A system, method and program product that utilizes flat pattern based L3GO elaboration in a hierarchical environment to create a nested conventional layout. A system is provide for processing a glyph layout to generate shapes for use in a VLSI (very large scale integrated circuit) design process, including: a hierarchical pattern search system that matches patterns from a pattern library to a set of glyph data, wherein the patterns have dependencies that cross hierarchical design boundaries; and a target shape generation system that selects patterns from a set of matching patterns and generates associated shapes.