Patent ID: 7178123

Claim:
A method for processing a netlist describing a circuit as a plurality of cell instances interconnected by nets for carrying signals between the cells, to generate a display of a schematic diagram depicting the circuit including a representation of each cell instance and representations of nets interconnecting the cells instances, and for responding to user input requesting the schematic diagram display to zoom in and pan, the method comprising the steps of: a. processing the netlist to determine positions within the schematic diagram for the representations of the cell instances; b. generating a display of the schematic diagram including representations of cell instances residing at the positions determined at step a, wherein the schematic diagram display excludes representations of the nets; and c. responding to user input requesting the schematic diagram display to zoom in to a smaller first portion of the schematic diagram displayed at step b by determining routes for any representations of nets to be connected to representations of cell instances residing within that second portion of the schematic diagram for which routes have not been previously determined, and then displaying the first portion of the schematic diagram including representations of cell instances and nets.