fpga pin open
I'm running iMPACT 7.1 on Win2k. I connect my Parallel Cable IV to my project (such as a Xilinx development board), and then launch iMPACT. It asks a few questions, I select things like "new project", "boundary scan mode", and "automatically connect to cable". Then it auto-detects all the JTAG devices in my project, and displays a diagram of the JTAG chain. I right-click the chip I want to program, click "assign new config file", and tell it the name of my BIT file. Then I right-click it again and select "program".
That's a lot of clicking. I prefer command line tools, so I usually create an iMPACT batch file. Then all I have to do is type "go" and my FPGA gets configured.
If your project contains a JTAG device that iMPACT doesn't recognize (for example an Analog Devices DSP chip), you'll need to find or create a small BSD file that tells iMPACT how to "bypass" that device. I forget exactly how to do that, but it's not difficult.
At some point, the JTAG chain will appear to be backwards. I forget where that occurs, but prepare yourself for that little surprise.