The first argument selects the data to operate on.

The second argument is either the string global or is a layer address. The rtree name in the third argument must correspond to the value of this argument: some of the rtrees are global, others are per layer.

The third argument is the name of the rtree to search. The following rtrees are available:

name scope description
padstack global padsatck objects (typically used for vias, pins, pads)
subc global subcircuit objects
rat global rat lines
line layer line objects
text layer text objects
polygon layer polygon objects
arc layer arc objects
gfx layer gfx (bitmap/pixmap) objects

Note: rtrees are global to the given scope, e.g. the padstack rtree holds all padstacks (inside and outside of subcircuits) and a layer's line rtree holds all line objects that appear on the given layer (inside and outside of subcircuits).

Optionally four more arguments may be supplied; when present, these are 4 coordinates that specify the bounding box of the search by the x and y coordinates of top left and bottom right corners. When these coordinates are not specified all objects on the rtree is listed.