Logntk Commands


   1.  LOGNTK diagrams often contain additional commands in the form of
       labels.  These labels are always surrounded by "<" and ">" brackets.
       Any labels of this form, but with commands that LOGNTK cannot
       recognize, are simply ignored.  LOGNTK assumes these commands belong
       to some other program, such as Digital LOG's hierarchy compiler.

   2.  You can also include these commands in your "log.cnf" file,
       preceded by "logntk:".  For example, the label < global clock* >
       defines global signals just for one cell; the CNF command
       "logntk: global clock*" defines global signals permanently.
       Finally, you could also press the ":" and type the
       "logntk: global clock*" command during your LOG session.

   3.  Certain arguments may include wildcard characters.  LOGNTK uses the
       same kinds of wildcards as Unix: "?" matches any character, "*"
       matches any zero or more characters, and "[ABC]" matches either
       A, B, or C.  Also, most names in LOGNTK are case-insensitive, but
       LOGNTK still strives to duplicate the upper/lower-casing that you
       use into the output file, and always capitalizes all the uses of a
       name consistently.

   4.  Every LOGNTK definition needs at least some commands.  To create a
       named cell, you need a NAME command (or a quoted label; see below),
       and either a PORT command or a template gate.  For an unnamed
       top-level cell, you need at least a FILE command.

   5.  Here is the list of LOGNTK commands.  The ":" following the command
       names are optional.


       GLOBAL: signal-names
                  This command lists names which should be "global" to
                  the entire project.  For example, VDD and GND are made
                  global by the standard "logntk.cnf" file.
                  This means that if you create a cell which includes
                  VDD and GND gates, those nodes will automatically be
                  made into "hidden" ports on the cell.  Instances of
                  that cell will gate VDD and GND wired to them
                  automatically.  All you have to do is used VDD and GND
                  naturally, and let the system keep track of it for you.
                  You can declare your own TO/FROM signal names to be
                  global in the same way.  The "signal-names" are case-
                  insensitive, and may include wildcard characters.


       PORT: signal-names
                  This command gives the list of ports in the cell.  It
                  may be used in place of a "template" or "example" gate.
                  Port lists are supported for historical compatibility,
                  but future designs should probably use template gates
                  instead.

                  Each name in the list should correspond to a signal name
                  in the circuit diagram.  VDD and GND refer to the VDD and
                  GND circuit symbols.  The position of a name in the port
                  list, not counting global names, corresponds to the pin
                  number of the associated instance gate.  For example, if
                  the .GATE picture for an inverter has the input as pin 1
                  and the output as pin 2, then the appropriate command for
                  the inverter's circuit diagram would be:

                        < port: in out vdd gnd >     or
                        < port: gnd vdd in out >     or whatever.

                  The positioning and ordering of global names in the list
                  is irrelevant, but any global signal that is used by the
                  cell or by its sub-cells must be present.  (When you use
                  a template gate instead of a port list, LOGNTK manages
                  all this for you.)  If you give a ":LOGNTK" command and
                  their is neither a port label nor a template gate in the
                  definition, LOGNTK will sort the signal names into
                  alphabetic order and create a PORT label.  You will
                  probably need to edit this command to put the ports in
                  the proper order.

                  If several PORT labels appear in the cell definition,
                  they are appended together in an undefined order.  If
                  you don't mind this uncertainty, LOGNTK can handle an
                  unlimited number of ports.


       ORPHAN: gate-names
                  This command gives the gate(s) which are used to
                  represent "orphan" nodes, i.e., nodes that are not
                  connected to any transistors or subcells.  By default,
                  the built-in gate CIRC1 is considered an orphan gate, so
                  that a circuit with five CIRC1's will have five orphan
                  nodes in its NTK file.  The gate-names may use wildcards.


       IGNORE: gate-names
                  This command gives a list of gates to be ignored.  This
                  is rarely necessary, because if LOGNTK sees a gate which
                  has not been defined as a transistor or cell, and for
                  which no "gatename.NTK" file exists, then it will
                  automatically ignore that gate with a warning message.
                  This command suppresses the warning.  The gate-names
                  may include wildcards.


       NAME: cell-name
                  This specifies the name of the cell in the NTK file.
                  This is an alternate form for the quoted "cell-name"
                  label.  There must be exactly one such label for each
                  cell.


       FILE: file-name
                  This specifies the name of the output file.  The suffix
                  ".NTK" will be added if necessary.  If you omit the FILE
                  command, the file name will be taken from the cell name.
                  (Every LOGNTK page must specify either a cell name or
                  a file name, or both.)


       CELL: gate-name  cell-name  file-name
                  This command links gates in the circuit diagram
                  to the NTK files they represent.  A good idea is
                  to use the same name for the gate, cell, and file;
                  if you give only one name in the command, that
                  name will be used for all three.  One time you
                  might need to give the long form is if the NTK
                  file is not in the standard directories, so you
                  need to give a full path for it:

                        < cell: opamp tc_amp /lib/wollib/stdlib/opamp >

                  In this example, OPAMP gates, or generic instance
                  gates programmed as OPAMP's, will convert to calls
                  to the cell TC_AMP, which may be found in the .NTK
                  file specified.  CELL commands describing cells that
                  are never instantiated in a file are ignored.


       LIB: directories
                  This command names directories in which .NTK files
                  for sub-cells may be found.  LOGNTK looks first in
                  the current directory, then in each of these
                  directories in turn.


       SIZE: number
                  This specifies the sizes of nodes.  Currently,
                  there is no way to override this for particular
                  nodes.  The default size of 1 should be sufficient
                  for CMOS users.  Most NTK-reading programs ignore
                  node sizes, anyway.


       STRENGTH: number
                  This specifies the strengths for transistors.
                  This can be overridden as described for TRANS.
                  The default strength is 2.  Most NTK-reading
                  programs ignore transistor strengths.


       TRANS: gate-name  type  strength
                  This command declares transistor symbols.  If you
                  need to make your own transistor gates, you will
                  need to use this command.  The "type" is one of
                  N, P, or D.  The strength is optional; if it is
                  a positive number N, then the strength of the
                  transistor is N; if it is missing, the strength
                  is the default value; if it is -N, the strength
                  is found in attribute number N of the transistor
                  gate, which must be an integer-valued attribute.
                  The file logntk.cnf contains TRANS commands
                  for all the standard LOG transistors.


       PRIMITIVE: gate-name  cell-name
                  This command declares primitive gates, gates which
                  should be converted into instances of cells which
                  have no definition.  If the gate has N pins, then
                  the output file will call the cell with N ports,
                  in order of pin numbers on the gate.  For example,

                        < primitive: a_and2 and2 >

                  Causes the ACTEL gate A_AND2 to convert to a call
                  to cell AND2.  Both names may contain wildcards;
                  the actual commands in logntk.cnf are:

                        logntk:  primitive  a_*  *
                        logntk:  primitive  a_tribuf  tribuff

                  which maps A_AND2 to AND2, A_DFC to DFC, etc.,
                  and A_TRIBUF to TRIBUFF (a special case).  Note
                  that more specific names come after more general
                  names.  The command PRIMITIVE may be abbreviated
                  as PRIM.


       TOP        Force this to be a top-level NTK file, that is,
                  after the main cell has been defined, one "call"
                  to the cell is also written into the file.  The
                  NETCMP program can only read top-level NTK files.
                  This mode is the default; you only need the TOP
                  command to override an earlier LEAF command.


       LEAF       Force this to be a leaf-level NTK file, that is,
                  only the cell's definition is included (plus
                  definitions for any subcells used).  There is
                  usually no reason to use LEAF, since most programs
                  can read top-level NTK files and ignore the top part.


       NOTOP      Set a compatibility mode in which a LOGNTK command
                  on a page with no NAME command (or quoted name label)
                  will produce an error instead of creating a top-
                  level NTK file. 

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