PADS I/O Designer allows you to limit the range of devices available for selection by using the preferred devices list. This enables only the selected devices to be displayed in the Database Properties dialog.
The preferred devices list is stored in the file named componentlist.ini. The algorithm for locating this file is the same as the one for locating the configuration file with the exception that the COMPONENTLIST_INI_DIR variable is used instead of MGC_IO_DESIGNER_HOME. See “Configuration File (IODesigner.xml)”. The preferred devices list is an ASCII file, which can be edited with any text editor.
The preferred devices list consists of sections of the following syntax:
[section]
subsection
subsection
...
Here is the sample componentlist.ini file:
[Vendors]
xilinx
[xilinx]
virtex
virtex2
xbr
xc4000e
[virtex2]
2v1000
2v2000
2v8000
Start from the section Vendors, where all available vendors should be listed. All available families are then listed in the section named after the vendor (Xilinx in the example). We can further limit devices and packages available within a family. The idea is that if a section exists in the preferred devices list, then only listed subsections are available. In the example, four Xilinx families: virtex virtex2 xbr xc4000e are available, and in the family virtex2 only three listed devices are available. In the remaining families all devices are available.