Opening a Design File

After powering your target board, invoking the Hardware Debugger, and setting the cable options, you are ready to open and download a design file. You can open the following types of files: BIT files, RBT files, or PROM files. You must open a BIT file if you want to verify and debug.

• BIT files and RBT files contain data for a single device. Use the Design Manager to create them.
  
  
• PROM files (.mcs, .tek, or .exo) contain data to program daisy chains. Use the PROM File Formatter to create them.
  
  
• Use the File Open Project command to open an existing project file (design_name.xck) that contains your design file.
  
  

NOTE

For byte wide PROMs greater than XFFFF (i.e. 64k bytes) if the PROM start address is at an odd byte such as 0xFF, the resulting PROM cannot be used as an input design file in the Hardware Debugger for programming a FPGA device. Use either start address zero or one, starting at even bytes such as 0x10, 0x100 etc. while creating a PROM file.

1. Select File New Project or click the following toolbar button.
   
   
   
   The New Project dialog box appears.
   
   
2. In the Directories list box, select the desired directory.
   
   
3. In the List Files of Type field, specify the extension for the type of file you want to open.
   
   This extension is then displayed in the File Name list box. Only the files that match this extension are displayed in the File Name box.
   
   
4. In the File Name field, type the name of the design file you want to open or click on the file name in the File Name list box.
   
   
5. Click OK.
   
   If you do not have a logic allocation file (design_name.ll), a popup dialog box appears, informing you that debugging is not possible. The design_name.ll file is created during the implementation process if you have selected the appropriate readback option. Click OK to proceed.
   
   After you choose a file to open, a project window appears that shows the hierarchical structure of files for each project. Each project contains bitstream, macro, and waveform data. The device name is only included in this hierarchy when you open a BIT file.