We use hierarchical schematics extensively, and in this case I have large chunks of circuitry that I'd like to divide by an initial number in the ref des. For this I expect to use BLOCK_NUM in a custom ref des pattern like ($PHYS_DES_PREFIX)($BLOCK_NUM)[0-9](1).
Inside some of these hier blocks, there will be multiple instances of the same block. In this case, I want the ref des to be the same in each replicated block but add a the SUBDESIGN_SUFFIX to these ref des. Like usual, I would package each of these blocks using "Generate Subdesign" individually before packaging the design from the top using "Force Subdesign".
When all is said and done, I'd like to have ref des similar to the below examples:
R11: First resistor in BLOCK_NUM=1
C72: Second capacitor in BLOCK_NUM=7
U54B: Fourth IC in BLOCK_NUM=5 with SUBDESIGN_SUFFIX=B
D953K: 53rd diode in BLOCK_NUM=9 with SUBDESIGN_SUFFIX=K
The objective is to use the first number to group sections of circuitry. CPU, PHY, Ethernet, GPI, etc. This way, if it starts with a "1" I know it's a CPU part, and a "4" is power supply, for example. Helpful during design and manufacturing/servicing. For the suffix, that would indicate reuse blocks. If I have 3 GPO blocks, then they might use "C" through "E" as a suffix.
Currently, though, I'm not able to achieve this using these standard properties. It seems that BLOCK_NUM cannot coexist with subdesigns. The subdesign suffix is present but those parts don't get the BLOCK_NUM prefix to the numbers in the ref des. Is this possible?
I was able to get the desired results if I added PREFIX and SUFFIX properties to all blocks as desired, did not use subdesigns, and just packaged once from the top level of the schematic using the ref des pattern "($PHYS_DES_PREFIX)($PREFIX)[0-9](1)($SUFFIX)". However, I'm not sure if this is a good idea. Perhaps DE-HDL and/or Allegro will be unhappy if I try to pursue this method? It will still be easy to group these parts into clumps by their page number or ref des, and then using Placement Replication I find that I can still make use of modules to speed up layout.
Any feedback on this ref des concept and my strategies to achieve it?