Running Multiple Pass Layout from the command line

You can run the Multiple Pass Layout feature from your Windows or Unix command-line shell.

Note: This feature is also known as the “extended run script.”

To run this script:

Open a Tcl shell.
Enter your extended run script in the following format:

<Tcl shell> <extended run script> -adb <adbfile> [ options ]

Tip: You can find a Tcl shell at <location of Actel software>/bin/acttclsh.

Example:

cd mydesign_folder

C:\libero\designer\bin\acttclsh C:\libero\designer\scripts\extended_run_shell.tcl –adb mydesign.adb

For more information on options and usage, use the ‘-help’ option as shown in the following example:

C:\libero\designer\bin\acttclsh \

C:\libero\designer\scripts\extended_run_shell.tcl –help

The following results appear on the screen:

-adb adbFilename

adbfilename is the design file ot use in multipass layout.

This only applies to the shell version (extended_run_shell.tcl).

[-n numIterations]

Sets the number of iterations to entered number. The default

number of iterations is 5.

[-c clockname]

Clock mode - the run with the highest frequency for the

specified clock is chosen as the best result. Default

mode if this option is not used is to choose the run with

the highest frequency for the slowest clock as the best result.

Note: if '-compare_script compareScript' is specified, then that

script will be used to determine the best run.

[-standard|-timing_driven]

Set one of these options to run either standard place and route

or timing driven layout.

[-save_all]

Saves all intermediate designs in {adbFilename}_{pass}.adb.

The best result is also stored in {adbFilename}. The default

behavior does not save all results.

[-stop_on_success]

Only perform iterations until the design is successful. When the

iterate_violations_compare.tcl isLayoutBetter method is used,

Success is defined as there being no negative slack (no timing

violations). When the other isLayoutBetter methods are used

there is no effect (all iterations are attempted).

[-continue_from_last_seed]

this option indicates if the next set of passes should continue

where the previous multipass left off in terms of the seed index.

[-place mode]

mode is either 'on' or 'off' and indicates if the placer should

be run. Default value is 'on'.

[-place_incremental mode]

mode is either 'on', 'off', or 'fix' and indicates if the placer should

be run in an incremental mode. Default value is 'off'.

[-route_incremental mode]

mode is either 'on', 'off', or 'fix' and indicates if the router should

be run in an incremental mode. Default value is 'off'.

[-effort_level n]

This is an advanced option. N should be an integer.

[-timing_weight n]

This is an advanced option. N should be an integer.

[-overwrite yes|no]

Only applies to when -save_all is used. When 'yes',

any existing multipass adbs will be overwritten. When

'no', a unique tag will be used to distinguish between

files from different runs.

[-compare_script script]

script is the filename of the Tcl script to use for

a custom comparison criteria.

See Multiple Pass Layout for more about this feature and how to use it from the Designer GUI.