
                __________________________________ 
               |                                  |\
               | Copyright 1998 by LittleBlue CAD | |
               |         All Rights reserved      | |
               |__________________________________| |
               \___________________________________\|

Please report bugs and suggestions to e-mail: LittleBlueCAD@yahoo.com


Table of Contents

  1. Disclaimer
  2. Revision History
  3. Introduction
  4. Usage
  5. Dedicated pins file
  6. Conventions used to create the symbol
  7. How to Register

1. Disclaimer :
_________________________________________________________________________

  This software is distributed on "as is" basis. The author disclaims any 
and all  warranties. In no event shall the copyright holder be liable for 
any incidental, punitive, or  consequential damages of  any kind  arising 
from the use of this program. Use  of this software  indicates  you agree 
to this terms.


2. Revision History :
_________________________________________________________________________


- Rev 0.92 (5/11/98)

   . First beta release

- Rev 0.93 (2/21/98)

   . Fixed problem with comments in the ACF file
   . Moved to Perl 5

- Rev 0.94 (7/3/98)

   . Fixed problem found when the program is called from a directory that
     is not the installation one
   . Added the path to OrCAD package to look for COMP16 besides the instal-
     lation directory

- Rev 1.00 (11/4/98)
   . Added Tcl/Tk GUI and converted to executable (no need to have Perl on
     your PC anymore)


- Rev 1.5 (5/21/02)
   . Added VB GUI to overcome Win2000 incopatibilities. Front end re-done
   . Conversion generates now an EDIF file to be imported in OrCAD rather
     than a .SRC or .LIB file
   . Added a base of parts on Altera.ded to speed-up process


3. Introduction :
_________________________________________________________________________

This utility scans an .ACF (Altera Configuration File) file and generates 
a symbol for OrCAD (actually generates a library with  only  this  symbol 
inside). The library needs to be imported from OrCAD Capture using the
"File > Import Design | EDIF tab" option.

It is IMPORTANT to note that the ACF file contains NO information
about the pin numbers of the POWER PINS. To minimize the impact of this
and to make it convinient a librarian capability is provided as a file
which allows to define power and dedicated pins that may not show-up 
in your ACF file. This file (Altera.ded) is provided as a framework
for you to add-up on it with the part that you keep using, more than as
a predifined library.  
It is important to notice that if power pins are added to the Altera.ded
file, they won't be created in the resulting symbol.



4. Usage :
_________________________________________________________________________

Double click on the file Alt2Orc.exe

The Window allows you to select the input file.
Pins will show up in the same order than in the .ACF file. 

To see how it works there is one example file (example.acf) provided with
the package that you can use.

Click on the "Run" button. 

After few seconds, Notepad will be open displaying the log file 'log.txt'
which contains detailed information on ERROR(s) and/or WARNING(s) that may
occur during the conversion process.

The result is the file example.edf

To use the newly created symbol, it must be imported into OrCAD Capture
(NOTE: This software has been tested using OrCAD caputure 9.0)

   1. On the File > Import Design... dialog box, choose the EDIF tab. 
   2. Select example.edf in the "Open" text box
   3. Enter example.olb in  the "Save as" box (default)
   4. Leave empty the "Configuration file" text box
   5. Click OK
   6. Conversion should give you ONE warning telling you that no designs
      were read only a library, i.e.

<
...
WARNING: No schematics were translated, so no Design file was created, 
         only library files

Completed Wed May 01 21:20:54 2002
Translated 1 symbols and 0 schematics, 0 errors, 1 warnings
>

   7. A library file called example.OLB will be created. It contains
      the new part. Include this library in your desings to get access
      to the newly defined part

IMPORTANT NOTE: Any pin defined as VCC_PIN or GND_PIN on altera.ded
will be generated as "PASSIVE" and they are visible on the libray 
part INSTEAD of as "POWER" and have them hidden. The intention is to 
make explicit that they are not connected by label to power (ie. The
MUST be explicitly wired to your power source(s)



5. Dedicated pins file :
_________________________________________________________________________

The software is able to read some fixed pins (dedicated pins for example)
from a separate file (altera.ded). This file has a section for every part
you want to define (an example is provided) for instance for VCC, GND and
in system programming pins. This way you only need to enter the dedicated
pins once for every kind of part. The file is not provided as a library
but only as an example on how you can create your own library by adding
into it.



6. Conventions used to create the symbol
_________________________________________________________________________

Placement of the pins is as follows

   ACF type       position    type
   ~~~~~~~~       ~~~~~~~~    ~~~~
   INPUT_PIN      left        input
   OUTPUT_PIN     right       output
   BIDIR_PIN      right       inout/bidirectional
   VCC_PIN        top         passive
   GND_PIN        bottom      passive

If the option to sort the pins is checked, pins belonging to the same
side (left, right, top, bottom) of the symbol will be sorted. Else
they will be added to each side in the same order that they show-up
in the ACF file. Sorting pins could be usefull to get natural grouping
of pins sharing a common prefix (i.e. ADDR_BUS0, ADDR_BUS1 etc. will
show-up toegether in the symbol)

If a pin is present in the altera.ded file and in the input ACF file
it will take the name present on the ACF file

If two pins have the same name, the first one found will keep its
original name. Rest of them will be uniquifiyed by appending to it
its pin number (e.g. IO will become IO_97)

If a pin doesn't have a pin number assigned, it will get assinged
an arbitrary number starting at 5000 (a warning will be supplied)


7. How to Register :
_________________________________________________________________________

This program is shareware, NOT freeware. If you find yourself using it for
more than three days, you must register. Send a $35 check (or pay through
our web-site) to:

Maria Pantoja
47079 Benns Terrace
Fremont, CA 94539
USA

Being registered you will receive free updates of this software, and
information on other CAD related sofware that can improve your design 
process. Registering you will be supporting the concept of shareware.

Check "http://LittleBlueCAD.tripod.com" for new releases

To complete the registration, e-mail the following information
to: LittleBlueCAD@yahoo.com

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Please report any bugs or suggestions you may have to the e-mail
above.


