Writing Out an EDIF Netlist

Before you can start Design Manager, you must write out an EDIF netlist from Workview Office. If you have a current design.edn file from functional simulation, you do not have to repeat this step. With the top-level schematic open in ViewDraw, select Tools Write Xilinx EDIF to create the design.edn file.

As an alternate method of creating the EDIF file for the design, use the EDIF Interfaces GUI. Click on the EDIF button on the Workview Office Toolbar. A dialog box similar to the one shown in the following figure appears. One of the programs under this Toolbar program is EDIFNETO, which translates a Viewlogic schematic into an EDIF 2.0.0 netlist. Select the “EDIF Netlist Writer” tab.

Figure 5.1 EDIF Netlist Writer

At a minimum, you must fill in the following three fields.

• The Input field - your top level design. Use the Browse button to select the discrete path to the design.1 file.
  
  
• The Output field - fill this in with design.edn as soon as you fill in the Input field. You only need to change this if you do not want design.edn as the output of EDIFNETO.
  
  Write the EDIF file into the Viewlogic project directory (the default), because the Xilinx Design Manager assumes that the directory containing the top-level EDIF is the source design directory.
  
  
• The Level field - found in the Options section. You must set this to “xilinx” so the EDIF Netlist Writer knows how far to descend into the hierarchy. The Level set to Xilinx tells EDIFNETO to stop at Xilinx primitives.
  
  

Click on Apply to write the design.edn file.