[Magic-dev] batch mode / no window

[R. Timothy Edwards]

Dear Clint,

> In the tcl tutorial, it says that you can use the -nowindow option to
> magic to use it in batch mode, i.e., without a window.  I am
> interested in writing some command-line scripts that I could use to
> extract magic files, calma write, etc.  I tried the -nowindow option,
> however, and all of the graphical windows still popped up...

I haven't updated the Tcl tutorial recently.  Actually, I have put
all the tutorials online, and am in the process of updating them,
but I have only worked up to tutorial #5 so far.  Anyway, the
proper invocation now requires "magic -dnull".  In the latest versions
of magic there is a subtle difference between "-dnull" and "-d null".
The best bet for a script is to use:

   #!/bin/sh
   magic -dnull -noconsole << EOF
   drc off
   box 0 0 0 0
   # (put your magic and Tcl commands here)
   quit -noprompt
   EOF

"drc off" is useful to keep magic from trying to run DRC on every
cell it loads.  "box 0 0 0 0" establishes the box;  otherwise, there
are a number of layout commands that won't work.

There's a more substantial example script at

   http://www.opencircuitdesign.com/magic/

Click on "Using Magic" and then, from the table of contents, click on
"Script Invocation".

					Regards,
					Tim

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| Dr. R. Timothy Edwards (Tim)   | email: tim.edwards at multigig.com     |
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