_package folder, which is also all that is included in the Salt package. Other folders are mainly for automatic tests and documentation. KQCircuits code is divided into the kqcircuits, scripts and requirements folders in klayout_package/python. These three folders are also (after installation process) linked as symbolic links kqcircuits, kqcircuits_scripts and kqcircuits_requirements in the ~/.klayout or ~/KLayout folder.

The kqcircuits folder contains all the KQCircuits elements and many other modules used by them or by scripts. Folders directly under kqcircuits containing Element classes correspond to different Element libraries such as elements, chips, or test structures.

The scripts folder contains macros to be run in KLayout GUI and scripts for generating simulation files or mask files. Usually, these files are not meant to be imported in other Python files. The outputs of simulation or mask scripts can be found in the tmp folder below the main KQCircuits folder.

The requirements folder lists dependent libraries, their versions and their hashes needed for KQCircuits code.

File system hierarchy

High level annotated picture of KQCircuits repository’s different subdirectories:

KQCircuits                      Git repository root
├── ci
├── docs
├── klayout_package
│   └── python                  Salt package
│       ├── drc                 Design Rule Checks
│       ├── kqcircuits          PyPI package
│       │   ├── chips
│       │   ├── elements        Basic Elements
│       │   ├── ...
│       │   ├── layer_config    Layer visualisation
│       │   ├── masks           Lithography mask structure
│       │   ├── simulations     Simulation utilities
│       │   └── util            Other KQC library functions
│       └── requirements        Listed dependencies of KQC
│           ├── linux
│           ├── mac
│           └── win
│       └── scripts
│           ├── macros
│           ├── masks
│           ├── resources
│           └── simulations
├── docs                        Documentation sources
├── singularity
├── tests                       Pytest files
│   ├── chips
│   ├── elements
│   ├── ...
├── util                        Utility scripts

In the KQCircuits root folder the most important folder for most users is the klayout_package folder, which is also all that is included in the Salt package. Other folders are mainly for automatic tests and documentation. KQCircuits code is divided into the kqcircuits, scripts and requirements folders in klayout_package/python. These three folders are also (after installation process) linked as symbolic links kqcircuits, kqcircuits_scripts and kqcircuits_requirements in the ~/.klayout or ~/KLayout folder.

The kqcircuits folder contains all the KQCircuits PCell classes and many other modules used by them or by scripts. Folders directly under kqcircuits containing PCell classes correspond to different PCell libraries such as elements, chips, or test structures.

Note

Element classes must be defined in the folder of the corresponding library, and each file should contain exactly one element class. The class name in CamelCase should match the file in lower case with underscores.

KQCircuits automatically registers all elements that adhere to this convention, see library_helper.py and element.py. For more information about the underlying PCell libraries see the KLayout documentation pages About Libraries, Class Library, and Coding PCells In Ruby (in Ruby).

The scripts folder contains macros to be run in KLayout GUI and scripts for generating simulation files or mask files. The files there are in general not meant to be imported in other Python files. The outputs of simulation or mask scripts can be found in the tmp folder below the main KQCircuits folder.

The requirements folder lists dependent libraires, their versions and their hashes needed for KQCircuits code.

Miscellaneous Utilities

The util folder contains stand alone, self documenting scripts for various practical use cases:

  • check_layer_props Check or update the layer properties file against values taken from KQCircuits’ default_layers variable.

  • create_element_from_path Create a KQCircuits element in KLayout by specifying the path to the file containing the element. This script can be used to integrate with external editors.

  • gdiff Compares a pair of .oas or .gds files or directories containing such files and informs you about differences.

  • get_klayout_python_info is a script designed to be run within KLayout in batch mode, and is used to get KLayout information needed by setup_within_klayout.

  • netlist_as_graph Draw a graph based on a chip’s generated netlist file.

  • oas2dxf Convert .oas to .dxf or the other way around. DXF files are more human readable and may be edited with scripts.

Opening Element or Chip from an IDE

You can use util/create_element_from_path.py to open a Element or Chip in KLayout from your IDE (or just straight from the command-line). The script is used as:

klayout -e -rx -rm util/create_element_from_path.py -rd element_path=kqcircuits/chips/demo.py

And can be easily incorporated as a macro to your IDE. Check the comments in the function on how to use it in PyCharm, Visual Studio Code or Vim/NeoVim. The element_path argument can be given as a file path that starts from *Circuits or klayout_package/python/. The element_path argument can also be given as an absolute path as long as it has *Circuits/klayout_package/python in the path. Use what is easiest to implement for your workflow.