Instrument Rack - Hard Devices
The following content has been imported from Legacy Help systems and is in the process of being checked for accuracy.
Function
The Instrument Rack - Hard Devices panel is used to contain and display hard device instruments detected in the Hard Devices chain.
Content and Use
When the panel is initially opened, it contains no instruments and therefore appears empty. To populate the panel, double-click on the icon for the physical device whose controls you wish to access, in the Hard Devices chain of the Devices view.
The example image below illustrates a single instrument added to the panel.
Right-click Menu
Right-clicking anywhere on the instrument panel for a hard device, away from fields and controls, will pop-up a menu providing the following commands that are applicable to the main Instrument Rack - Hard Devices panel:
- Order By JTAG ID - rearranges hard device instruments within the rack, so that the instruments are placed in ascending JTAG ID order, with ID 0 at the top of the rack. The JTAG ID for an instrument is displayed at the top left of its panel
- Resize Panel To Fit - use this command to resize the main panel such that it fits exactly around all hard device instruments that are displayed
- Show/Hide Instruments sub-menu - provides entries for each hard device instrument currently displayed in the main rack panel. Use these entries to toggle the display of instruments in the main rack panel as required.
Instrument Controls
The following buttons are available on the instrument panel for a hard device:
- Download - program the associated physical device with the FPGA design currently chosen in the project-configuration drop-down in the Devices view. Download will only occur if an FPGA programming file already exists for the design (i.e. the Compile, Synthesis and Build stages have already been successfully executed for the chosen project-configuration).
- Reset - rest the associated physical device.
- Show Pins Panel - access the pin states panel for the associated physical device, which in turn provides information concerning the mapping of interface ports in the source FPGA design to the physical pins of the FPGA device in which the design is running. For more detailed information, refer to the Physical Device Pin State panels topic.
Notes
- If you have multiple physical devices on-board, the Hard Devices chain will reflect each detected device. Each hard device instrument will only appear in the Instrument Rack - Hard Devices panel after its corresponding icon in the chain has been specifically double-clicked.
- If there is only one hard device instrument currently displayed in the main rack panel, using the Show/Hide Instruments command from the right-click menu will essentially close the panel. You would then need to open the panel and add the instrument back in.
- You can manually change the order of instruments in the main rack panel. Click anywhere on an instrument's panel - away from fields and controls - and drag it to the position required. The instrument will be slotted into that position, moving the current 'resident' and subsequent instruments below it, downward in the rack.
- Use of the Download button on an instrument's panel is the same as using the Download Bit File command from the Hard Devices menu of the Devices view [Shortcut: F11]. Alternatively, right-click on the physical device in the Hard Devices chain of the view and choose Download Bit File from the menu that appears.
Download of an existing bit file can also be achieved by clicking on the lightning bolt icon, located at the far right of the Program FPGA button, in the associated Process Flow for the physical device.
- Use of the Reset button on an instrument's panel is the same as using the Reset Hard Device command from the Hard Devices menu of the Devices view [Shortcut: F12]. Alternatively, right-click on the physical device in the Hard Devices chain of the view and choose Reset Hard Device from the menu that appears.