MEBES were photo mask ebeam writers by the company Etec Systems Inc. These ebeam writers used to own a proprietary input format. The format is accepted by some mask shops and is used as an exchange file format for a single layer. MEBES versions 1 to 5 exists.
The LayoutEditor supportes MEBES version 1 to 5 as input. As MEBES files have no default file extensions a file type check is not possible by the file name. It is impossible to display MEBES files in the file dialog with the default filter 'supported file formats'. To open a MEBES file, first set the file filter to view all files. You can then choose the MEBES file. The MEBES file is recognized automaticly as a MEBES file. The MEBES version is automaticly detected. All file formats store only one layer; with the open function a new cell is opened and the file data is added to the active layer. With the import function, the file data is added to the current cell on the active layer. An update will replace all elements on the active layer in the current cell with the file data.