Timing Analyzer Window

This section describes the Timing Analyzer's main window, menus, toolbar, and status bar. You can execute Timing Analyzer commands from the menus, toolbar, or the Console Window.

When you start the application, the Timing Analyzer window appears. The window contains pull-down menus, a toolbar at the top of the window, and a status bar at the bottom of the window. The menus are described in the “Menus” section.

Note: The Edit menu is only enabled when a design, report, or macro file is open and is the active window. Also, most of the toolbar buttons are not enabled unless a file is open and active.

Figure 3.1 Timing Analyzer Window

The toolbar and status bar appear by default when you start the Timing Analyzer. You can hide them from view by selecting the Toolbar or the Status Bar commands, respectively, from the View menu.

Menus

Most of the Timing Analyzer commands are available in the pull-down menus. However, unless a design is loaded, most of the commands are disabled and not available. Certain commands and some command options are disabled and not available, depending whether the open design is an FPGA or a CPLD design.

You can select menu commands with the mouse or the keyboard. With the mouse, click the left mouse button on the desired command. With the keyboard, press the Alt key and type in the letter underlined in the menu for that command. When you select a menu command with either method, a brief description of the command's function appears in the Status Bar at the bottom of the Timing Analyzer window.

For complete command descriptions, select Help Help Topics or see the “Menu Commands” chapter of this manual.

Toolbar

The toolbar appears at the top of the window, just below the menu bar. The toolbar provides button access to frequently used commands in the menus. Textual labels for the buttons appear when you move the cursor arrow over a button. This feature is called a tool tip. A longer description also appears in the status bar. These buttons are shown and described in the “Toolbar” section of the “Menu Commands” chapter.

Status Bar

By default, the status bar appears at the bottom of the window. When you select a menu command, a brief description of the command's function appears in the status bar. As the Timing Analyzer processes, status messages are dynamically updated and displayed.

To hide or show the status bar, select View Status Bar.