Cross-probing between the dataflow design and the parent design can be necessary for several reasons:
- Cross-probing the parent netlist lets you access details that are trimmed from
the dataflow netlist, such as the following:
- Cells that were removed
- The number of pipeline stages between key placement cells
- The placement of cells not available in the dataflow netlist
- Certain analyses are not supported in the dataflow viewer. These include the
following:
- Timing reports
- Congestion analysis using
report_design_analysis
Cross probing between cells is the most effective way to cross probe as nets can be renamed. Select a cell in one design and switch to the other design. Net correlation between the parent and dataflow designs is typically not possible because net names often change during netlist generation.
When cross-probing from the dataflow design to the parent netlist, all leaf cells in the dataflow viewer exist in the parent netlist. Because the dataflow netlist is a subset of the parent netlist, this direction of cross probing is usually successful.
Avoid cross‑probing from the parent netlist to dataflow design using leaf cells like registers or LUTs, as they aren't present in the dataflow netlist. Instead, use hierarchical cells or leaf cells such as BlockRAMs UltraRAMs, DSPs or other advanced primitives.
To switch between designs, click the Design Switch icon to switch quickly between the parent design and the last used dataflow design.
- The icon is available after you create the dataflow design.
- The icon changes depending on the switch direction:
-
indicates switching to the DFV -
indicates switching from the DFV
-