Current Density Tab Preferences

Select Edit > Preferences from the Current Density tab main menu to modify the behavior of the Current Density tab. Changes to your preferences also affect future Current Density tab instances.

General

The General pane is only available for 2D views.

2D Scale Calculation

Calculate Independent Scale for each Level: Selecting this option causes the display scale to be recalculated each time you change levels. The scale will be based on the values displayed on the present level. If this option is not selected, one scale is used for all metal levels.

2D Via Mesh Display

Via Shows on Both Top and Bottom: This option only applies when your view is set to Mesh Type. Select this option if you wish to display the meshing for both the top and bottom levels of a via. If this option is not selected, then the via meshing is only displayed at the bottom of the via.

Overlapped Metal Display

Show metal from below:This setting applies to metal traces which have been simulated using the TrueVolume metal model. TrueVolume metal traces are partitioned into multiple, stacked, metal volumes in the Z-direction. Each metal volume carries volume current. This setting controls whether the volume current above the present 2D metal level is displayed. If this setting is enabled, volume current below the present 2D metal level is displayed. If this setting is disabled, volume current above the present 2D metal level is displayed.

New View

Initial View Type

Select this option to change your initial view between a 2D Current View and 3D Current View.

New view from an existing view

This section applies when you create a new view from an existing view. For example,  if you are viewing a 2D plot and you select View > New 2D Current View or View > 3D Current View. The settings in this section determine if the new view will show surface or volume current density (or charge density if you were viewing a charge density plot). The two choices are explained below:

  • Display surface for 2D and volume for 3D: The new view will always show surface current/charge for new 2D views and volume current/ charge for new 3D views.
  • Keep response of existing view: The new view will show surface current/charge if the original view was surface current/charge and it will show volume current/charge if the original view was volume current/charge.

Print

Print preferences allows you to define the appearance of printouts when using File > Print from any tab.

Keyboard

Keyboard Preferences allow you to define keyboard commands for the type of tab you have open. To define a shortcut key for a menu command, you enter the desired key sequence in the Key text entry box for that command. If the key combination you enter is already in use by the software, you will receive a warning before the change is applied. You may choose to go ahead with the assignment by clicking the Remove and Reassign button, or click the Do Nothing button and no changes are made.

If you change a shortcut key for a command that is common among multiple tab types, the change will apply to all tab types.

To see a list of existing shortcuts, click the List Assigned Shortcuts button. A window appears listing all assigned keys.

You may export your shortcut keys to share with another user by clicking the Export button and saving a shortcut bindings file (.bnd). Click the Import button to import a shortcut bindings file.

Hints/Tips

Sonnet will occasionally pop up a hint, notice or assistant to help you with a particular feature. These pop-ups include a checkbox which allows you to prevent that hint, notice, or assistant from popping up in the future. For example, the Component Assistant window contains a checkbox labeled "Do not use this assistant again." If you select the checkbox, the Component Assistant will no longer automatically pop-up. If you wish to re-enable the pop-ups that you disabled, press the Reset All button.

Hover Over Tips

By default, pausing your cursor (sometimes called "hovering") over different objects in Sonnet causes a tooltip to appear which contains information about that object. The Hover Over Tips section allows you to disable some or all tooltips. Also, you may adjust the length of time before tooltips appear and the duration of time you would like them to be shown.