Background

In versions of the Insight Analyzer prior to v4.40, device parameters and power settings were automatically saved to and restored from the project directory. For a project named “MyProject”, these files would be named:

• MyProject.devparams
• MyProject.pwrdefs

Starting in v4.40, the Analyzer no longer uses these files and will no longer automatically save and restore project settings. Project settings are now explicitly saved and restored using the Session->Project menu. When a project is saved, a Tcl file is written containing commands necessary to later restore the project settings.

This application note describes how to migrate project settings from the old devparams/pwrdefs file format to the new v4.40 file format.

Prerequisites

Insight Analyzer v4.31-5924 or newer (excluding versions v4.40+) used to recover old project settings.

• Patched script Insight-4.31__/scripts/export-settings.tcl (the original script will work if you export with a netlist loaded).
• The patched script has this info written near the top: “export-settings.tcl v1.2” • Insight Analyzer v4.40+ If you are using an older version of the software, you can download v4.31-5924 from the Insight EDA website, or contact Insight EDA for assistance.

Steps

First you will use a previous version of the Analyzer to load your existing project settings. Once loaded, you will export the settings to a Tcl script that can be read by the v4.40 software. Once loaded to the new software, you will save them as a project settings file.

1. Start Insight Analyzer v4.31.
2. Choose Setup->Project->Type, then on the Project tab, choose the name of your Existing Project, then click Done. This will load your project settings.
3. If your settings apply to many netlists, then do not load a netlist at this time (requires patched script export-settings.tcl). If you do load a netlist now, then the settings will be filtered and only those applicable to the netlist will be exported.
4. Choose Setup->Project->Export Settings, choose a file name, then click Save.
5. Close Insight Analyzer v4.31.
6. Start Insight Analyzer v4.40+
7. Choose Session->Project->Load, select the file you wrote in step 4 above, then click OK.
8. Once the Analyzer has loaded the file, verify that the settings are correct.
9. Finally, choose Session->Project->Save As..., choose a file name, then click Save.

The file you choose in step 9 is your new project settings file. This file replaces the previous devparams/pwrdefs files and should be used with all new versions of the software.