Patent ID: 8640079

Claim:
A method for searching and replacing graphical objects in a graphical layout circuit design using a computer system, the method comprising: searching the graphical layout circuit design for all matching instances of graphical objects that match a graphical object used as a search pattern; receiving user input in a graphical interface, the user input graphically modifying the graphical object used as the search pattern and specifying the modified graphical object to be a graphical replacement pattern; causing a simultaneous display of at least a portion of the search pattern and at least a portion of the replacement pattern in the graphical interface, wherein the graphical modification includes spatially moving at least one of the displayed search pattern portion and the displayed replacement pattern portion relative to the other within the graphical interface to define a relative distance between the displayed search pattern portion and the displayed replacement pattern portion, replacing one or more of the matching instances in the graphical layout circuit design with the graphical replacement pattern, such that the replacement pattern is positioned relative to the at least one matched instance based on the defined relative distance; and causing a display of at least one result of the replacement of the one or more matching instances on a display device.