xic-2.5.69  Release notes, 11/30/07
re-release 1/12/08
re-release 5/16/08
re-release 6/22/08

This is the FINAL RELEASE of the xic-2.5 branch.  It consists of a few
bug fixes.

Coming soon:  The xic-3.0 branch.
This will represent a major change (but will be 99% backward
compatible), and will provide some radically new capabilities and
features.


Changes
-------

* Lots of minor code tweeks to avoid warning messages from the
  Coverity source code evaluator.

* The OASIS replication finder was completely rewritten.  The new
  version does a better job.

re-release 1/12/08

* Tweeks to the device extraction system, per customer request.
  Previously, device contact areas were required to touch or overlap
  the unbloated device body region, whether or not a "bloat"
  specification was applied.  Presently, contact areas are required
  to touch or overlap the bloated device body region.

* The basic trapezoid clipping code was updated to better handle
  non-Manhattan geometry and very small features.  In particular,
  "bloat -.001 0" should work sensibly now.

re-release 6/22/08

* The overall font used in GTK versions (not Windows) of Xic and
  WRspice is now set explicitly.  Previously, this was a GTK library
  default, which in many cases seemed too large.

  Thus, the appearance of the application may be different with this
  release.

  Here is how to change the font, if it seems to big or too small.
  The font is set in the file "gtkrc" found in either the startup
  directory, or the startup/default_theme directory.  The startup
  directory is usually /usr/local/lib/xictools/xic/startup, and
  analogous for WRspice.

  In the startup directory, there is a directory named
  "default_theme", containing the distribution gtkrc file (also see
  the README file for more information).  Copy the gtkrc file from
  startup/default_theme into startup.  Edit startup/gtkrc to change
  the font definition.  The startup/gtkrc file will have precedence,
  and will not be clobbered when the software is updated.


Bugs Fixed
----------

* The OASIS CBLOCK compression mechanism was not compatible with other
  readers, making OASIS files with compression non-portable.

  This has been fixed, OASIS files with compression are now portable,
  but

********************
*  WARNING!!!
*
*  OASIS files written with compression by earlier Xic releases are NOT
*  COMPATIBLE with this release, and vice-versa.
********************

  There is an "undocumented" feature to deal with this:
    new variable ReadOldOas (boolean)

    When this variable is set, OASIS files with old erroneous CBLOCK
    records can be read (but correct ones can't be read).  Files
    written will always have correct CBLOCKS.  Thus, with this
    variable set, reading in an old file and writing it out again will
    update the file to the correct format.  Most easily, use the
    Convert panel in the Convert menu to read/write OASIS.

* In the SPIN command, the copy/move logic was reversed from the
  message.

* Fixes to the Show Paths command, it was broken for most operations.

* Fixed a bug in grouping for extraction, caused a netlist error
  occasionally.

* After popping down the Print panel with title bar X button, a
  physical/electrical mode change would cause (harmless) GTK error
  messages to appear on the terminal window (Linux/OS X only).

* Coincident instance testing was not done in some cases when reading
  layout files.

* In the Windows release, if the distribution was installed under a
  directory with a space in the filename (such as "Program Files"),
  Xic/XicII would not find any of the startup or help files.

  This should be corrected now, though it is still recommended that
  the distributions be installed in the default location when
  possible.

re-release 1/12/08

* Current transform rotation angles of 135 and 225 degrees were giving
  incorrect results.

re-release 5/16/08

This should be the final release of the 2.5 branch.  The new 3.0 branch
is ready for alpha testing.

* Somehow, the checksum in OASIS was fouled up.  This was fixed.

* Bloat and Manhattanize operations updated.

* Misc. tiny fixes and updates, mostly uncovered through 3.0 development.
 
re-release 6/22/08

* Fixed a subtle bug in the computational geometry system that could
  cause errors in clipping applied to non-Manhattan geometry.