That is great!
Hello Gents!
- One drawback which I see is that it makes it more complicated to move projects between different boards. Or even just to change pins later on - for that I then need to search for the pin on the schematic, instead of doing that in the design wide ressources.
- Not True
First and formost, the PinHelper component only works on unlocked pins. If a pin is locked in theDWR, the PinHelper cannot and will not move it. I guess I also dont see the problem with changing projects between boards, since you will have to move the pins anyway. This component allows you to save one step, by allowing you to automiatically assign unlocked pins to the proper pin location by adding pin location information to instance name of the pin. Its also much easier to read where the pin is located that way in the schematic. Use of this component is purely optional, if you dont place it on your schematic, it wont help you with anything.
- Not True
- Or does this plugin respect manual choices made there?
- It is not a plugin, its a component, and yes, any manually placed pins, or pins that are locked will not be touched by this component. This component will only attempt to automatically place unlocked pins that follow the naming convention outlined above. I also want to re-iterate, if you dont want to use, you dont have to place the component on your schematic. If the component is not placed on the schematic, it cant do anything to assist you.
- When the given I/O name is specifying a pin already in use and locked, the original connection should not be broken up.
- I'm guessing neither of you downloaded and tried the component before offering your critiques
. The PinHelper component cannot place a pin on a location that is already consumed by some other locked pin. It will generate an error and inform you of the conflict.
- I'm guessing neither of you downloaded and tried the component before offering your critiques
- When the original pin is not locked, at least a note of "Disconnecting..." should be issued.
- Sorry, the component wont be able to do that. At its core, the component is just a control file that locates pins with names that follow the pattern and attempts to place them in the right place. If you have an unlocked pin in some pre-defined location, its understood that it can be moved at any time by creator when you generate the application, and no warning is issued. I didn't hack creator to do something crazy, I just used an existing tool (the control file) to provide a useful helper. So if creator doesn't issue a warning when it moves an already assigned, but unlocked pin, thats not the fault of my component.
I wish to re iterate my original post:
I'm in the habit of putting the pin location into the instance name of all my pin components. It makes it really easy to see where a signal is connected by looking at my schematic (that tiny text in the pin itself is just no good!).
But I have often wished that naming a pin with "P0_0" in the instance name would automatically assign it to the pin location P0[0] in the design wide resources tab. Well my friends, the wait is over! Place the KEES_PinHelper component into your design, and any pin named with the Px_y format will be automatically assigned to the proper location when you generate the application.
The KEES_PinHelper component includes a control file that looks for pins that contain Px_y in the instance name and tries to assign them to the appropriate pin. In order for the control file to work, the component must be placed on your schematic. Multiple PinHelper components can be placed without conflict. If a pins position is locked in the pins tab of the cydwr, then you can rename the pin to whatever you like and it will not move.
