10 Encounter Tips and Tricks You May Not Be Aware Of

In looking over the shoulders of Encounter users over the years I've found there's a bunch of little tips and tricks I use to make interacting with the tool a little easier that aren't necessarily immediately obvious. Here are some of the more common ones I used this week:

1. When navigating an Encounter log file in a text editor, search forward for "<CMD>". Each time a command is executed it's embedded in the log file, for example: "<CMD> optDesign -preCTS". This makes it easier to understand what was executed and what resulted. 
2. Use "getLogFileName" to determine which log file goes with which Encounter session.
3. Use "win" at the Encounter prompt to raise the window of the session associated with the Encounter console. Doesn't work with all window managers but when it does I find this quite useful.
4. Use "dbWireCleanup" to delete all of the signal routes in the design (trialRoute or NanoRoute). See also "editDelete -type Signal".
5. Use "deleteAllPowerPreroutes" to delete all of the power routing in a design. Sure you could "editDelete -type Special" but what fun is that?
6. Use "encounter -init design.enc" to restore a design from the UNIX prompt.
7. Load designs with "source design.enc" at the Encounter prompt instead of using restoreDesign. That way you don't need to use a pulldown menu and you don't need to tell the tool the top cell name since it's embedded within the .enc file.
8. Use emacs-style shortcuts like "ctrl-a", "ctrl-e", and "ctrl-k" to position the cursor and strike text at the Encounter console.
9. Use "dbGet selected.??" to query physical information about an object.
10. Use "report_property [get_nets <net_name>]" to query timing information about an object.

Question of the Day: What little tips and tricks have you found useful in Encounter over the years? Let us know in the comments.

-Bob Dwyer