Sending SKILL commands to a running instance of ICFB

I have seen similar issues. Best to contact customer support with the specific examples, or alternatively write the SKILL statements to a file, and then just send load("/path/to/the/file.il") instead - that way you are not over-loading the IPC channel.

Regards,

Andrew.

Dear Andrew,

Thank you. I have contacted the customer support and I gave them the little testcase above.

I will wait for their answer, but your work around of writing the commands to a file should be a robut solution I guess. Thanks for the idea.

Best regards.
Stéphane.

Here is the work around that work wery well on the first tests:

 #!/usr/bin/perl

# load("test.il")

#Flushes the perl STDOUT buffer after each print:
$|=1;

print "cv=deGetEditCellView() ";
print "cw=hiGetCurrentWindow() ";
print "geDeleteAllHilightSet(cv) ";
print "hiZoomIn(cw list(-10:-10 10:10)) ";
print "hlSetId = geCreateHilightSet(cv \'(\"y1\" \"drawing\")) ";
print "hlSetId->enable = t ";

#Draws a disk with thousands of rays.
#The Skill commands are buffered to a unix temp file. The temp file is
#then loaded in dfII with a "load" command.
$output="test_cmd.il";
open(TMPFILE, ">$output") || die ("*** Error: Can't open $output !\n\n");
for ($j = 1; $j <= 3.141*2000; $j++) {
  $x2=10*cos($j/1000);
  $y2=10*sin($j/1000);
  print TMPFILE "geAddHilightLine(hlSetId list(0:0 $x2:$y2)) \n";
}
close(TMPFILE) || die "Can't close $output !";

print "load(\"test_cmd.il\") ";
print "hiRedraw(cw) ";

Best regards.
Stéphane.

Thank you so much all of you, my "emacs -> icfb communication" dream is so close to become true !

Since I know 'skill language, I've always wanted to be able to launch my code direcly from emacs rather than 'middle-click paste' or 'load "myFile.il"' . Like in gnuplot-mode with :'Send line to gnuplot' 'Send line & move forward' ''Send region to gnuplot'' and 'Send buffer to gnuplot. Here I am describing the features I want in gsimard futur skill-mode. Guillaume, could you do that for me please ? I am not asking you, but begging you, imploring you, respecting you so much for sharing this futur skill-mode.el.

I've heard  a long time ago about a similar feature so called 'gate to opus. But I have never been able to find/use it. I have meerly tried also a former skillmode4.4 made by Jonas jarnestrom. That mode looked very powerfull but had no syntax highlight (or I was using it uncorrecly...). I now use a skillMode.el ; created    07/02/07 by M.Masa, but it is not enough powerfull.

I am mastering emacs shortcut, but I never write code in emacs lisp (unfortunatly) but it is so similar to skill that I should be able to do so. Actualy skill and emacs-lisp came from the same lisp parser... is that right Andrew ?

Here coms my contribution : I have done as Stephane A has sugested :

;; load "test.il" ;; in ICFB
procedure(socketHandler(ipcId data)
  printf("COMMAND: %L\n" data)
  evalstring(data)
)
ipcBeginProcess("emacs" "" 'socketHandler)

loading this file in icfb opens an emacs. I this emacs I open a file.el in Emacs-lisp mode in which I have the following lines :

(send-string-to-terminal "pwd")
(send-string-to-terminal " println(\"hello\") \n")
(send-string-to-terminal "pwd()")
(send-string-to-terminal " println(\"world\\n\")")
(send-string-to-terminal " println(\"!\")")
(send-string-to-terminal " printf(\"Hello\\n\\t World!\")")

 Then I 'Evaluate buffer' (or C-x C-e on every line) and ! magic ! icfb prints :

COMMAND: "pwd println(\"hello\") \npwd()"
COMMAND: " println(\"world\\n\") println(\"!\") printf(\"Hello\\n\\t World!\")"
"world\n"
"!"
Hello

 Do you see my problem ? First, there is a missing "World!" not printed,icfb expecting a Return or something. Second, I have tobackslash every dbl quote. I suppose it could be treated with some emacs macro (still I don't know how, due to my too few knowledge in emacs-lisp). Third problem : pwd is probably evaluated, but it is not outputed in the icfb window...

Any hints we be welcomed.

gsimard said:

To Andrew: Maybe someday I'll come up with my own emacs mode for skill, if that's so I'll release the source code ;)

I am, as you might have understood, eagerly expexting your release. I will be please to help you to develop such mode Guillaume, but I am more an anlog designer than an emacs geek. Please let me know if I can 'beta test' your code.

 Thanks for this tread.

++Ed

Hello Everyone,

Sorry to gate-crash this thread, but i have a related question !

An external C++ application needs to perform many skill command executions/interrogations within ICFB. Is the asyncronous input/output handler implementation found in the "Interprocess Communication SKILL Functions".pdf manual the best approach to use ?

In addition, whats the difference between ipcBeginProcess and ipcSkillProcess ? Are there any advantages in using either ? There seems to be little if no good documentation regarding the ipcSkillProcess.

Many thanks for your valuable time and support in advance.

Best regards,

See bellow my example of emacs skill-mode from an existing work of Mr Masar.
If you launch in icfb the following code :

procedure(socketHandler(ipcId data)
when(inPort
    while(gets(nextLine inPort) 
        return(print(evalstring(nextLine)))
    )
    close(inPort))) ipcBeginProcess("emacs ~/Skill/my-log.txt" "" 'socketHandler)

x=4;;; There is 3 way of wrinting in skill
printf "The value of x is %n \n" x    ;; simplest way but wont be clear for a function of functions
printf("The value of x is %n \n" x)   ;; standard C-like syntax
(printf "The value of x is %n \n" x)  ;; standart lisp syntax, the recommend way to use it, but people usualy prefer C-like

ipc:2
4The value of x is 4

_ _ _ __ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___ _ _ _ skillMode.el _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ __

  ;--- mode for SKILL ---

; created    07/02/07 by M.Masar
; modified   10/02/24 by ebecheto : added send-[region/line/buffer]-to-icfb with idea of http://www.cadence.com/community/forums/T/12956.aspx

; put this file in the directory ~/.emacs.d/
; add the line : (add-to-list 'load-path "~/.emacs.d/")  (load "skillMode.el") ; in your ~/.emacs file
; Skill-mode, associated with the .il .ocn and .cdf files
; To use the skill mode for another file, use "M-x skill-mode"


(defvar skill-mode-hook nil)


(defun skill-indent-line ()
  (interactive) 
  (newline)
  (indent-relative)
)

(provide 'skill-indent-line)

;; Ed modifs.end
(setq comment-start ";; ")
(global-set-key  "\C-cu" 'uncomment-region)
;; (global-set-key  "\C-cc" 'comment-region);; ca marchouille
(global-set-key  [(control c) (control c)] 'comment-region)




(defvar skill-mode-map
  (let ((skill-mode-map (make-keymap)))
    (define-key skill-mode-map "\C-j" 'skill-indent-line)
    skill-mode-map)
  "Keymap for SKILL major mode")

;binding with file endings
(add-to-list 'auto-mode-alist '("\\.il\\'" . skill-mode))
(add-to-list 'auto-mode-alist '("\\.ocn\\'" . skill-mode))
(add-to-list 'auto-mode-alist '("\\.cdf\\'" . skill-mode))




(defconst skill-font-lock-keywords-1
  (list
       (cons (concat "\\<" (regexp-opt '( "add1" "and" "apply" "argc" "argv" "arrayp" "arrayref" "atof" "atoi" "atom" "band" "begin" "bitfield1" "bitfield"
                                          "blankstrp" "bnand" "bnor" "bnot" "booleanp" "bor" "boundp" "bxnor" "bxor" "case" "caseq" "ceiling" "concat" "cond"
                                          "cons" "constar" "copy" "copyDefstructDeep" "declare" "declareLambda" "declareNLambda" "declareSQNLambda" "define"
                                          "defmacro" "defprop" "defstruct" "defstructp" "defun" "defUserInitProc" "defvar" "do" "dtpr" "eq" "equal" "eqv" "err"
                                          "error" "errset" "errsetstring" "eval" "evalstring" "evenp" "exit" "expandMacro" "fboundp" "fixp" "floatp" "for"
                                          "forall" "foreach" "funcall" "funobj" "gc" "gensym" "geqp" "get" "get_pname" "get_string" "getd" "getFnWriteProtect"
                                          "getFunType" "getq" "getqq" "getVarWriteProtect" "greaterp" "if" "then" "else" "inportp" "inScheme" "inSkill" "integerp"
                                          "intToChar" "isCallable" "isInfinity" "isNaN" "lambda" "leftshift" "leqp" "lessp" "let" "letrec" "letseq" "listp"
                                          "listToVector" "load" "loadi" "loadstring" "makeTable" "makeVector" "map" "mapc" "mapcan" "mapcar" "maplist" "minus"
                                          "minusp" "mod" "modulo" "mprocedure" "needNCells" "negativep" "neq" "nequal" "newline" "nindex" "nlambda" "not"
                                          "nprocedure" "null" "numberp" "oddp" "onep" "openportp" "or" "otherp" "outportp" "pairp" "plist" "plus" "plusp" "portp"
                                          "postdecrement" "postincrement" "predecrement" "preincrement" "procedure" "procedurep" "prog" "prog1" "prog2" "progn"
                                          "putd" "putprop" "putpropq" "putpropqq" "quote" "quotient" "realp" "regExitAfter" "regExitBefore" "remainder"
                                          "remExitProc" "remprop" "return" "rexCompile" "rexExecute" "rexMagic" "rexMatchAssocList" "rexMatchList" "rexMatchp"
                                          "rexReplace" "rexSubstitute" "rightshift" "round" "set" "setarray" "setFnWriteProtect" "setplist" "setq" "setqbitfield1"
                                          "setqbitfield" "setVarWriteProtect" "stringp" "sub1" "sxtd" "symbolp" "symeval" "symstrp" "system" "tablep" "tailp" "times"
                                          "truncate" "type" "typep" "unalias" "unless" "vector" "vectorp" "warn" "when" "which" "while" "xdifference" "xplus"
                                          "xquotient" "xtimes" "zerop" "zxtd" ) t )
                              "\\>")  'font-lock-keyword-face)
       (cons (concat "\\<" (regexp-opt '("nil" "t") t)  "\\>")  'font-lock-constant-face)

  )
  "Basic SKILL functions - arithmetic&logic operators, type tests, flow control, loops, rounding")


(defconst skill-font-lock-keywords-2
  (append skill-font-lock-keywords-1
          (list
           (cons (concat "\\<" (regexp-opt '( "append" "append1" "bcdp" "buildString" "caar" "caaar" "caadr" "cadr" "caddr" "cdar" "cddr" "car" "cdr" "cdsGetInstPath"
                                              "changeWorkingDir" "charToInt" "clearExitProcs" "close" "compress" "defMathConstants" "deleteDir" "deleteFile" "difference"
                                              "display" "drain" "exists" "fileLength" "fileSeek" "fileTell" "fileTimeModified" "fprintf" "fscanf" "scanf" "sscanf"
                                              "get_filename" "getc" "getchar" "getDirFiles" "gets" "getWorkingDir" "infile" "instring" "isDir" "isExecutable" "isFile"
                                              "isFileEncrypted" "isFileName" "isLargeFile" "isLink" "isMacro" "isReadable" "isWritable" "last" "lconc" "length" "lineread"
                                              "linereadstring" "list" "makeTempFileName" "member" "memq" "memv" "nconc" "ncons" "nth" "nthcdr" "nthelem" "numOpenFiles"
                                              "outfile" "parseString" "pprint" "print" "printf" "printlev" "println" "read" "readstring" "readTable" "renameFile" "reverse"
                                              "rplaca" "rplacd" "setcar" "setcdr" "setof" "simplifyFilename" "sort" "sortcar" "sprintf" "strcat" "strcmp" "stringToFunction"
                                              "stringToSymbol" "stringToTime" "strlen" "strncat" "strncmp" "subst" "substring" "symbolToString" "tconc" "upperCase"
                                              "vectorToList" "write" "writeTable" "xcons" "xCoord" "yCoord") t )
                                  "\\>")  'font-lock-keyword-face)
           )
  )
  "Additional SKILL functions - mostly string, list and file operations")



(defconst skill-font-lock-keywords-3
  (append skill-font-lock-keywords-2
          (list
           (cons (concat "\\<" (regexp-opt '("abs" "acos" "addDefstructClass" "alias" "alphalessp" "alphaNumCmp" "asin" "assoc" "assq" "assv" "atan"
                                             "atan2" "compareTime" "cos" "cputime" "createDir" "csh" "ed" "edi" "edit" "edl" "envobj" "exp" "expt"
                                             "fix" "float" "floor" "getCurrentTime" "getInstallPath" "getLogin" "getPrompts" "getTempDir" "getShellEnvVar"
                                             "getSkillPath" "getSkillVersion" "getVersion" "getWarn" "go" "help" "importSkillVar" "index" "log" "log10"
                                             "lowerCase" "max" "measureTime" "min" "prependInstallPath" "random" "range" "remd" "remdq" "remove" "remq"
                                             "rindex" "schemeTopLevelEnv" "setPrompts" "setShellEnvVar" "setSkillPath" "sh" "shell" "sin" "sqrt" "srandom"
                                             "sstatus" "status" "tableToList" "tan" "theEnvironment" "timeToString" "timeToTm" "tmToTime" "vi" "vii" "vil" ) t)

                                  "\\>")  'font-lock-keyword-face) ) )
  "Other SKILL functions")



(defvar skill-font-lock-keywords skill-font-lock-keywords-3
  "Default highlighting expressions for SKILL mode.")


(defvar skill-mode-syntax-table
  (let ((skill-mode-syntax-table (make-syntax-table)))
   
   
    ; block comments
    (modify-syntax-entry ?/ ". 14" skill-mode-syntax-table)
    (modify-syntax-entry ?* ". 23" skill-mode-syntax-table)

    ; line comments
    (modify-syntax-entry ?\; "< b" skill-mode-syntax-table)
    (modify-syntax-entry ?\n "> b" skill-mode-syntax-table)

 
   skill-mode-syntax-table)
  "Syntax table for skill-mode")



 
(defun skill-mode ()
  (interactive)
  (kill-all-local-variables)
  (use-local-map skill-mode-map)
  (set-syntax-table skill-mode-syntax-table)
  ;; Set up font-lock
  (set (make-local-variable 'font-lock-defaults) '(skill-font-lock-keywords))
  ;; Register our indentation function
  (setq major-mode 'skill-mode)
  (setq mode-name "SKILL")
  (run-hooks 'skill-mode-hook))

(provide 'skill-mode)



;; ed modif pour emacs2icfb
(defun send-buffer-to-icfb () "" (interactive)
;;      (write-region (point-min) (point-max) "~/.emacs2icfb.buffer.il");; pas besoin de creer un fichier, il suffit d'envoyer le fichier en cours (buffer)
        (send-string-to-terminal (buffer-file-name)))
(defun send-region-to-icfb () "" (interactive)
        (write-region (region-beginning) (region-end) "~/.emacs2icfb.region.il")
        (send-string-to-terminal (format "~/.emacs2icfb.region.il")))
(defun send-line-to-icfb () "" (interactive)
        (write-region (line-beginning-position) (line-end-position) "~/.emacs2icfb.line.il")
        (send-string-to-terminal (format "load(\"%s\") \n" "~/.emacs2icfb.line.il")))
(defun send-line-to-icfb-mv-forward () "" (interactive)
        (write-region (line-beginning-position) (line-end-position) "~/.emacs2icfb.line.il")
        (send-string-to-terminal "~/.emacs2icfb.line.il")
        (forward-line 1))
(defun send-function-to-icfb-mv-forward () "" (interactive)
        (write-region (point) (forward-list) "~/.emacs2icfb.function.il")
        (send-string-to-terminal "~/.emacs2icfb.function.il"))



  (define-key skill-mode-map "\C-c\C-b" 'send-buffer-to-icfb)
  (define-key skill-mode-map "\C-c\C-r" 'send-region-to-icfb)
  (define-key skill-mode-map "\C-c\C-l" 'send-line-to-icfb)
  (define-key skill-mode-map "\C-c\C-v" 'send-line-to-icfb-mv-forward)
  (define-key skill-mode-map "\C-c\C-f" 'send-function-to-icfb-mv-forward)

I'm with Analog Devices and I'm trying to use this code to make our back-annotation of node voltages occur automatically when a simulation is finished. We use our own in-house simulator, not ADE and back-annotation is not automatic. We have to remember to click a button in a form to update the back-annotation. This can be confusing, having used ADE for most of my career (I am new to ADI).

I got it to work with one Cadence session, but when two are open (ie, icfb) the annotation always occurs in the first session, the second one doesn't do anything. I would have thought that a another socket would be opened that would 'connect' a given icfb with the skillServer.il script.

The documentation in the skillServer TCL script implies that it might work (multiple channels), but maybe that's from within the same icfb session.

Any recommendations? I can post my code if needed, but it may complicate things because of the weird interface I need between our simulator and icfb.

Thanks