Re: [SI-LIST] : SpectraQuest vs XTK

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From: S Weir ([email protected])
Date: Tue Mar 07 2000 - 10:46:58 PST


Shannon,

What are considering switching from to ViewDraw? Time has not been
kind to that old-lady. The underlying database design is very old.
Most enhancements are in the form of slow, and clumsy add-ons that
communicate through VB automation, DxDatabook, DxDataManager, Variant
Mgr, etc. They are now very married to the Redmond monster. Using VL
product is a lot like using the ancient VAX TPU edit engine. The
database is exposed as both ASCII files, and through the automation
links, but the tool as provided is so lacking that it is up to the user
to create basic functions like title block and hierarchy management.

VL has spent the last couple of years "NTifying" their once capable
PowerView product, and largely annoying the NT Workview user base with
"creative feature enhancements", which usually consist of figuring out
which existing feature they will clobber or outright remove. A big clue
about the state of VL is their stated policy, 12/99, that they do not
officially support any products on NT4 sp4, sp5, or sp6. The most
recent
release they officially support is the long-dead sp3. Yes, it is rather
incredible but true.

There have been no single digit point releases to ViewDraw in almost two
years. The three .0x bug-fix releases have each been a very mixed bag.
We have some users who actively oppose using anything newer than the
1997
release due to the useability problems those "creative feature
enhancements" have introduced.

I am curious how the Cadence and Mentor customers feel about their
respective tools, and suppliers.

Regards,

Steve.

At 12:15 AM 3/5/2000 -0700, you wrote:
>As part of an acquisition requirement, we are changing our design tools.
>Our designs are high density, high speed digital 33Mhz to 1GHz. We are
>changing PCB layout to Allegro from Cadence. We are also changing
>schematic entry to either Cadence HDL or ViewLogic ViewDraw. The Cadence
>tool of choice for SI simulation seems to be SpectraQuest while
>ViewLogic's tool is XTK. I have heard positive reviews for XTK on this
>forum but never SpectraQuest. Has anyone out there successfully used the
>SpectraQuest tool? Can someone give me a comparison of the two tools
>and/or their capabilities? Can anyone speak to the specific advantages of
>XTK bundled with ViewLogic vs using XTK with Cadence HDL? Does anyone have
>statistics for the number of XTK seats vs SpectraQuest seats in the industry?
>
>Thanks in advance,
>Shannon Roseman
>Senior Hardware Engineer
>Compatible Systems

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