HIERARCHICAL, RULES-BASED, GENERAL PROPERTY VISUALIZATION AND EDITING METHOD AND SYSTEM

A hierarchical, rule-based, general property visualization and editing system, method, and computer program for circuit designs is provided. A general rules dictionary is created or obtained that determines how the rules will be applied to the circuit design hierarchy. A hierarchical graphical user interface serves both as an entry means for the properties of the design components, and as a visualization means to view the resolved effective value of the property for each component or sub-hierarchy. The visualization means also provides a mechanism to view the rule resolution process so a user can view and understand the effects of all the rules that have an effect on the property and can modify the rules settings to obtain the desired effective property value. A property configuration file is output from the visualization tool and input into the simulator armed with the same general rules dictionary.