10 Encounter Tips and Tricks You May Not Be ...

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10 Encounter Tips and Tricks You May Not Be Aware Of

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In looking over the shoulders of Encounter users over the years I've found there's a bunch of little tips and tricks
I use to make interacting with the tool a little easier that aren't necessarily immediately obvious. Here are some
of the more common ones I used this week:
1. When navigating an Encounter log file in a text editor, search forward for "<CMD>". Each time a command
is executed it's embedded in the log file, for example: "<CMD> optDesign -preCTS". This makes it
easier to understand what was executed and what resulted.
2. Use "getLogFileName" to determine which log file goes with which Encounter session.
3. Use "win" at the Encounter prompt to raise the window of the session associated with the Encounter
console. Doesn't work with all window managers but when it does I find this quite useful.
4. Use "dbWireCleanup" to delete all of the signal routes in the design (trialRoute or NanoRoute). See also
"editDelete -type Signal".
5. Use "deleteAllPowerPreroutes" to delete all of the power routing in a design. Sure you could
"editDelete -type Special" but what fun is that?
6. Use "encounter -init design.enc" to restore a design from the UNIX prompt.
7. Load designs with "source design.enc" at the Encounter prompt instead of using restoreDesign. That
way you don't need to use a pulldown menu and you don't need to tell the tool the top cell name since it's
embedded within the .enc file.
8. Use emacs-style shortcuts like "ctrl-a", "ctrl-e", and "ctrl-k" to position the cursor and strike text at the
Encounter console.
9. Use "dbGet selected.??" to query physical information about an object.
10. Use "report_property [get_nets <net_name>]" to query timing information about an object.
Question of the Day: What little tips and tricks have you found useful in Encounter over the years? Let us
know in the comments.
-Bob Dwyer

EDI

Routing

IC layout

power routing

NanoRoute

Digital Implementation

Tips

signal routes

encounter digital implementation system

encounter
log file

tips and tricks

tricks

tcl

abhishektheone Great list, specially for beginners. Any idea about the way to see
the install path? Is there any particular env variable for that ?
Anonymous Use"F12" recursively to change the visibility the selected net from the
other nets.

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Sunday 03 April 2016 04:19 AM

10 Encounter Tips and Tricks You May Not Be ...

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Anonymous Awesome list, Bob. I did not know about #4 and #5, and these are two
things I do all the time! Thanks for these new shortcuts. - Kari

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Sunday 03 April 2016 04:19 AM