OrCAD Capture to EDIF 200

Schematic Translator
CAP2EDIF

User’s and Reference Manual

Copyright  2003 Cadence Design Systems, Inc.

All rights reserved. OrCAD and Cadence and the OrCAD and Cadence logos are registered trademarks.
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Copyright  1999-2003 Electronic Tools Company.
Copyright  2006-2011 Elgris Technologies, Inc.
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Cadence for internal business purposes only
 CAP2EDIF

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CAP2EDIF

Overview

This section provides a general description of the EDIF 200 schematic

applications and presents the basic concepts you must understand to
use them.

EDIF, which stands for Electronic Design Interchange Format, is an

industry standard to facilitate formatting and exchanging electronic
design data between EDA (Electronic Design Automation) systems. It
is designed to account for all types of electronic design information,
including schematic design, symbolic and physical layout, connectiv-
ity, and textual information, such as properties.

EDIF was originally proposed as an industry standard by Mentor

Graphics, Motorola, National Semiconductor, Texas Instruments, Daisy
Systems, Tektronix, and the University of California at Berkeley, all of
which collaboratively embarked on its development. Since that time,
EDIF has been accepted by more and more companies. EDIF V 2 0 0
was approved as a standard by the Electronic Industries Association
(EIA) in 1987, and by the American National Standards Institute
(ANSI) in 1988.

Figure 1 illustrates the process of creating an EDIF 200 file from a

Cadence OrCAD Capture design.

Figure 1: Creating an EDIF 200 File from a Design

Configuration
File

OrCAD CAP2EDIF EDIF200

Capture File
Design

To other
EDA system

Overview 1
 CAP2EDIF

The following subsections describe the process and elements involved

in converting an OrCAD Capture design to an EDIF file using
CAP2EDIF.

CAP2EDIF and the Configuration File. The configuration file is an

ASCII file containing commands that you use to control the operation
of CAP2EDIF. Though it is an optional item, the configuration file is
usually involved in a design or library translation. When designs need
special setup or mapping, you must specify these configuration com-
mands in the configuration file before you read the design. You create a
configuration file as you would any other text file.

The OrCAD Capture Design. A schematic design in OrCAD Cap-

ture.

CAP2EDIF always uses the current version of the design to produce

the output EDIF representation. Consult the OrCAD Capture User’s
manual for additional information on how to create a design in the
OrCAD Capture environment.

CAP2EDIF performs three main tasks. First, it reads the configuration

for your design translation from a file. Next, it reads the OrCAD Cap-
ture design. Finally, it writes out the EDIF representation of the
OrCAD Capture design.

EDIF 200 File. The output of CAP2EDIF is a file that contains an

EDIF 200 schematic view of a design. This file conforms to the con-
structs defined in the Electronic Design Interchange Format Version
documents, available from the Electronics Industries Association
(EIA).

Requirements

Windows systems running OrCAD Capture 10.0 and above.

Major Features of the CAP2EDIF Schematic Translator

The following lists the major capabilities of the CAP2EDIF:

• CAP2EDIF supports EDIF Version 2 0 0.
• CAP2EDIF can translate all design including symbols and sche-
matic pages;

2 Requirements
CAP2EDIF

• CAP2EDIF can translate only symbols when symbol library is

translated
• CAP2EDIF translates all levels of Hierarchy of the design
• CAP2EDIF translates all design data including connectivity and
properties that reside on the objects
• CAP2EDIF translates occurrence data if special configuration com-
mand is provided
• CAP2EDIF is configured with the help of the configuration file
• CAP2EDIF issues warnings and error messages, helping you to
debug your translation.

Running Capture to EDIF

Below are instructions on how to translate an OrCAD Capture sche-

matic or library file into an EDIF 2 0 0 file
1. Select a schematic or library file in OrCAD Capture.
2. Click File -> Export Design
3. Click on EDIF tab.
4. In the "Save As" field, type the name of the EDIF 2 0 0 file you
wish to save your design to. You could use the "Browse" button to
locate the file you want to save to.
5. In the "Configuration file" field, type path to the CAP2EDIF con-
figuration file, or use the "Browse" button to locate it.
6. Press on the OK button.
7. The LOG file with the name "cap2edi.log" will be created in the
directory where the created EDIF 200 file resides. The Session log
will contain the contents of the cap2edi.log file.
8. Please look at the EDIF 2 0 0 file that was created.

Running Capture to EDIF 3

 CAP2EDIF

Key Concepts

Translation of Open design or Library in OrCAD Capture and launch the Export dia-
designs and logue to translate it to the EDIF 2 0 0 file.
libraries With the default configuration file translator will convert only root
Schematic View and all its contents if the design is translated or it will
convert all Library contents if Library is translated.

Specify ConvertAll = 1 in the [OrCAD Reader] section of the configu-

ration file if you want to translate Schematic Views of the design that
are not part of design's root Schematic hierarchy.

Translation of As Capture documentation points out an occurrence property is a user

occurrence data property applied to multiple occurrences of placed instances of parts or
symbols in a design. This is the same as the user properties displayed
and editable from the Capture v7.2 Physical view.

If your design has complex hierarchy (please consult OrCAD Capture

on-line help for complex hierarchy definition) translation of occur-
rences become critical.

The translator will not create Occurrence data in the EDIF 2 0 0 file if
default configuration file is used. Please, use OutputBackAnnotation =
1 in the [OrCAD Reader Section] of the configuration file if you want
to translate occurrence data to the EDIF 2 0 0 file.

Mapping properties and names while writing to

EDIF 2 0 0

Substituting CAP2EDIF provides a configuration file command that lets you substi-
names tute characters between the OrCAD Capture and EDIF 200 systems.

For example, to substitute the pin name "ACIA CLK" from OrCAD
Capture design for name "SPECIAL_PIN" enter the following com-
mand in the [Mapper Section] of your configuration file:
setup name substitution "SPECIAL_PIN" "ACIA CLK" -PIN

4 Key Concepts
CAP2EDIF

Substituting CAP2EDIF provides a configuration file command that lets you substi-
special tute characters between the OrCAD Capture and EDIF 200 systems.
The Setup command lets you specify the OrCAD Capture characters
characters
and the substitution set which should replace them in the EDIF 200 file.

For example, to substitute the slash (/) character found in the names of
OrCAD Capture design with the underscore (_) character in an EDIF
200 file, enter the following command in the [Mapper Section] of your
configuration file:
setup character substitution "_" "/" -Names

See more about substitution of names, characters and strings in the

[Mapper Section] of the configuration file.

Mapping OrCAD Capture properties can be mapped to EDIF 200 properties.

Properties This section explains how and when you would want to perform this
task.

If your target system has a property whose purpose is equivalent to an

OrCAD Capture property with a different name, you can map these
properties using the Property command. For example, if your target
system layout expects a property named "PKG_TYPE" to tell it the
type of footprint to use, and the OrCAD Capture design has the prop-
erty "PCB Footprint" which contains the information; you could map
the two properties in this way:
property "PKG_TYPE" "PCB Footprint" INST STRING

The EDIF 200 file that is output will contain a property called
"PKG_TYPE" in place of every occurrence of the OrCAD Capture
"PCB Footprint" property.

Mapping properties and names while writing to EDIF 2 0 0 5

 CAP2EDIF

Capture to EDIF 200 Translator Configuration file

OrCAD Capture to EDIF 200 Translator Configuration file contains of

two sections:
• [OrCAD Reader Section] contains Translator options (arguments).
• [Mapper Section] contains commands to add/remove/map proper-
ties and names.

Default name of configuration file used with EXPORT from Capture is

cap2edi.cfg

OrCAD Reader SuppressWarnings

Section Full name: SuppressWarnings
Syntax: SuppressWarnings = 0 or SuppressWarnings = 1
Default: SuppressWarnings = 0
By default, Warnings are output to the log during Capture database
conversion. To disable output of Warnings set SuppressWarnings = 1.

IniFilePath
Full name: Capture INI-file Path
Syntax: IniFilePath = "<path to capture INI-file>"
Default: IniFilePath = ""

Capture.ini file contains information about Capture default colors and

fonts. Specify path to Capture INI-file to save default colors and fonts
into the EDIF file, otherwise information from INI will be ignored.
In the absence of the INI file, default fonts and colors of Capture data-
base are used.

Default value is IniFilePath = "", do not use Capture INI-file.

Example: IniFilePath = "capture.ini"

FullLibraryNamePath
Full name: Use full path names for libraries
Syntax: FullLibraryNamePath = 0 or FullLibraryNamePath = 1
Default: FullLibraryNamePath = 0
Specifies how the translator will output Library name to an EDIF file.
If FullLibraryNamePath is enabled (equal to 1) full path names for

6 Capture to EDIF 200 Translator Configuration file

CAP2EDIF

libraries will be output.

Disable FullLibraryNamePath (equal to 0) to output only file names
(without extension) for libraries.
For example: The Capture library c:\capture\library\ttl.olb is saved in
EDIF as library with the name "c:\capture\library\ttl.olb" (when FullL-
ibraryNamePath is 1) or ttl (when FullLibraryNamePath is 0).

Note: Full path name for library will be generated if the design is
using libraries with the same file names, but with different full paths
(even if FullLibraryNamePath is 0).

ConvertAll
Full name: Convert All Views
Syntax: ConvertAll = 0 or ConvertAll = 1
Default: ConvertAll = 0

If ConvertAll is enabled (equal to 1) translator will read all schematic

views of a Capture Design, otherwise it will read only the root sche-
matic view and all its contents.

MultipleLibs
Full name: Generate Multiple Libraries
Syntax: MultipleLibs = 0 or MultipleLibs = 1
Default: MultipleLibs = 1

Enable MultipleLibs on if you want the EDIF file to contain as many

libraries as were referenced by Library Parts and Symbols instantiated
in the design. If MultipleLibs is off all LibraryParts and Symbols
instantiated in the design will be placed into single library in the EDIF
file.

UniquePins
Full name: Unique pin names
Syntax: UniquePins = 0 or UniquePins = 1
Default: UniquePins = 0

OrCAD Capture allows to have multiple pins with the same name on
one Library Part.
Set UniquePins to 1 to disable same port names in one symbol in the
EDIF file.
To keep original duplicated OrCAD Capture pin names use default
value.

Capture to EDIF 200 Translator Configuration file 7

 CAP2EDIF

PackagePinNumbersToDesignator
Full name: Package Pin Numbers in Symbol Pin
Syntax: PackagePinNumbersToDesignator = 0 or PackagePinNum-
bersToDesignator = 1
Default: PackagePinNumbersToDesignator = 0

Set PackagePinNumbersToDesignator to 1 to output pin numbers

used by one Pin in the Package into the Port Designator construct in the
EDIF file.

OutputBackAnnotation
Full name: Output Back Annotation
Syntax: Output Back Annotation = 0 or Output Back Annotation = 1
Default: Output Back Annotation = 0

Set OutputBackAnnotation = 1 to save occurrence data to the EDIF

file. Otherwise no occurrence data will be output to the EDIF file.

UnixPaths
Full name: Path Style in Library Name
Syntax: UnixPaths = 0 or UnixPaths = 1
Default: UnixPaths = 1

Set this option to 0 to use Windows-style path in Library naming. By

default, library extension is removed and Unix-style path will be used.
This option is effective only if Full Library path is used as the name of
the library (see FullLibraryNamePath option).
Example:
In the source capture design library "C:\Capture\Libraries\testlib.olb" is
used.
Set UnixPath = 1 to name this library "C/Capture/Libraries/testlib" or
set UnixPath = 0 to name this library "C:\Capture\Libraries\testlib.olb"
in the EDIF file.

8 Capture to EDIF 200 Translator Configuration file

CAP2EDIF

Mapper Section Mapping Commands:

Property

Usage
property propertyName_edif propertyName_capture owner property-
Type

Description
This command enables mapping property name in the object.

Arguments
<propertyName_edif>: The property you want to map to (you want to
see in EDIF)
<propertyName_capture>: The property you want to map from (from
the OrCAD Capture design)
<Owner>: The object in which you want to map the Property.
<PropertyType>: Type of Property: INTEGER, REAL, BOOLEAN,
STRING.
Example:
property "PART_NAME" "Source Package" INST STRING

The preceding example substitutes the name of "Source Package" prop-

erty on a Capture Instance, with name "PART_NAME" on the corre-
sponding EDIF Instance.

Substitution of Names or Strings

Usage
setup name substitution "edif_name" "capture_name" owner
setup string substitution "edif_name" "capture_name" owner
setup character substitution "edif_string" "capture_string" mode

Description
The "setup name substitution" command lets you replace names of
pins, nets, symbols, and instances.
The "setup character substitution" command lets you specify the char-
acter (in most cases illegal for EDIF format character set) and substitu-
tion set, which should replace them in the EDIF being created. This
command supports the substitution of (as example) illegal characters in
name strings. Two argument strings (capture_string and edif_string)
specify character mapping. Characters in these strings will be mapped
by position. So the first character in the capture_string will be replaced
by the first character in the edif_string, second by second etc. If the
capture_string has a length greater than the edif_string the characters in

Capture to EDIF 200 Translator Configuration file 9

 CAP2EDIF

the tail of the capture_string string will be removed from the names in
the generated design. If the edif_string is longer the tail of the
edif_string will be ignored.
The "setup string substitution" command allows you to change the
value of the properties attached to pins, nets, instances and symbols.

Arguments
<edif_name>: Object name you want to replace with (in the EDIF file)
<capture_name>: The name of the object you want to find and replace
in the source capture OrCAD design
<owner>: specifies the type of object that owns the name or string:
-PIN allows you to change the name or property of a pin.
-NET allows you to change the name or property of a net.
-INST allows you to change the name or property of an instance.
-SYM allows you to change the name or property of a symbol (this cor-
responds to the EDIF cell).
<capture_string>: The string of characters that must be replaced with
characters specified in the edif_string string
<edif_string>: The string of characters that must replace characters
specified in the capture_string
<mode>:
-Names: The mode switch specifies the type of objects for which the
substitution applies.

Examples:
1) When writing an EDIF file, if you want to replace Capture's
Instance name "I789" with the EDIF Instance name "MyInstance", use
the following command:
setup name substitution "MyInstance" "I789"
-INST
2) This command replaces all '[' and ']' characters with '<' and '>'. As
example Bus name A[1..3] will be replaced by A<1..3>.
setup character substitution "<> " "[]"
-Names

forgetproperty

Usage
forgetproperty <prop>

Description
A general mechanism to remove properties from parts, instances, nets,
pins and other objects.

10 Capture to EDIF 200 Translator Configuration file

CAP2EDIF

Arguments
<prop>: The Name of the property to remove

Examples
This command removes property Value from objects in the EDIF file.
forgetproperty "Value"

author

Usage
author <author_string>

Description
A general mechanism to change the author in the EDIF file.
Arguments
< author_string >: Name of author

Examples
This command sets the author in the EDIF 200 to be "electronic tools
company".
author "electronic tools company"

OrCAD Capture to EDIF 200 Mapping

This section explains the similarities and differences between terminol-

ogy in the OrCAD Capture and EDIF 200 systems. It is not intended to
be a comprehensive mapping, but rather an aid to familiarize the
OrCAD Capture user with EDIF 200 terminology, and vice versa. For
more information on any of the EDIF concepts presented in this sec-
tion, refer to the Electronic Design Interchange Format documents,
which can be obtained from the Electronic Industries Association. For
more information on the OrCAD Capture design concepts presented in
this section, refer to the OrCAD Capture user’s manual.

OrCAD Capture EDIF identifiers are restricted to only alphanumeric characters and the
to EDIF underscore (_) symbol. OrCAD Capture names, on the other hand, are
not. So, as not to violate EDIF conventions, while at the same time pre-
Identifier
serving the name used by the original application, EDIF V 2 0 0 pro-
Renaming vides the "rename" construct. When an illegal identifier (in this case, a
OrCAD Library pathname), such as c:\capture|ttl.off is brought into
EDIF, EDIF stores the old name and gives it a new, acceptable name
using the proper construct.

OrCAD Capture to EDIF 200 Mapping 11

 CAP2EDIF

The CAP2EDIF application reads the OrCAD Capture name and sub-
stitutes illegal characters with an acceptable EDIF identifier. Also,
names that do not begin with a letter have an ampersand (&) added as
the first character.

Libraries Libraries, in both EDIF and OrCAD Capture environments, are group-
ings of parts and designs based on a set of common characteristics. A
single EDIF file may contain descriptions of many libraries. A single
design can reference parts in several different libraries.

Cells, Parts, The EDIF 2 0 0 cell represents OrCAD Capture cell. An EDIF 2 0 0
Schematics and view represents OrCAD Capture Library Part, contents of the EDIF 2 0
0 view represent OrCAD Capture Schematic. EDIF 2 0 0 cell can have
Instances
multiple views that can be used for different purposes. Sometimes the
views of the cell are used to represent alternative symbols (e.g. DeMor-
gan equivalents).

In OrCAD Capture only 2 Views of the Library Part are allowed. They
are called "Normal" and "Convert". The "Normal" and "Convert" views
of OrCAD Capture Library part will be translated to the corresponding
views of an EDIF 2 0 0 cell. OrCAD Capture instance will be translated
to EDIF 2 0 0 instance.

Attributes and Both EDIF and OrCAD Capture systems use objects called properties,
Properties which give more information about an object than just basic connectiv-
ity or graphics. Properties have two parts: a name and a value.

Additionally, EDIF has a set of commonly used properties called

attributes. The EDIF attribute names are special reserved words (or
keywords). As with any property, each EDIF attribute has an owner--
either instance, net, or port (pin)--for which it is valid.

Because of the many types of properties design objects can have, only
certain types of properties have EDIF attributes. For example, the
OrCAD Capture instance property Part Reference has an equivalent
EDIF attribute, named designator, whose owner is an instance.

12 OrCAD Capture to EDIF 200 Mapping

CAP2EDIF

Table 1 lists and briefly explains each of the EDIF attributes.

Table 1: EDIF Attributes Summary
Attribute EDIF Type Description
acload miNoMax An attribute of a port used to express external load
capacitance.
criticality integer A positive or negative integer value used to describe
the relative importance of a net to other nets for
routing purposes.
dcfaninload number An attribute used to compute the fan-in load of an
output or input port.
dcfanoutload number An attribute used to compute the fan-out load of an
output or inout port.
dcmaxfanin number An attribute that specifies the maximum allowed fan-
in of input or inout ports.
dcmaxfanout number An attribute that specifies the maximum allowed fan-
out of output or inout ports.
designator string An attribute which specifies a pin number or a
reference designator for a cell instance.
direction INOUT An attribute used to specify direction of a port, such
INPUT OUTPUT as input, output, or inout.
unused N/A An attribute of ports, port instances, and off-page
connectors indicating the object is not used in the
interface of this particular view.

Ports and Pins The EDIF term port encapsulates the OrCAD Capture term pin and
term Hierarchical Port. Ports are connection points to cells.

Nets In both OrCAD Capture and EDIF terminologies, a net is used to con-
nect instances in a design. In EDIF V 2 0 0, the "net" construct
together with the "joined" construct, describes how a net is connected
to ports of instances in a design.

Net Buses OrCAD Capture buses map to EDIF V 2 0 0 "net array" constructs.

OrCAD Capture to EDIF 200 Mapping 13

 CAP2EDIF

14 OrCAD Capture to EDIF 200 Mapping