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Two Environment Setup Issues

Kevin Buck

I'm trying to figure out two Cadence environment issues. I have found what I believe are the correct environment variables but the tool doesn't seem to be responding to them.

First issue: scalar expressions are being plotted in Maestro instead of evaluating a number. I've chosen the stability summary 'Add to Outputs' option and I'm used to this just evaluating a number for phase margin and unity gain frequency but for some reason in the environment I'm working in this data evaluates to a wave. I have opened the 'Plot Options' window and unchecked the 'Plot Scalar Expressions' option but it still evaluates as a wave and gets plotted as a figure instead of a number. I've also tried adding the following expressions to my .cdsinit and .cdsenv files but neither works:

envSetVal( "adexl.plotting" "plotScalarExpressions" 'boolean nil )

adexl.plotting plotScalarExpressions boolean nil

Additionally, I also tried setting the plotScalarsAsLine variable to nil although it does not look like this is the variable I'm interested in from the support manual description.

Second issue: schematic view is not the default value populated in the descend window when browsing hierarchies. I'm not using a Maestro view I'm just browsing schematics and when I descend into a block that contains a verilog view it automatically prompts for verilog which is VERY annoying since my muscle memory just strikes the enter key immediately (but I do also like to retain the option of changing the view when I want to). I went to the Options -> Editor window under the Commands tab and changed the 'View Name List' to begin with schematic symbol and so on. When I make this selection I get the desired behavior, namely that the schematic view is selected by default when the descend window opens. I used this to find the altered command in the Cds environment editor and added the following to the .cdsenv file:

schematic viewNameList string "schematic symbol behavioral functional system verilog pld_verilog lai_verilog lmsi_verilog"

This does not change the behavior of the tool, I have to manually change the 'View Name List' option every time I open the tool to get the desired behavior.

I'm using Cadence version 6.1.8-64b.500.9

Parents
  • Marc Heise

    Hi Kevin,

    for the stability scalar output,  do you have any sweeps or corners running?  Can you share your output expression? I found an old report about such an issue but that should be fixed with the version you are running.

    The descend issue, can you please also check the setting of this variable and change it if necessary:    schematic  descendTarget  string  "use viewNameList"
    It's also possible to have a "viewNameList"  property on a cellview, which will override your global envVar, so have a look at the cellview properties  ( "Q") .

    Kind regards,

    Marc

  • Kevin Buck
    in reply to Marc Heise

    I am using a transient simulation in conjunction with the stability simulation to do the analysis at the desired operating point. I specify a time in the actimes option in the transient menu and specify stb in the acnames option.

    The descendTarget variable is set to query user. When I looked in the manual the explanation made it sound like if I change this variable to useNameList I will not be prompted as to which view I want to descend into which I don't want but I will try it. When I look at the cellView properties I don't see any viewNameList option, I have all of the menu boxes checked.

  • Kevin Buck
    in reply to Kevin Buck

    When I change the descendTarget variable some blocks prompt for which view I would like to descend into and some blocks descend into the schematic automatically. The blocks which contain a verilog view still populate verilog as the default view in the descend menu.

  • Marc Heise
    in reply to Kevin Buck

    Hi,

    if you like to be queried, then of course change the "descendTarget" back to "query user"

    I played around with the viewNameList envVar,  it is working for me as expected, but  the schematic had to be closed/reopened to make it effective.

    For the stb output, I'll need to test that. It could be that it behaves differently if it is run via the actimes, creating a waveform object since you can define a list of actimes and get a list back.
    Maybe as a workaround you can apply a "max" or "min"  on the expression which should return a scalar.

    Kind regards,

    Marc

  • Kevin Buck
    in reply to Marc Heise

    Hi Marc,

    If I modify that menu directly it works as expected. The problem is the environment variable in the cdsenv or cdsinit file doesn't seem to accomplish the desired result (that menu doesn't get altered by the viewNameList variable).

  • Marc Heise
    in reply to Kevin Buck

    That would mean the .cdsenv/.cdsinit isn't loaded as expected. Where you load it from? Can you check with the Cdsenv Editor after virtuoso start if the values are loaded?
    I have mine in the virtuoso start directory, but all that file loading can be highly customized. 

  • Kevin Buck
    in reply to Marc Heise

    I have looked in the log file and I have made the modification in the file that is specified there. The value seems to be correct in the Cds environment editor but it is not updated in the menu and the verilog view is still pointed to by default. In the screenshot you can see my Cds environment editor window, the default state of the descend window and the editor options window from the schematic GUI. I've generated this screenshot from a fresh Cadence session.

  • Marc Heise
    in reply to Kevin Buck

    Do you control the schematic via a "config"? That would influence the viewNameList as well.

  • Kevin Buck
    in reply to Marc Heise

    No, I'm just opening a read only version of the analog top level and descending through the hierarchy from there. There are no maestro or ADE tools open.

Reply
  • Kevin Buck
    in reply to Marc Heise

    No, I'm just opening a read only version of the analog top level and descending through the hierarchy from there. There are no maestro or ADE tools open.

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