* Support for DXF format (reading and writing).
ASCII and binary format are supported. There is an open issue how to
represent layouts with multiple top cells. Currently, the ENTITY section
is always empty and all cells are put into BLOCKS sections. DXF units
will be micron and the database unit must be selected manually when
layouts are read.
* Support for CIF format (reading and writing).
There is an open issue how to deal with paths. By default, CIF states
that paths are supposed to have round ends. Obviously that interpretation
is not commonly used. Options are provided which control how path objects
are read and written.
* Tabs for the layer panel. This feature is explained here.
* Flat cell list and cell list sorting modes. The feature is explained here.
* Dockable tool boxes.
Layer list, cell list, layer toolbox and navigator are now dockable and
can be dragged to another location, torn off the main window or closed
with Qt's standard dockable window controls. The position and the state
of the dockable windows is saved in the settings and session files.
* A ruler embedded in the background image.
Now, a small ruler is embedded into the background which shows the
dimension scale similar to a map. It can be disabled in the setup dialog
on the "Display/Background" page.
* Image quality enhancement by oversampling. The feature is explained here.
* The "Diff" tool. The Diff tool produces a marker database containing a
description of the differences. A detailed description can be found here.
* Snapping to objects is provided as an option for edit mode. In this mode,
the mouse snaps to vertices and edges of visible objects. This mode can
be enabled with the "Objects" checkbox on the "Editor Options" page (F3
key or "Edit/Editor Options" menu).
* The reference point for the placement of instances now is the lower left
point of the placed cell's bounding box, not the origin.
* Dialog geometry persistent now.
Marker, shape and instance browsers now save their geometries and
splitter pane configurations when the application exits.
* Instance placement now uses bbox origin, not cell origin.
This simplifies placement of cells with their origin not aligned with
the content.
* Fill (tiling) tool. The tool is found in "Edit/Utilities/Fill Tool". A
detailed description can be found here.
* In some places, particular in the ruler display string, expressions can
be used. For rulers, the previous display string placeholder scheme is
replaced by the more powerful expression expansion scheme (see Ruler
properties for details).
* Build support for VC++ and Visual Studio 2010. The Windows 64bit build
now is based on that environment. Note: Visual Studio 2010 no longer
supports Windows 2000. To use KLayout on Windows 2000, a legacy build
based on MinGW is provided.