New available features:
* A script (macro) development environment is now integrated into KLayout.
It features a simple debugger, a syntax highlighting editor. For details
see About Macro Development at http://www.klayout.de/doc/about/macro_editor.html.
* KLayout now features an integrated help system (available through the "Help/Assistant" menu entry).
* Support for libraries. See About Libraries for details.
http://www.klayout.de/doc/about/about_libraries.html
* KLayout now supports parametrized cells (PCells).
There is a cool feature called "guiding shapes". Learn more about that here:
About PCell's (http://www.klayout.de/doc/about/about_pcells.html).
* A basic library is provided adding text generation for example to KLayout.
See About The Basic Library for details.
* The net tracer now allows to use layer combinations (derived by boolean operations)
for the conductive and via layers. See The Net Tracing Feature for details.
* A technology management is integrated into Klayout.
That allows to switch various settings depending on the chosen technology.
See About Technology Management for details about this feature.
* The drawing can now be rotated or flipped without having to modify the layout.
This function can be found in the "Display" menu under "Global Transformation".
* The "background" combination mode allows to erase parts of existing shapes or
add new parts to existing shapes. The background combination mode is available
as a new drop-down button in the toolbar.
* A "cell variant" generation function simplifies hiearchical editing.
See Create Cell Variants for details about this feature.
* General performance improvement of the render.
This has been achieved by bitmap caching of cells and various optimisation measures.
* Images now can be aligned with a layout using landmark points.
The possible image transformations now include shear and perspective distortions.
See Using Landmarks To Align Images
* Images can now be stacked and moved to the bottom and to the top.
The configuration now is stored along with additional configuration data
(i.e. libraries) in a per-user directory in "~/.klayout" on Linux and in the application
data path on Windows. The configuration file now is found there and is called "klayoutrc".
New locations can be added using $KLAYOUT_PATH.
* The database unit of the layout can be changed now in the layout properties page
(menu: "File/Layout Properties").
* Most numeric input boxes now accept formulas,
i.e. "1254+3221" instead of a single value.
* By clicking a on single point multiple times you can now cycle the selection through all objects below the point.
* Layers can be copied (menu: "Edit/Layer/Copy Layer").
* The selection can be duplicated (menu: "Edit/Duplicate" or Ctrl+B).
* The size of the default font can now be adjusted (choose between small (current),
medium and large on the Display/General page of the setup dialog).
* The number of points used for circle interpolation can now be adjusted
on the Application/Circles page of the setup dialog.
* Some changes to make the user interface more consistent, i.e. "Synchonized views"
has been moved to "Display" where most users where expecting it to be.
* The selection now can be moved with the cursor keys in move mode.
* The cell selection dialog allows to specify glob pattern wildcards in the filter box now.
* OASIS CBLOCK compression and strict mode writing is supported now.
* Multiple cells now can be selected in the cell tree. Some functions operate on that set (i.e. delete, copy, hide).
* KLayout now has a LEF/Def import feature. See About LEF/DEF Import for details.
* This feature is somewhat experimental. Feedback is welcome about that feature.
Solved bugs:
* Edit/Select/Disable All not working
This function is supposed to disable all selectable items. Instead, an internal error message is issued.
* Build problems with gcc 4.0
* GDS text size is based on micron instead of user units
Because of this the text object size may not be correct if the user unit is not micron.
* Arrow keys may behave differently
This can be annoying effects if you are used to a particular behavior. On the other hand, moving with
the arrow keys now is possible in move mode.
* -z option works differently
"-z" not is a true "non-GUI" mode, in which no XServer connection is made on Linux. The advantage of this
is that KLayout can be used as a engine on display-less servers. But some scripts depending on MainWindow or
LayoutView objects will not work because these objects are no longer available. The solution will be to
restore the original behavior of "-z" and implement a different, true display-less mode (i.e. "-zz").
* Crash when using custom key bindings on some platforms
On some platforms, apparently Linux and recent Qt versions, KLayout crashes when custom key bindings
are defined and the respective key is pressed.
* Issues with the macro tree
Drag & drop does not work correctly within the macro tree on Windows. KLayout crashes when trying to
open a macro file that is not writable.