10.2.2 PDC Naming Conventions

Note: The names of ports, instances, and nets in an imported netlist are sometimes referred to as their original names.

10.2.2.1 Rules for Displaying Original Names

Port names appear exactly as they are defined in a netlist.

Instances and nets display the original names plus an escape character (\) before each backslash (/) and each slash (\) that is not a hierarchy separator. For example, the instance named A/\B is displayed as A\/\\B.

10.2.2.2 Which Name Do I Use in PDC Commands?

When writing PDC commands, follow these rules:

  • Always use the macro name as it appears in the netlist
  • Names from a netlist: For port names, use the names exactly as they appear in the netlist. For instance and net names, add an escape character (\) before each backslash (\) and each slash (/) that is not a hierarchy separator.
  • For wildcard names, always add an extra backslash (\) before each backslash
  • Always apply the PDC syntax conventions to any name in a PDC command

The following table provides examples of names as they appear in an imported netlist and as they must appear in a PDC file.

Table 10-48. PDC Command Names with Examples
Type of Name and its LocationName in the Imported netlistName to use in PDC File

Port name in netlist

A/:B1

A/:B1

Instance name in a netlist

A/:B1 A$(1)

A\\/:B1 A$(1)

Instance name in the netlist but using a wildcard character in a PDC file

A/:B1

A\\\\/:B*

Net name in a netlist

Net1/:net1

Net1\\/:net1

When exporting PDC commands, the software always exports names using the PDC rules described in this section.

10.2.2.3 Case Sensitivity When Importing PDC Files

The following table shows the case sensitivity in the PDC file based on the source netlist.

Table 10-49. Case Sensitivity in the PDC File
File TypeCase Sensitivity

Verilog

Names in the netlist are case sensitive.

EDIF (SmartFusion® 2, IGLOO® 2, and RTG4™)

Names in the netlist are always case sensitive because you use the Rename clause, which is case sensitive.

VHDL

Names in the netlist are not case sensitive unless those names appear between slashes (\).

For example, in VHDL, capital "A" and lowercase "a" are the same name, but \A\ and \a\ are two different names. However, in a Verilog netlist, an instance named "A10" fails, if spelled as "a10" in the set_location command:

set_location A10 (This command will succeed.)

set_location a10 (This command will fail.)