Separate KLayout DRC script and XML wrapper

[mole99]

Currently, the DRC scripts are implemented using a .lydrc file, which is an XML wrapper around the DRC script: https://github.com/IHP-GmbH/IHP-Open-PDK/tree/dev/ihp-sg13g2/libs.tech/klayout/tech/drc

Instead, it would be great if the DRC script could be separated from the wrapper and simply included with # %include.
This would make it possible to run the DRC scripts from within a Ruby or Python script. It is actually possible to run the .lydrc macro directly.

An example of how this works can be found in sky130.
There is one sky130A_mr.drc DRC script that is included in several .lydrc files:

• run_drc_beol.lydrc
• run_drc_feol.lydrc
• run_drc_full.lydrc

By setting the values of global variables, different DRC runsets can be enabled/disabled.

The same approach could be used to combine the sg13g2_maximal and sg13g2_minimal DRC scripts into a single file.

[akrinke]

I agree that a single DRC script would be better because it avoids code duplication. However, due to the way we generate the scripts, some major changes are required. Therefore, it is not a priority for us at the moment.

In the end, it is not so different than for sky130: We have two .lydrc files, they have three. Besides, you can already run the .lydrc scripts from Ruby and Python:

# ruby
RBA::Macro::new(path_to_lydrc).run()

Here is a full example:

# DRC script configuration

unless $drc_script
  $drc_script = __dir__ + "/sg13g2_minimal.lydrc"
end

# END OF CONFIGURATION
######################

expanded_path = File.expand_path($drc_script)

start = Time.now
puts "Start: " + start.to_s

RBA::Macro::new(expanded_path).run()

finish = Time.now
puts "End:   " + finish.to_s

duration = finish - start
minutes = duration.to_i / 60
seconds = duration % 60

puts "Duration: %s%.0f s" % [minutes>0 ? "%d min " % [minutes] : "", seconds]

[mole99]

Thanks for the reply! I've updated my comment above to note that it is possible to run a .lydrc file from Ruby/Python.