APPLICATION NOTE #2 - Remote access to Mentor Graphics via Xwindows

The Mentor Graphics software package will not run on a remote PC or workstation without a set of proprietary Mentor Graphics fonts. This application note provides a method that can be used to locate the fonts necessary for Mentor Graphics to run in locations that are connected remotely to a CEB 531 Sun Ultra workstation via an Xwindows server. An example of the font importation process is given for the X-Win32 Xwindows server for Windows95.

Mentor Graphics provides a program specifically designed to find all fonts used by the Mentor Graphics software package and place them in one location. Use the following sequence of commands to locate the fonts:

At this point all the fonts required by Mentor Graphics will be listed. The files are ready to transfer to the machine on which you would like to run the Mentor Graphics software on.

For an Xwindows server I personally use the Windows95 based X-Win32 at home. A demo version of X-Win32 is available at http://videotron.ab.ca/tucows/ for download. X-Win32 is rather slow over a 28.8k connection, but is very quick over a cable modem or lan connection. The XUtil program provided with the X-Win32 package is able to convert the font format used by the sun stations in CEB 531 into the format that it requires.

The following steps should be used to set up X-Win32 on a Windows95 based machine so that it can access the Mentor Graphics fonts.

Follow the above instructions detailing how to collect the fonts that Mentor Graphics Requires.

Download the collected fonts into a temp directory on the machine that you wish to run Mentor Graphics on.

Select the directory in which you stored the downloaded Mentor Graphics fonts and highlight all of the fonts. When all of the fonts are highlighted press the OPEN button.

You will then be asked where to store the new fonts. For simplicity, I choose an already existing directory, Xwin/lib/100dpi, within the X-Win32 directory. (If you do not want to put the Mentor Graphics fonts in an already existing directory you must add any new directory to the fonts path. Do this using the X-Util32 program and select the FONTS menu, and then the PATH option.)

Once you have chosen the destination directory press OPEN. You will see the following screen:

Once all of the fonts have been converted you will be asked if you want to make a FONTS.DIR?

Very Important: Be sure to select YES when the above dialog box appears. The FONTS.DIR file is used to locate fonts. Even though you can convert the fonts properly, and move them to the proper location, X-Win32 will not be able to "see" the additional fonts unless they are included into the FONTS.DIR file.

Open a telnet client to cadXX.labs.ualberta.ca, where XX is the machine of your choice. Log in, and type the following when a command prompt appears: setenv DISPLAY your.machine.address.or.ip.number:0.0

When the xterm window appears on the machine that you are telnetting from, move into the window and type da& or quicksim& or any other Xwindows program of your choice.

At this point the Mentor Graphics software package, or any other Xwindows program of your choice should appear, after a delay appropriate to the method in which you are connecting to the University passes.

For those who would like see the complete Common Desktop Environment on their remote computer, investigate the SESSIONS menu within X-Util32. It is possible for the X-Win32 package to provide you with the exact same login screens and desktops as you would see if you were sitting right in the lab. The method of telnetting that I gave above is much quicker that opening up a complete Common Desktop Environment and is adequate for most purposes. Remember that the use of the "&" symbol after a Unix command tells the OS to run the command separately from the current terminal you are in. This allows you to control your X-Win32 session from one xterm window. One final note, once the first xterm window appears on your screen you can logout from the telnet session.

Note that the download version of the X-Win32 package is a demo, and will turn itself off every 2 hours, with a 15 min. warning. The X-Win32 and X-Util32 programs, trademarks and copyrights are the property of: