Net/Bus

The Net/Bus command allows you to change the label that is associated with nets or busses that you select on the canvas in eCADSTAR Schematic Editor. Different fields are displayed in the dialog depending on whether you select busses or a single net, or select multiple nets.

For all instances of the nets or busses, you can select whether a label is changed on all sheets in the circuit, the current sheet only, or the selected nets or busses only.

You can define a new label of your choice, or create a new label using the pin labels in the Suggested Labels box. You can sort the labels of pins in ascending or descending alphabetical order. You can also change the bit order for a selected bus using the and buttons. This is an important consideration when configuring a bus. The Net/Bus command is launched by clicking Home > Label > Net/Bus on the eCADSTAR Schematic Editor ribbon. Any messages relating to the command are displayed in the Output Panel .

  • Select multiple nets or busses on the canvas using the Ctrl key, or by dragging the cursor.
  • Select all segments in a net using the Shift key. If you have already selected nets or busses, pressing the Shift key and clicking a segment expands the selection to include all relevant segments.
Item   Description
Bit Count   Displayed if you select busses or a single net. The bit count is shown that is associated with the net or bus selected on the canvas. This value shows the number of items that you select in the Suggested Labels box. The value is updated when you click Apply.
Reference Source   If you select multiple nets. This allows you to select a bus or device that the selected nets are connected to. The labels associated with the selected bus or device are listed in the Suggested Labels box.
  • If you select a bus, then its associated nets are listed in the Suggested Labels box. This allows you to change their order.
  • If you select a device, then the pin names on the device are displayed. Their order cannot be changed.

The busses or devices are listed in descending order of the number of connections associated with them.

Note
If nets are connected to the same component but with different pin names, then they cannot be renamed in this dialog and "***" is displayed. Instead, they must be renamed manually.

If a single net is selected, this allows you to choose between displaying labels related to the Selected item only, or the Whole circuit.
Suggested Labels   Displays the labels of pins or nets that are connected to the selected nets or busses ( unless Reference Source is set to Whole Circuit). Labels are displayed for the following.
  • The net or bus name.
  • The part name of power supplies, ground connections, sheet connectors, hierarchy connectors or global connectors.
Note
Whether hierarchical connectors are targeted depends on the Do Not Target Hierarchy Connector in Net/Bus and Port Net Label setting in the Application Settings dialog.

For a net that you select on the canvas, you can create a new label by clicking it in this box, and then clicking Apply.

For a bus that you select on the canvas, you can create a new label by selecting multiple items in this box using the Ctrl or Shift key, or by dragging the cursor. Alternatively, define a new label of your choice in the New Label box. The items that you select in the Suggested Labels box are shown in bold to indicate the signals that are associated with the bus.

If multiple nets are selected and then a device is chosen in the Reference Source box, the nets are listed that are associated with the device. Their order cannot be changed.

Bus names are listed in the order of the bus arrays. They can also be listed in ascending or descending alphabetical order by clicking the relevant button. You can change the order by selecting a signal label and clicking or to provide the desired bus naming. See New Label. For example, if the following signals are listed in the order of the bus array, PWR, IN, OUT, RESET, GND, then the label is created in that order. Clicking the Sort Ascending button creates the label: GND, IN, OUT, PWR, RESET, according to alphabetical order.
  For a selected bus, the Suggested Labels list is sorted in ascending alphabetical order.
  For a selected bus, the Suggested Labels list is sorted in descending alphabetical order.
  For a selected bus, the Suggested Labels list is reset to the original order when the dialog is launched. Bus names are listed in the order of the bus arrays.
Filter  

Enter part of the net or bus label you want to search for. Only labels that contain this string are displayed in the Suggested Label list.

To cancel filtering, delete the string in the Filter row.


Using the filter to search for keywords:
KeywordEffect
* (asterisk)Represents any string that consists of one or more characters.
? ( question mark)Represents any single characters

 

Performing AND and OR Searches in the filter row:

  • By entering multiple string, separated by a space or double-vertical bar (||), you can search for command names that contain any of the specified strings ( OR search).
  • By entering multiple strings separated by a double ampersand (&&), you can search for command names that contain all of the specified strings ( AND search).
Note
  • Keywords are not case-sensitive.
  • If an asterisk or question mark is used as part of a keyword, then only command names that match the keyword are displayed.
Select [n] of [n]   If you select multiple nets, and then select a bus in the Reference source, this field is made available. It indicates the number of nets that you select in the Suggested Labels box, and the total number of nets associated with the selected bus.
  Changes the bit order for a selected bus. This is an important consideration when configuring a bus. For a selected label in the Suggested Labels box, click to move it up by one place. The bus name is displayed with the chosen label order, when more than one label is selected in the list. If no items are selected, then this button is made unavailable.
  Changes the bit order for a selected bus. This is an important consideration when configuring a bus. For a selected label in the Suggested Labels box, click to move it down by one place. The bus name is displayed with the chosen label order, when more than one label is selected in the list. If no items are selected, then this button is made unavailable.
New Label   Displays the new label that is assigned to the selected net or bus. If multiple nets are selected, then this box is made unavailable.
  • For nets: create this label by selecting an item in the Suggested Labels box. The item that you select is displayed in the New Label box.
  • For busses: create this label by selecting multiple items in the Suggested Labels box using the Ctrl and Shift keys, or by dragging the cursor. The new label is created by combining selected items into a comma-separated list. For example, if you select A, ADDR[0], ADDR[1], ADDR[2], and ADDR[6] in the Suggested Labels box, then the following label is created: A, ADDR[0-2,6].
For the Add Net, Net/Bus and Increment Net commands and in the Properties Panel, if you attempt to change a label to one that already exists, then a confirmation dialog is immediately displayed. This asks whether to merge the nets.
  • Click Yes in the dialog to merge the nets.
  • Click No in the dialog to cancel the operation.

The dialog is shown if duplicate net labels exist for the following objects.

  • Net Bus Component: Sheet connector
  • Component: Global connector
  • Component: Power (Global connector)
  • Component: Ground (Global connector)

Duplicate net labels may be detected on all sheets in the circuit, including instance hierarchy. However, consider the following for global connectors.

  • The confirmation dialog is shown if the label of a global connector matches the label of a top sheet net.
  • The confirmation dialog is not shown if a net in the hierarchy that is not connected to a global connector matches the label of a net on the top sheet.
Note
If the bus name “X[1-4]” exists, and Use array syntax is selected in the Assignments dialog, then:
  • The confirmation dialog is shown for “X[1]”.
  • The confirmation dialog is not shown for “X1”.
If Use array syntax is not selected in the Assignments dialog, then:
  • The confirmation dialog is shown for both “X[1]” and “X1”.

For a connected net, if you specify a label when one is not already assigned, then the net names that are listed in the Net/Bus command, Suggested labels box, are excluded from this check. They are also excluded if the specified label is contained within the existing name. For example, if you specify a label for the highlighted bus below, then:

  • A warning is not shown for “A[1]”, ”A[2]”, ”A[1-3]” or “A[3-2]”.
  • A warning is shown for “A[4]”, ”A[1-4]” and ”A[4-2]”.

For an unconnected net, specified net names are not excluded from this check.
Connectivity Target   Select whether a label is changed for all instances of the net or bus on all sheets in the circuit, the current sheet only, or the selected net or bus only.
If you attempt to change a label to one that already exists, then the command is paused and a confirmation dialog is displayed.
  • Click Yes to make the change.
  • Click No to cancel the operation.
  Whole circuit For a net or bus that you select on the canvas, the label is changed for all instances of the net or bus on all sheets in circuit. If another user is editing a sheet, then the command is paused and an error message is displayed.
  Whole sheet For a net or bus that you select on the canvas, the label is changed for all instances of the net or bus on the current sheet.
  Selected items For a net or bus that you select on the canvas, the label is only changed for the selected net or bus. Other instances of the net or bus on the current sheet are not changed.
Apply   The label of the nets or busses that you select on the canvas is changed to the value that you select in this dialog. For single nets and busses, this label can also be changed by double-clicking an item in the Suggested Labels box. The Net/Bus dialog remains open.
Exit   Closes the Net/Bus dialog without changing the label of the selected net or bus.

 

Note
If nets and busses are both selected on the canvas, then you can only select a single item in the Suggested Labels box.

 

Related Topics
Increment Net