CVS and Cadence

Is it good to use CVS to manage(version control) Cadence lib files?

cheers,

Ming

 

This product integrates CVS management into the DF2 environment:

http://www.cliosoft.com/products/sos_viadf2.html

I don't have any personal experience with it but some people at work swear
by it.

 

or http://www.synchronisity.com ... DesignSync

cheers
ralf

 

For heavy stuff, you can use perforce, clearcase, or synchronicity. That will
require an expert to be assigned to it s maintenance and support.

For lighter, you can use cadence's own versionsync or CVS. I know of at least 3
PDK publishers (foundries) who offer in their PDK a CVS integration in df2.

They probably all lack the most elementary features, can all can bring
libmanager to it s knees, and confuse your designers. But the heavier stuff can
also confuse them on multiple sites. So I have no particular recommendation,
make your pick...

 

http://www.synchronicity.com
http://sourceforge.net/projects/cdsp4

 

I've used CVS on reference libraries ( or PDKs) to keep track
of my edits on source and binary (cdba) files without any
problems. This is not the usual mode that a user would be
interested in though.

I've also recently heard of a company that wrote some skill
wrappers to interface dfII into a CVS database. They were
very happy with it.

Mark

 

I suppose that is just a company to use that, not to sell that solution.

 

if you are the only one working on the libraries it works just fine.
I do not think there is a gdm layer already written for cvs.

I normally use CVS to manage my pcell libraries. I use CVS
to manage the source code, but also enter the compiled pcells
into a cvs managed module.

The problem is if someone else checks in a file to the repository,
then when you check your file in you'll get a conflict which looks
to the design framework simply as a corrupted file.

The only way around this i have found is to remove the cdb files
from the directories, do a cvs update, then compile the pcells
again.

-jim

 

Unfortunately, that is correct.

 

Short answer is No.

The problem of version control is one in which you need a very good idea of
who will have
write access to the data.

CVS/dfII is not good with multiple people having write permission on one
version controlled entity.

Several models of version controlling can be set up, each with it's own set
of problems and advantages.

If a Librarian handles all of the data writes to the master, several good
systems ca be built.

One system I have used involved writing a "skillOut" function that
essentially wrote a skill script that
would re-create any layour/schematic. This file (that when run would
recreate the cell) was put under
CVS (or RCS) control by a master librarian and a "build" script was written
that would re-generate
the library.

With some clever symbolic links, users would always se the latest library,
and would submit changes to the
librarian ... (then script were written to automate the librarian & build
functions ... )

Good luck

-- Gerry