CDSDoc User Guide, Product Version 2.1

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Opening Libraries and Documents

All the product documentation for the Cadence software in a single release is grouped in one online library. The library files are contained in a directory called doc under the directory where you installed Cadence software.

This section describes the following:

• Opening a Library

• Changing to a Different Release Library

• Opening a Document

• Exiting the Library

For more information about the installation hierarchy, read the overview of the Cadence hierarchy in Chapter 3 of the CDSDoc Configuration Guide.

Only those documents for products you purchased are installed into your online library. For more information about installing Cadence products, read the Cadence Installation Guide.

Opening a Library

The CDSDoc Library window lists all the books installed from the library for this release. You use it to browse for and open documents.

CDSDoc Library window

You most likely opened the Library window using one of the methods listed below. If you close the window at some point while using Cadence documents, you can reopen it using any of these methods.

You can view a video about starting the documentation system.

Opening a library from your operating system

You can open a library from a command window in UNIX or Windows.

1. Open a shell window (UNIX) or a command prompt window (Windows).

2. Change to the directory containing your Cadence software.

3. Change to tools/bin (UNIX) or tools\bin (Windows).

4. Type: cdsdoc

   The Library window appears.

If you prefer using your windowing system, do the following:

1. In a UNIX windowing system (e.g. CDE) or in Windows, navigate to your Cadence tools/bin (or tools\bin) directory.

2. Double-click the cdsdoc executable (on Windows, called cdsdoc.exe).

   The Library window appears.

Opening a library from a Help button

Many Cadence applications display pages from the online library when you click a Help button.

1. Click Help in any window in the application.

   The document page is loaded into your Internet browser (Netscape or Internet Explorer).

2. Click on the button at the top or bottom of the document page.

   The Library window appears.

Opening a library from the Library button

Scroll to the top or bottom of any open document and click on the button to open the Library window.

Other ways to start CDSDoc

Cadence applications offer other ways to start the online documentation. Not all applications use all methods listed below.

• Help pull-down menu: Many applications include a Cadence Documentation or CDSDoc Library command in pull-down menus. Some include commands that open the specific user manuals for that product.

• Context-sensitive help: Besides starting documentation by clicking on Help in dialog boxes and forms (as described in Opening a library from a Help button), some applications have Help - On Context commands that let you click on application interface items such as components in a schematic to open the portion of the documentation about that item.

• BuildGates command option: You may include a special -cdsdocd option when you start a Cadence BuildGates tool. Then you can type help command_name within the Ambit user interface or at the command line to open a document in your web browser.

Changing to a Different Release Library

Each Cadence release has a different documentation library. The CDSDoc Library window shows all the Cadence libraries you have used. You can jump to any installation hierarchy you have previously viewed and open those manuals.

You can view a video about viewing documents from multiple releases.

Changing to a Release You Have Previously Viewed

1. In the Library window, click on the Active Librarypull-down.

   

2. Choose the directory of the release you want to open.

   The documents for that release appear in the list.

Changing to a Release You Have Not Viewed Before

The list shown in the Active Library pull-down includes all Cadence documentation from releases you have previously viewed.

The list comes from either:

• A text file named ~/.cdsdoc/cdsdoc.ini (on UNIX)

• A text file named C:\\.cdsdoc\cdsdoc.ini (on Windows)

• A variable you set, CDSDOC_PROJECT.

The list of available releases is updated each time you start CDSDoc from a particular release hierarchy to include the paths of each installed Cadence release.

If you have recently installed a new Cadence release, then to view documentation from that release for the first time you must do one of the following:

• Open the documentation directly from that new release by clicking Help or typing cdsdoc.

• Add that release to a list of hierarchies as discussed in Creating a Default List of Cadence Hierarchies section of Chapter 3 in the CDSDoc Configuration Guide.

After you have opened the library once, its name and path will appear in the Active Library list.

Setting Default Hierarchies to View

You may want to set a default list of Cadence hierarchies to use. To do so, you set the CDSDOC_PROJECT variable to point to an ASCII file listing the hierarchies you want to use. Read the Creating a Default List of Cadence Hierarchies section of Chapter 3 in the CDSDoc Configuration Guide for complete instructions.

Opening a Document

To open a document, do the following in the Library window:

1. Choose the category of documents you want to see.

   

   Docs by Cadence Platform - Lists each Cadence design platform you installed, with related books underneath.

   Docs by Product - (Default) Lists each Cadence product you installed, with related books underneath.

   Docs by Type - Lists Known Problems and Solutions, Product Notes, and Manuals in separate categories.

2. Click on the plus widget to expand a category and display the document titles.

   

3. Click on the plus widget to expand the titles of the chapters in a particular document.

   

4. Do either of the following:

   • Double-click on the title of the chapter you want to open.

   • Click to select a title, then click the Open button.

   

   The document appears in your web browser window.

   Note:  On Windows, CDSDoc opens the document in Netscape. If you want to change the default browser, see Choosing a default browser (Windows only).

You can view a video about opening documents.

Opening PDF Documents

Besides the HTML version of each document available from the Library window, Cadence ships PDF versions for use in printing. To open the PDF version of a document:

1. Open the HTML document from the Library window.

2. Click the View/Print PDF button in the command bar at the top of the document.

You can also create a HTML list of PDF files, as described in Creating a List of Printable Files.

Opening a Document in a Second Window

By default, CDSDoc opens in your current browser window. You can change this default using the Edit - Preferences command. See Using a new browser window or reusing the same window for details.

Status Messages

The bottom section of the library window displays status messages as you open documents, as shown below.

Resetting the Library Window

If you expand a number of document titles, the Library window may begin to look "cluttered" with titles. To redraw the window so that no categories or documents are expanded, choose View - Refresh from the Library window.

Closing the Library Window

You can close the library window but leave CDSDoc running using any of the following methods:

Any platform: Choose File - Close in the Library window to close the window.

UNIX systems: Click the upper left corner of the window and choose Quit.

Windows systems: Click the X box in the upper right corner of the window.

In all cases, this stops the Java application used to serve the window, but leaves the server process used by CDSDoc running in the background. Leaving the server running makes CDSDoc open more quickly the next time you start it. See the following section for more details about stopping the server process.

Exiting the Library

CDSDoc uses a server daemon to run the Search feature. Whenever you open a library, the server is started. The server is a background process (not a web server) that uses a very small portion of your machine's CPU time, called https on UNIX, search.exe on Windows.

To stop the server and close CDSDoc, do either of the following:

Choose File - Exit in the Library window.

Click Exit at the bottom of the Library window.

To just stop the server but not close CDSDoc, do the following:

Click in any Cadence document.

Other Processes Stopped by Exit Commands

Besides halting the Search server, the following processes are stopped depending on the command you choose.

Platform	Command used	Processes halted
UNIX	Exit command or button in Library window	https obServer (used to connect from Cadence tools to CDSDoc) Library window (a Java process)
UNIX	Exit button in document	https
Windows	Exit command or button in Library window	search.exe obServer.exe (used to connect from Cadence tools to CDSDoc) Library window (a Java process)
Windows	Exit button in document	search.exe

Note:  If you do not explicitly choose Exit from the Library window, all of these processes will eventually close if they are not used for several hours.

For support, see http://www.cadence.com/support or try Cadence's SourceLink service.

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