passing string values to TRAN as dynamic parameter

Hi,

I have seen something related in https://support.cadence.com/apex/ArticleAttachmentPortal?id=a1O3w000009TM2nEAG&pageName=ArticleContent about Spectre accepting strings as dynamic parameters but since there an enhancement is mentioned about GUI implementation - and I'm planning on using a GUI for this - I thought I better ask directly here.

Maybe my use case is different though and there are other reasons why I'm not succeeding.

I have a verilog-A model that takes in a file to read some settings (basically, bit bus values). There is a

parameter file_name;

statement in the verilog-A code, so that file_name pops up at CDF/Properties dialog level once I instantiate the block in a schematic. In the CDF I define that field to be "parse as CEL" (and also "parse as Number" , this one is probably useless) because there are instances in which I desire to instantiate this verilog-A block as part of a larger schematic and want to be able to refer to file_name from a top level, meaning I will use "pPar("my_new_field")" inside the properties field for file_name. I have found that I *have* to declare file_name to be parsed as CEL, otherwise the string "pPar..." is taken literally and the mechanism does not work.

If, instead, I desire to use a direct file name, all I need to do is to insert it in quotes. This way, the parameter is correctly taken up as a string and everything works fine.

Now, I would like to be able to change the file I'm reading dynamically during a simulation. I would have a "backup" solution where I just define a second parameter in my verilog-A file and based on certain conditions I will just read from this second file, for instance on a clock rise or after a certain simulation time.

However, what I'm trying to accomplish now is just changing it as I would change another dynamic parameter in the TRAN simulation. I found that this does not work, gives me kinds of errors I cannot really understand so first of all I'm wondering whether such use-case is foreseen at all?

Leaving aside verilog-A model implementation and imagining some variable is stored in ADE Explorer as a string, is it possible to change it and to have it properly handled by the TRAN dynamic parameter GUI? Is there some basic limitation I should be aware of? Maybe I'm just misusing the tool?

Thanks for any hints on this,

Michele