RapidWright Instructions Page

website/_modules/rapidwright.md

@@ -7,7 +7,73 @@ type: fpga_opensource
 order: 1
 ---
 
+### Background
 
-These are useful steps to immediately do with your new Linux VM.
-* RapidSmith and RapidSmith2 have been written in Java. In order to use either one of theses libraries, we need to download the Java jdk and the Java jre. The following terminal command will install both on the provided Linux VM
-  * ``sudo apt install default-jdk``
+**RapidWright** is a (mostly) open-source Java tool that provides you with a programming interface to Vivado designs. RapidWright contains its own Java classes to represent Xilinx FPGA devices, netlists, and how a netlist is implemented on the FPGA device. RapidWright interacts with Vivado through Xilinx `.dcp` (Design Checkpoint) and `.edf` (Electronic Design Interchange Format) files. You can create designs in Vivado, export them to a checkpoint and import them into RapidWright for analysis or modifications. The reverse process is also possible.
+
+Although **RapidWright** is written in Java (available at [Xilinx/RapidWright](https://github.com/Xilinx/RapidWright)), it is possible to access the Java classes and methods directly from Python using the **JPype** tool. Setting up this environment takes only a few minutes, and instructions are provided [here](https://www.rapidwright.io/docs/Install_RapidWright_as_a_Python_PIP_Package.html).
+
+### Starter Code
+
+Here’s a basic Python script that opens a design and prints the number of cells and nets:
+
+```
+import jpype
+import jpype.imports
+from jpype.types import *
+
+jpype.startJVM(classpath=["rapidwright-2021.2.1-standalone-lin64.jar"])
+
+from com.xilinx.rapidwright.design import Design
+
+def main():
+    d = Design.readCheckpoint("design.dcp", "design.edf")
+
+    print("Number of Cells:", len(d.getCells()))
+    print("Number of Nets:", len(d.getNets()))
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()
+```
+
+For this code to work, you will need to download `rapidwright-2021.2.1-standalone-lin64.jar` from the [RapidWright Releases Page](https://github.com/Xilinx/RapidWright/releases). You will also need to provide a `design.dcp` and `design.edf` file. These can be obtained from Vivado by running the following commands:
+
+```
+write_checkpoint <filename>.dcp
+write_edif <filename>.edf 
+```
+
+You should place all these files (including the `rapidwright-2021.2.1-standalone-lin64.jar` file) into your project directory along with your python script. The output of the script should look something like this:
+
+```
+==============================================================================
+==                         Reading DCP: design.dcp                          ==
+==============================================================================
+Loading device from file xc7a200tsbg484-1
+ XML Parse & Device Load:     0.475s
+              EDIF Parse:     0.448s
+        Read XDEF Header:     0.014s
+        Read XDEF Caches:     0.023s
+     Read XDEF Placement:     0.295s
+INFO: Building uncommon Wire->Node cache...
+      This might take a few seconds for large devices on the first call.  
+      It is generally triggered when getting the Node from an uncommon Wire object.  
+      To avoid printing this message, set Device.QUIET_MESSAGE=true or set the ENVIRONMENT variable RW_QUIET_MESSAGE=1.
+INFO: Finished building uncommon Wire->Node cache
+       Read XDEF Routing:     1.325s
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+         [No GC] *Total*:     2.581s
+Number of Cells: 10185
+Number of Nets: 11829
+```
+
+### Documentation
+
+The documentation for the various RapidWright classes can be found at https://www.rapidwright.io/javadoc/.
+
+Here are a few useful classes:
+* [Device](https://www.rapidwright.io/javadoc/com/xilinx/rapidwright/device/Device.html)
+* [Design](https://www.rapidwright.io/javadoc/com/xilinx/rapidwright/design/Design.html)
+* [Net](https://www.rapidwright.io/javadoc/com/xilinx/rapidwright/design/Net.html)
+* [PIP](https://www.rapidwright.io/javadoc/com/xilinx/rapidwright/device/PIP.html)