Core Concepts

The Origen CLI

The origen executable discovers its context from the current directory. Outside an application it exposes global commands such as new. Inside an application it additionally exposes targets, generation, application commands, and documentation commands.

Useful discovery commands are:

$ origen --help
$ origen <command> --help
$ origen -v

origen exec runs another program in the active application environment. Use it for tests and development tools rather than relying on global packages.

Frontend And Backend

User applications import the Python package origen. It provides the public frontend API and delegates model operations to the compiled _origen and origen_metal extensions. Application code should use origen rather than importing _origen directly.

Applications And Workspaces

An application is a distributable Python project containing Origen models and generation sources. A workspace is a checked-out, configured instance in which the application is executed. The same application may have many workspaces with different local targets, credentials, or generated output.

Targets

A target is executable configuration. Target files commonly instantiate a DUT, select a tester, or set environment-specific values. Multiple target files may be active together:

$ origen target set dut/my_device tester/smt7
$ origen target view

The application may define default targets in config/application.toml. Command-line target options override those defaults for one invocation.

Source And Generated Output

Models, patterns, and flows are source code and belong in revision control. Generated tester files normally live below output/. Reference files and tests should be used to make changes to generated output explicit and reviewable.