Tips for Opening Cadence Help

19 Feb 2009 • 1 minute read

[Welecome back the Tech Pubs team as guest bloggers]

Sometimes you just need a little help -- fast. Like right now; or even yesterday. Here is the UNIX command to get you the online help you need for Specman and Incisive Enterprise Simulator XL (IES-XL) ASAP:

% product-install-dir/tools/cdnshelp/bin/cdnshelp &

If the "tools" directory is in your path, you can also simply enter the command cdnshelp. However, if you are set up to use more than one product, be advised that the Help that is displayed is for the first Cadence installation in your path.

FYI, the Help installation for Enterprise Manager differs slightly from other Cadence Help installations, so to "fly direct", use this command:

% cdnshelp $VMANAGER_HOME/doc/xmlreg/ee.lbr

There's more:
The combined Help for IES-XL lets you view and search across all the help for all of IES-XL -- the simulator, Incisive Verification Kits with Methodology, Specman, and Enterprise Manager in Desktop Mode — all in one browser. Specifically, if IES-XL is installed in a standard hierarchy, you can view the combined Help by entering the following command:

% cdnshelp IES-XL-installdir/SPMN82/doc/ieslib.lbr

(If your IES-XL hierarchy is non-standard, you can still use this command as long as you edit the "ieslib.lbr" file to correct the paths in it.)

The following picture shows the IES-XL combined Help window. At the very top is a Google-style search box where you can fire away with keywords, and even search for single characters. For people who like to navigate the docs old school style, there is the classic “tree view” (click on View—Navigation—Tree View) where you will see the combined Help for the whole IES-XL enchilada in the same browser window.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/24605532@N08/3294383798/" title="IES-XL docs search box and tree view by jvh3, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3328/3294383798_577f09e186_o.gif" width="345" height="377" alt="IES-XL docs search box and tree view" /></a>

We hope this information, um, helps you find what you are looking for quickly and efficiently.

The Tech Pubs Team