Answers Database

WIR2XNF 5.2.x: Check program failed, symbol for ___ is newer than WIR file


Record #1643

Product Family:  Software

Product Line:  ViewLogic

Problem Title:
WIR2XNF 5.2.x: Check program failed, symbol for ___ is newer than WIR
file



Problem Description:
During WIR2XNF (within the Translate stage) multiple warnings are issued.

  Warning unable to update WIR file <design>.1
  (Execution of Standalone Check program failed).

  Symbol for <symbol_name>.1 is newer than WIR file <design>.1.


Solution 1:

In order to read the VIEWlogic WIR files, WIR2XNF links with the
VIEWlogic-supplied Viewbase library. The version of Viewbase in WIR2XNF
5.2.x does not properly compare timestamps when determining whether or not
CHECK should be run.  Specifically, the year is not checked.
For example, say you have the following files:

   sch/reg.1   dated 12-30-96
   wir/reg.1   dated 1-2-97

When WIR2XNF is run, it calls Viewbase to read the design. Viewbase sees
sch/reg.1 and compares the timestamp to that on wir/reg.1.  Since it ignores
the year, it thinks that sch/reg.1 is newer, and proceeds to run CHECK on
that sheet, producing wir/reg.1 again (still with the date 1-2-97). After
CHECK finishes, Viewbase probably does the timestamp comparison again (to
make sure that CHECK was successful, since CHECK always returns zero).
Since it again does the comparison incorrectly, it thinks that CHECK failed.

In fact, CHECK did succeed, and the WIR file subsequently read by Viewbase
is actually up-to-date.  So the warnings look ominous, but the right thing
happens.

You can verify this is the case by closely examining the WIR2XNF output:
if what is described above is actually happening, you will see something
like this:

   WIR2XNF Version 5.2.0
   (c) Copyright 1988-1995 Xilinx Inc.	All rights reserved.

>  CHECK - V4.09; Workview 4.1.3 062292, 3000 Series
>  c Copyright 1985,1992 by Viewlogic Systems, Inc.
>  Checking primary:REG.1 ...
>  0 error(s) and 0 warning(s) in project primary:REG.
   Warning -	   Unable to update WIR file reg.1.
	   (Execution of the standalone CHECK program failed).

Note that the output from CHECK indicates that it *did* finish successfully
(despite Viewbase going on to claim that it failed).

The warning messages are bogus and the Translate phase succeeds.

The workaround is to update the symbols and schematics to all have
timestamps with the current year.  This can be done within ViewDraw by
opening and saving all the offending symbols/schematics or by using a
utility like touch.exe that updates the timestamps of files.

Touch.exe can be found at http://www.shareware.com ; search on "touch" and
you will find a few versions of this utility.

This issue does not exist with WIR2XNF 5.1 and earlier.



End of Record #1643