What's Good About ADW’s Component Browser for Project Manager? The Secret's in the 16.6 Release!

The 16.6-2015 Allegro Design Workbench (ADW) release contains a significant enhancement that allows traditional Project Manager-based designs to use the same database enabled Component Browser used in ADW projects. Yes, the Component Browser can read the ADW database when editing projects in a Project Manager (non-ADW) flow.

Some designers want to stay in a Project Manager flow using parts from the ADW library database. Librarians use Allegro Library Workbench to build parts, but not all designers use Allegro Design Workbench. Until the 16.6-2015 release, engineers had to adopt the ADW Flow Manager (in Design Workbench) to access the ADW library. The Component Browser in a Project Manager flow could not see the ADW library.

In 16.6-2015, Project Manager flows can be configured to give the Component Browser access to the ADW library (an ADW license will be used). This provides:

• Faster part searches
• Quick Search capability
• Lifecycle and PPL data
• Shopping cart and lists
• Access to the richer ADW dataset on which to search and view
• Access to the component datasheet, using RMB on the part in the search results

The cds.lib file can point to both the local design and the ADW database, however local design cells can only be added in offline mode. Note that the ADW Library and Symbol Revision Manager (LRM/SRM) utility will not function in this mode and that non-PTF properties (those only included in the ADW database) cannot be extracted into a BOM.

Configuration is simple! In the project .cpm file, two entries are needed in a START_COMPBROWSER section: the ADW server URL and port, and a directive that enables or disables online mode:

This section can be controlled through a SITE level project template like any other .cpm file setting. It also works in Allegro FPGA System Planner.

Component Browser is now HotFix/ISR independent (this is only for clients used by design engineers – any update to the ADW server still requires an update to the clients used by librarians). Prior releases required the Cadence tools on the user’s machine and the ADW server to be at the same software revision (ISR). The ADW and SPB versions of the tools must still be compatible.

I look forward to your feedback!

Jerry “GenPart” Grzenia