Method and apparatus of producing partial-area mask data files

A method of producing mask data files for an integrated circuit, comprising:

• dividing a full area into a plurality of unit areas;
• producing a full area mask data file based on CAD data of said full area;
• dividing said full area in partial areas, each partial area is an area of an integer times said unit area determined by a divisional number;
• and
• extracting mask data of each of said partial areas from said full area mask data file based on mask top data addresses of respective said unit areas and positional information on said unit areas to produce a partial area mask data file.

A method of producing mask data files for an integrated circuit, comprising:

• dividing a full area into a plurality of unit areas;
• producing a full area mask data file based on CAD data of said full area;
• dividing said full area in partial areas, each partial area is an area of an integer times said unit area determined by a divisional number;
• and
• extracting mask data of each of said partial areas from said full area mask data file based on mask top data addresses of respective said unit areas and positional information on said unit areas to produce a partial area mask data file,
• wherein each of said partial areas is an area of an integer times said unit area and determined based on full area header information so that data amounts of partial area mask data files are substantially equal to one another.