Achronix ACE Version 5.0 - Manual (Page 16)

Perspectives Chapter 3. Concepts
Concepts
Workbench
The term Workbench refers to the desktop development environment within ACE. The Workbench aims to
achieve seamless tool integration and controlled openness by providing a common platform for the creation,
management, and navigation of workspace resources.
Each Workbench window contains one or more perspectives . Perspectives contain views and editors and
control what appears in certain menus and tool bars. More than one Workbench window can exist on the
desktop at any given time.
Perspectives
There are many different kinds of information a user must view within ACE. Perspectives are used to filter
the information into usable logically consistent groupings. A perspective provides a set of functionality
aimed at accomplishing a specific type of task or works with specific types of resources. A perspective
defines the initial set and layout of
views , editors , menus, and toolbars in the Workbench window.
For example, the Projects perspective combines views commonly used while managing project source
files, while the Floorplanner perspective contains the views that are used while viewing chip layout and
floorplanning information. Users often switch perspectives frequently while working inside the
Workbench .
Note: Within the Workbench window, all perspectives share the same set of editors . All editors are
usable/visible from all perspectives 1 . Likewise, each of the views may optionally be used within any
perspective, but they’re most useful when grouped with the other views from their native perspective.
Projects Perspective
The Projects Perspective allows the user to select an active project and implementation, manage the
contents and configuration of the active project/implementation, run the Flow , and view the reports
generated by the Flow.
By default, this perspective contains the ” Projects View ”, ” Flow View ”, ” Options View ”, ” TCL Console
View ”, and the Editor area, which can contain any ACE Editor or Report.
For more information, see Working with Projects , Running the Flow , and Using the Tcl Console .
Floorplanner Perspective
The Floorplanner Perspective allows the user to view and edit the placement and routing of their active
project/implementation.
By default, this perspective contains the ” Floorplanner View ”, ” Package View ”, ” Search View ”, ” Selection
View ”, ” Critical Paths View ”, ” IO Assignment View ”, ” Netlist Browser View ”, ” Clock Regions View ”,
” Placement Regions View ”, and ” TCL Console View ”.
For more information on using the views in this perspective, see Viewing the Floorplanner , Viewing the
Package Layout , Pre-Placing a Design , Analyzing Critical Paths , and Managing I/Os .
NOTE: Unlike all other perspectives, the Floorplanner perspective hides the Editor area. To view
Editors and
reports , a different perspective must be selected.
IP Configuration Perspective
The IP Configuration Perspective is used to create and edit IP configuration files (.acxip) through the IP
Editors (like the ” SerDes IP Configuration Editor ” and ” Basic PLL IP Configuration Editor ”).
1 except the Floorplanner perspective, which disallows the display of editors
UG001 Rev. 5.0 - 5th December 2012 http://www.achronix.com 4