22.1 pro: set_instance_assignment not accepting wildcard?

Instead of doing:

set_instance_assignment -name IO_STANDARD "HSSI DIFFERENTIAL I/O" -to sfp0
set_instance_assignment -name IO_STANDARD "HSSI DIFFERENTIAL I/O" -to sfp1
set_instance_assignment -name IO_STANDARD "HSSI DIFFERENTIAL I/O" -to sfp2

I'd like to do:

set_instance_assignment -name IO_STANDARD "HSSI DIFFERENTIAL I/O" -to sfp*

But this doesn't work in either .sdc, .qsf, the IO_STANDARD isn't set in any of the sfp* ports/signals.

I read in the documentation, set_instance_assignment supports wildcard, what's wrong?

sstrell
3 years ago
Actually, you don't have to do a full compilation, just Analysis & Elaboration.

But as mentioned, when you edit the .qsf manually and the design has not been compiled yet, when you use the wildcard, Quartus does not know about that object yet.

If you were to use the GUI instead, you always have to perform at least Analysis & Elaboration first so signals and objects appear in the Pin Planner or the Assignment Editor. It's the same situation here.

11 Replies

sstrell
Super Contributor
3 years ago
Actually, you don't have to do a full compilation, just Analysis & Elaboration.

But as mentioned, when you edit the .qsf manually and the design has not been compiled yet, when you use the wildcard, Quartus does not know about that object yet.

If you were to use the GUI instead, you always have to perform at least Analysis & Elaboration first so signals and objects appear in the Pin Planner or the Assignment Editor. It's the same situation here.
- alexislms
  Contributor
  3 years ago
  That's now clear, Quartus doesn't automatically detect the ports of the top. I was tricked by the Pin Planner showing the IO STD of the pins without running any compilation step.
  
  I haven't tested to add a location assignment to a port that doesn't exist in the top but I guess it'd have given me errors only after a compilation step.
  
  Thanks @sstrell !
  
  And thanks @ShengN_Intel for the help!
ShengN_altera
Super Contributor
3 years ago
Hi,

The wildcard feature tested and works well in Quartus Pro v22.1. Have you do recompilation after making changes in .qsf file? After recompilation eventually will get something like below in .qsf file.
set_instance_assignment -name IO_STANDARD "HSSI DIFFERENTIAL I/O" -to sfp* -entity <your_entity_name>

Best Regards,
Sheng
p/s: If any answer from community or Intel support are helpful, please feel free to mark as solution and give Kudos.
- alexislms
  Contributor
  3 years ago
  Hi ShengN,
  
  Tested, doesn't work:
  
  1. .qsf:
  
  2. Open the project and the Pin Planner
  
  3. Close the project, change the .qsf, save
  
  4. Open the project, open Pin Planner:
  
  Quartus version:
  
  There is no compilation, it's even before synthesis.
  
  Regards,
ShengN_altera
Super Contributor
3 years ago
Hi,

Then you have to open the project again and do compilation so Quartus can read the settings changes in .qsf file.

Best Regards,
Sheng
p/s: If any answer from community or Intel support are helpful, please feel free to mark as solution and give Kudos.
- alexislms
  Contributor
  3 years ago
  This has nothing to do with any compilation, it's a project setup step.
  Also the .qsf is loaded when the project is opened, not at the compilation. (this is a .qsf not .sdc)
  
  I can clearly see it by doing 1. and 2. after 4., the pin planner is still able to set the property without any compilation step.
  
  Please raise a ticket to have this bug fixed.
  
  Regards,
ShengN_altera
Super Contributor
3 years ago
Hi,

Sorry for confusion. I think there are some misunderstandings. After you make changes in .qsf file, you should see the settings loaded in Assignment Editor. However in order to make the settings appear in pin planner you have to do the compilation. Hopefully it helps answering your problem.

**Check the file below.

Best Regards,

Sheng

p/s: If any answer from community or Intel support are helpful, please feel free to mark as solution and give Kudos.
I2C_lite.zip3.3 MB
ShengN_altera
Super Contributor
3 years ago
Thanks sstrell for clarification!
Since the issue addressed had been resolved. I'll now transition this thread to community support. If you have a new question, feel free to open a new thread to get the support from Intel experts.
- alexislms
  Contributor
  3 years ago
  @ShengN_Intel Sorry, I have one more question:
  
  I want to keep Quartus away from my files. I still don't understand why HW vendors think it's a good idea to let the tool modifying the user's files.
  
  I don't want to have anything I can store somewhere else in the .qsf. The pin locations with its constraints is a good example.
  
  I come from Xilinx and Vivado accepts a tcl file containing pin assignments and constraints. I try that with Quartus, the set_location_assignment aren't detected...
  
  Please tell me the way I can keep a single tcl/sdc file containing all the pins and their constraints in a single file that will never be modified by Quartus and loaded when I open the project.
  - sstrell
    Super Contributor
    3 years ago
    You have to source the separate file from the .qsf:
    
    source io_assignments.tcl