Creating and Modifying a Filter

You can add filters to a simulation, as well as modify existing ones as needed.

Use the following techniques:

Action Instructions
Create a filter
  1. Right-click the Automation > Filters node and select New.

    A new node named Filter appears.

  2. In the dialog, do one of the following by making a selection in the drop-down list:
    • Begin creating a predicate by selecting a type.
    • To create a compound predicate in which objects match all of the contained values, select AND.
    • To create a compound predicate in which objects match any of the contained values, select OR.
    As you hover with the mouse over the options in the list, text appears at the bottom left of the dialog to identify the option.

    You can also type into the text box of the drop-down list.

    To select the desired entry, navigate to it with the <Up> or <Down> arrow keys and press <Enter>.

  3. Complete the predicate by selecting the other components.
  4. To finish specifying the predicate, click (Commit changes). Alternatively, click anywhere in the view outside the components of the predicate, or press <Enter>. To cancel the creation of the predicate, click (Discard changes).
  5. Use the actions available on the dialog to create further predicates. See Filter Dialog Reference for more information.

    In the following example, the filter contains results of this search: 

    
(Type is Boundary) AND ((Name contains "Memory Chip") OR (Name contains "Capacitor"))


    At the bottom left of the dialog, text indicates the number of matches.

  6. Click OK.
  7. If necessary, rename the filter to an appropriate mnemonic. To rename a filter, right-click either in the view or on the filter node and select Rename.
Apply the filter in an object selector See Filtering Using Filter Objects.
View the query definition of an existing filter
  1. Select the node of the filter.
  2. Hover over the right half of the Query property with the pointer. The Query definition appears in a tooltip.
View any comments attached to objects in search results

Click the Show Comments button.



For more information about simulation comments, see Adding Comments to Simulation Objects.

Modify a filter

Do either of the following:

  • Select the filter node and click the right half of the Query property.
  • Right-click the filter node and select Edit.

The filter dialog appears with the query parameters of the filter. See Filter Dialog Reference for more information.

Copy and paste multiple predicates from one filter to another, even between simulations

Since it is not possible to multi-select predicates like nodes, duplicate and modify the entire group as follows:

  1. Right-click anywhere in the filter view outside the components of the predicate, and select Copy.
  2. Make the window of the destination filter active.
  3. Right-click in the view and select Paste.
  4. If you do not want to include some of the copied predicates in the destination filter, modify or delete them.
Replace a filter predicate with its definition

In this example, the definition of the filter MyFilter has the following predicates combined with an AND:

  • Name contains chip
  • Tag contains Tag

This filter is a predicate in another filter named Filter.



  • Right-click the filter predicate and select Replace With Filter Definition.

    The filter predicate is replaced by the predicates that form its definition.



Export one or more predicates to a new filter
  1. Right-click and select Create New Filter:
    • To export a single predicate, right-click that predicate.
    • To export all the predicates in the filter, right-click anywhere in the filter view outside the predicates.
  2. In the dialog that appears:

    1. Enter the name of the new filter.
    2. Decide whether to replace the exported predicates in your existing filter with a filter predicate. To do so, activate the Replace Predicate with Filter option.
    3. Click OK.