GDS2 Viewer

The GDS2 Viewer loads standard GDSII/GDS2 streams, parses the database units, layers, cells, and primitives, and renders them for inspection. It emphasizes accurate geometry rendering, layer visibility, and hierarchy traversal to support layout validation, mask preparation, and design reviews. By converting database units to user units and applying a clear layer-to-color mapping, engineers can quickly understand how a layout is organized across layers and cells. The tool supports zooming, panning, and selective layer filtering to focus on regions of interest without data loss. It also provides basic metrics such as polygon counts, total area, and layout extents to quantify complexity and verify design rules during early validation. A lightweight export path enables saving snapshots and data for documentation and collaboration. Conceptually, it treats a GDSII file as a set of drawable tiles with associated layers, and uses a painter order that preserves geometry fidelity while enabling fast interaction. The value proposition is to reduce reliance on desktop CAD installations, accelerate early-stage checks, and improve cross-team communication by offering a faithful, reusable view of mask data. Use cases include pre-tapeout reviews, design-for-manufacturing checks, and layout provenance discussions where quick, repeatable viewing and data export are essential.