GHDL Documentation

Release 0.36-dev

Tristan Gingold

Dec 22, 2017

 Introduction

1 About GHDL 3
1.1 What is VHDL? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2 What is GHDL? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.3 Who uses GHDL? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

2 Contributing 5
2.1 Reporting bugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.2 Requesting enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.3 Improving the documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.4 Fork, modify and pull-request . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.5 Related interesting projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

3 Copyrights | Licenses 9
3.1 GNU GPLv2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.2 CC-BY-SA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.3 List of Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

I GHDL usage 11
4 Quick Start Guide 13
4.1 The ‘Hello world’ program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
4.2 The heartbeat program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
4.3 A full adder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
4.4 Starting with a design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

5 Invoking GHDL 19
5.1 Design building commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
5.2 Design rebuilding commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
5.3 Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
5.4 Warnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
5.5 Diagnostics Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
5.6 Library commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
5.7 VPI build commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
5.8 IEEE library pitfalls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

6 Simulation and runtime 31

6.1 Simulation options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
6.2 Export waveforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
6.3 Export hierarchy and references . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
6.4 Debugging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

i
II Getting GHDL 37
7 Releases and sources 39
7.1 Downloading pre-built packages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
7.2 Downloading Source Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

8 Building GHDL from Sources 41

8.1 Directory Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
8.2 mcode Backend . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
8.3 LLVM Backend . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
8.4 GCC Backend . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

9 Precompile Vendor Primitives 49

9.1 Supported Vendors Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
9.2 Supported Simulation and Verification Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
9.3 Script Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
9.4 Compiling on Linux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
9.5 Compiling on Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
9.6 Configuration Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

III References 57
10 Command Reference 59
10.1 Environment variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
10.2 Misc commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
10.3 File commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
10.4 GCC/LLVM only commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
10.5 Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
10.6 Passing options to other programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

11 Coding Style 63

12 Implementation of VHDL 65
12.1 VHDL standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
12.2 PSL implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
12.3 Source representation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
12.4 Library database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
12.5 Top entity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
12.6 Using vendor libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
12.7 Interfacing to other languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

13 Implementation of VITAL 71
13.1 VITAL packages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
13.2 VHDL restrictions for VITAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
13.3 Backannotation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
13.4 Negative constraint calculation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

IV Appendix 73
14 Roadmap | Future Improvements 75

15 Meta 77
15.1 General guidelines to edit the documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
15.2 Guidelines to edit section ‘Building’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
15.3 Documentation configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
15.4 CSS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
15.5 Dist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

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16 Index 81

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 GHDL Documentation, Release 0.36-dev

This manual is the user and reference manual for GHDL. It does not contain an introduction to VHDL. Thus, the
reader should have at least a basic knowledge of VHDL. A good knowledge of VHDL language reference manual
(usually called LRM) is a plus.

20.12.2017 - GHDL 0.35 was released.

15.08.2017 - GHDL 0.34 was released.

23.10.2015 - GHDL 0.33 was released.

This document was generated on Dec 20, 2017 - 22:28.

Introduction 1
GHDL Documentation, Release 0.36-dev

2 Introduction
 CHAPTER 1

About GHDL

1.1 What is VHDL?

VHDL is an acronym for Very High Speed Integrated Circuit (VHSIC) Hardware Description Language (HDL),
which is a programming language used to describe a logic circuit by function, data flow behavior, or structure.
Although VHDL was not designed for writing general purpose programs, VHDL is a programming language, and
you can write any algorithm with it. If you are able to write programs, you will find in VHDL features similar
to those found in procedural languages such as C, Python, or Ada. Indeed, VHDL derives most of its syntax and
semantics from Ada. Knowing Ada is an advantage for learning VHDL (it is an advantage in general as well).
However, VHDL was not designed as a general purpose language but as an HDL. As the name implies, VHDL
aims at modeling or documenting electronics systems. Due to the nature of hardware components which are
always running, VHDL is a highly concurrent language, built upon an event-based timing model.
Like a program written in any other language, a VHDL program can be executed. Since VHDL is used to model
designs, the term simulation is often used instead of execution, with the same meaning. At the same time, like a
design written in another HDL, a set of VHDL sources can be transformed with a synthesis tool into a netlist, that
is, a detailed gate-level implementation.
The development of VHDL started in 1983 and the standard is named IEEE 1076. Four revisions exist: 1987, 1993,
2002 and 2008. The standardization is handled by the VHDL Analysis and Standardization Group (VASG/P1076).

1.2 What is GHDL?

GHDL is a shorthand for G Hardware Design Language (currently, G has no meaning). It is a VHDL compiler
that can execute (nearly) any VHDL program. GHDL is not a synthesis tool: you cannot create a netlist with
GHDL (yet).
Unlike some other simulators, GHDL is a compiler: it directly translates a VHDL file to machine code, without
using an intermediary language such as C or C++. Therefore, the compiled code should be faster and the analysis
time should be shorter than with a compiler using an intermediary language.
GHDL can use multiple back-ends, i.e. code generators, (GCC, LLVM or x86/i386 only, a built-in one) and runs
on GNU/Linux, Windows ™ and macOS ™ , both on x86 and on x86_64.

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The current version of GHDL does not contain any graphical viewer: you cannot see signal waves. You can still
check the behavior of your design with a test bench. Moreover, the current version can produce a GHW, VCD or
FST files which can be viewed with a waveform viewer, such as GtkWave.
GHDL aims at implementing VHDL as defined by IEEE 1076. It supports the 1987, 1993 and 2002 revisions and,
partially, the latest, 2008. PSL is also partially supported.
Several third party projects are supported: VUnit, OSVVM, cocotb (through the VPI interface), . . .

1.3 Who uses GHDL?

4 Chapter 1. About GHDL

 CHAPTER 2

Contributing

The first step might be to use GHDL and explore it’s possibilities in an own project. If you are new to VHDL,
see the Quick Start Guide for an introduction. Furthermore, we encourage you to read Invoking GHDL, where the
most commonly used options are explained. You can also check the complete Command Reference.
If you are more familiar with GHDL, you might start asking yourself how it works internally. Then, you might
find Implementation of VHDL and Implementation of VITAL interesting.
While using GHDL, you might find flaws, such as bugs, missing features, typos in the documentation or topics
which are still not covered. In order to improve GHDL, we welcome bug reports, suggestions and contributions
for any aspect of GHDL. Either if it’s a bug or an enhancement, have a look at the and to see if someone already
told us about it. You might find a solution there.
If you found no information on your topic, please, report so that we are aware! You can reach us through various
ways: or open a .

Hint: Since the development of GHDL started fifteen years ago, multiple platforms have been used as a support
for both distribution and getting feedback. However, the development is now centralized in github.

Tip: How To Ask Questions The Smart Way

2.1 Reporting bugs

Tip:
• If the compiler crashes, this is a bug. Reliable tools never crash.
• If the compiler emits an error message for a perfectly valid input or does not emit an error message for an
invalid input, this may be a bug.
• If the executable created from your VHDL sources crashes, this may be a bug at runtime or the code itself
may be wrong. However, since VHDL has a notion of pointers, an erroneous VHDL program (using invalid
pointers for example) may crash.

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• If a compiler message is not clear enough, please tell us. The error messages can be improved, but we have
not enough experience with them.

Please, report issues of this kind through , as this allows us to categorize issues into groups and assign developers
to them. You can track the issue’s state and see how it’s getting solved.

Important: To make it easier, please elaborate a Minimum (non) Working Example (MWE) prior to sending the
report, so that the possible bug source is isolated. Shall the MWE compile and run, it is a good idea to make it
look like a test and make an assert statement should finish the execution; the severity level note indicates success,
while a severity level failure indicates failure.
Then, please include enough information for the maintainers to reproduce the problem. This includes:
• Operating system and version of GHDL (you can get it with ghdl --version).
• Whether you have built GHDL from sources (provide short SHA of the used commit) or used the binary
distribution (tell which release/tag).
– If you cannot compile, please report which compiler you are using and the version.
• Content of the input files which make the MWE
• Description of the problem:
– Comment explaining whether the MWE should compile or not; if yes, whether or not is should run
until the assertion.
– What you expected to happen and what you actually get. If you know the LRM well enough, please
specify the paragraph which might be not well implemented.
– Samples of any log.
– Anything else that you think would be helpful.

Note: If you don’t know the LRM, be aware that an issue claimed as bug report may be rejected because there is
no bug according to it. GHDL aims at implementing VHDL as defined in IEEE 1076. However, some other tools
allow constructs which do not fully follow the standard revisions. Therefore, comparisons with other VHDL is not
a solid argument. Some of them are supported by GHDL (see IEEE library pitfalls), but any such enhancement
will have very low priority.

2.2 Requesting enhancements

All enhancements and feature requests are welcome. Please open a new issue to report any, so you can track the
request’s status and implementation. Depending on the complexity of the request, you may want to chat on Gitter,
to polish it before opening an issue.

2.3 Improving the documentation

If you found a mistake in the documentation, please send a comment. If you didn’t understand some parts of this
manual, please tell us. English is not our mother tongue, so this documentation may not be well-written.
Likewise, rewriting part of the documentation or missing content (such as, examples) is a good way to improve it.
Since it automatically is built from reStructuredText and Markdown sources, you can fork, modify and request the
maintainers to pull your copy. See Fork, modify and pull-request.

6 Chapter 2. Contributing
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2.4 Fork, modify and pull-request

Tip:
• Before starting any modification, you might want to have a look at and , to check which other contributions
are being made or have been made. If you observe that the modifications you are about to start might conflict
with any other, please or open a to coordinate.
• See section Directory Structure to faster find the location of the sources you need to modify, and/or to know
where to place new ones.

Contributing source code/documentation via Git is very easy. Although we don’t provide direct write access to
our repositories, the project is hosted at GitHub, which follows a fork, edit and pull-request flow . That is:
1. Make a copy (fork) of the project.
2. Do the changes you wish (edit, add, rename, move and/or delete).
3. When you think that the changes are ready to be merged, you notify the maintainers by opening a Pull
Request (PR).
4. The maintainers will review the proposed changes and will reply in the corresponding thread if any further
modification is required. If so, you can keep adding commits to the same branch, and the PR will be
automatically updated.
5. Last, the maintainers will merge your branch. You will be notified, the PR will be closed, and you’ll be
allowed to delete the branch, if you want.

Tip:
• It is recommended to read A successful Git branching model for a reference on how maintainers expect to
handle multiple branches. However, our actual model is not as exhaustive as explained there.
• Some commit messages can automatically close issues. This is a very useful feature, which you are not
required to use. However beware that using fix anywhere in the commit message can have side effects. If
you closed any issue unexpectedly, just reply to it (even if it’s closed) so that maintainers can check it.
• It is recommended to read Coding Style before contributing modifications to Ada sources.

2.5 Related interesting projects

If you have an interesting project, please send us feedback or get listed on our Who uses GHDL? page.

2.4. Fork, modify and pull-request 7

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8 Chapter 2. Contributing
 CHAPTER 3

Copyrights | Licenses

• The GHDL front-end, package std.textio and the runtime library, grt, are given under GNU GPLv2.
• The documentation is given under CC-BY-SA.

Warning: As a consequence of the runtime copyright, you are not allowed to distribute an executable pro-
duced by GHDL without the VHDL sources. To my mind, this is not a real restriction, since it is pointless to
distribute VHDL executable. Please, send a comment (Requesting enhancements) if you don’t like this policy.

• The following packages are copyrighted by third parties (see corresponding sources for more information):
– These from library ieee are copyrighted by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) :

* numeric_bit and numeric_std: the source files may be distributed without change, except
as permitted by the standard; these may not be sold or distributed for profit. [see also IEEE 1076.3
]

* std_logic_1164, Math_Real and Math_Complex

* VITAL_Primitives, VITAL_Timing and VITAL_Memory [see also IEEE 1076.4 ]
– The following sources may be used and distributed without restriction, provided that the copyright
statements are not removed from the files and that any derivative work contains the copyright notice.

* synopsys directory: std_logic_arith, std_logic_signed,

std_logic_unsigned and std_logic_textio are copyrighted by Synopsys, Inc.

* mentor directory: std_logic_arith is copyrighted by Mentor Graphics

3.1 GNU GPLv2

GHDL is copyright © 2002 - 2017 Tristan Gingold.

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public
License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any
later version.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even
the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
General Public License for more details.

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3.2 CC-BY-SA

This is a free documentation; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. You are free to share (copy and redistribute the material in any medium or
format) and/or adapt (remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially). We
cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the these terms:
• Attribution: you must provide the name of the creator and attribution parties (more info), a copyright
notice, a license notice, a disclaimer notice, a link to the material, a link to the license and indicate if
changes were made (see marking guide and more info ). You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not
in any way that suggests we endorses you or your use.
• ShareAlike: if you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions
under the same license as the original.
• No additional restrictions: you may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict
others from doing anything the license permits.
See CC-BY-SA-4.0 Legal Code for more details.

3.3 List of Contributors

Contributor1 Role
Baggett, Jonas signal selection
Bertram, Felix VPI interface
Davis, Brian Windows Mcode builds
Drummond, GCC 4.8.2 update, OSVVM port, some bugfixes
Brian
Gingold, Tristan2 Sole author of GHDL as a whole
Jensen, Adam FreeBSD builds
Koch, Markus vendor pre-compile script for Lattice (GNU/Linux)
Koontz, David Mac OSX builds, LRM compliance work, bugfix analyses
Lehmann, Windows compile scripts, vendor library pre-compile scripts (win+lin), building in
Patrick MinGW, AppVeyor integration.
Martinez-Corral, Docker builds, Travis-CI & Docker, adapt/fix RTD theme
Unai
van Rantwijk, Debian packaging
Joris

Only those who made substantial contributions are shown in the table above, but many others contributed with
minor patches. You can find a list at
With apologies to anyone who ought to be either on this table or in the GitHub contributor list, but isn’t. Thanks
also to all those who have reported bugs and support issues, and often patches and testcases to either the late gna!
website or sourceforge.net/p/ghdl-updates/tickets .

1 In alphabetical order.
2 Maintainer.

10 Chapter 3. Copyrights | Licenses

 Part I

GHDL usage

11
 CHAPTER 4

Quick Start Guide

In this chapter, you will learn how to use GHDL by working on a few examples.

4.1 The ‘Hello world’ program

To illustrate the large purpose of VHDL, here is a commented ‘Hello world’ program which saved in a file named
hello.vhdl:

-- Hello world program.

use std.textio.all; -- Imports the standard textio package.

-- Defines a design entity, without any ports.

entity hello_world is
end hello_world;

architecture behaviour of hello_world is

begin
process
variable l : line;
begin
write (l, String'("Hello world!"));
writeline (output, l);
wait;
end process;
end behaviour;

Tip:
• Both .vhdl and .vhd extensions are used for VHDL source files, while .v is used for Verilog.
• Unless you use especial characters, either UTF-8 or ISO-8859-1 encodings can be used. However, if you
do, the latter should be used. The standard defines ASCII (7-bit encoding) or ISO Latin-1 (ISO-8859-1) as
default. However, GHDL has a relaxing option, --mb-comments (multi byte), to allow UTF-8 or other
encodings in comments.

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• First, you have to compile the file; this is called analysis of a design file in VHDL terms. Run ghdl -a
hello.vhdl in the shell. This command creates or updates a file work-obj93.cf, which describes
the library work.
• Then, run ghdl -e hello_world in the shell. Option -e means elaborate, which is used to build a
design, with the hello_world entity at the top of the hierarchy.
• Last, you can directly launch the simulation running ghdl -r hello_world in the shell. The result of
the simulation will be shown on screen:

Hello world!

Hint: If a GCC/LLVM variant of GHDL is used:

• Analysis generates a file, hello.o, which is the object file corresponding to your VHDL program. This is
not created with mcode.
• The elaboration step is compulsory after the analysis and prior to launching the simulation; This wil generate
an executable binary named hello_world.
• As a result, -r is just a passthrough to the binary generated in the elaboration. Therefore, the executable
can be run directly, ./hello_world. See -r for more informartion.

Hint: -e can be bypassed with mcode, since -r actually elaborates the design and saves it on memory before
running the simulation. But you can still use it to check for some elaboration problems.

4.2 The heartbeat program

entity hello_world is
port ( clk: out std_logic; )
end hearbeat;

architecture behaviour of hello_world is

begin
-- Clock process definition
clk_process: process
begin
clk <= '0';
wait for clk_period/2;
clk <= '1';
wait for clk_period/2;
end process;
end behaviour;

4.3 A full adder

VHDL is generally used for hardware design. This example starts with a full adder described in a file named
adder.vhdl:

entity adder is
-- `i0`, `i1` and the carry-in `ci` are inputs of the adder.
-- `s` is the sum output, `co` is the carry-out.
port (i0, i1 : in bit; ci : in bit; s : out bit; co : out bit);
end adder;

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 GHDL Documentation, Release 0.36-dev

architecture rtl of adder is

begin
-- This full-adder architecture contains two concurrent assignment.
-- Compute the sum.
s <= i0 xor i1 xor ci;
-- Compute the carry.
co <= (i0 and i1) or (i0 and ci) or (i1 and ci);
end rtl;

You can analyze this design file, ghdl -a adder.vhdl, and try to execute the adder design. But this is
useless, since nothing externally visible will happen. In order to check this full adder, a testbench has to be run.
This testbench is very simple, since the adder is also simple: it checks exhaustively all inputs. Note that only the
behaviour is tested, timing constraints are not checked. A file named adder_tb.vhdl contains the testbench
for the adder:

-- A testbench has no ports.

entity adder_tb is
end adder_tb;

architecture behav of adder_tb is

-- Declaration of the component that will be instantiated.
component adder
port (i0, i1 : in bit; ci : in bit; s : out bit; co : out bit);
end component;

-- Specifies which entity is bound with the component.

for adder_0: adder use entity work.adder;
signal i0, i1, ci, s, co : bit;
begin
-- Component instantiation.
adder_0: adder port map (i0 => i0, i1 => i1, ci => ci,
s => s, co => co);

-- This process does the real job.

process
type pattern_type is record
-- The inputs of the adder.
i0, i1, ci : bit;
-- The expected outputs of the adder.
s, co : bit;
end record;
-- The patterns to apply.
type pattern_array is array (natural range <>) of pattern_type;
constant patterns : pattern_array :=
(('0', '0', '0', '0', '0'),
('0', '0', '1', '1', '0'),
('0', '1', '0', '1', '0'),
('0', '1', '1', '0', '1'),
('1', '0', '0', '1', '0'),
('1', '0', '1', '0', '1'),
('1', '1', '0', '0', '1'),
('1', '1', '1', '1', '1'));
begin
-- Check each pattern.
for i in patterns'range loop
-- Set the inputs.
i0 <= patterns(i).i0;
i1 <= patterns(i).i1;
ci <= patterns(i).ci;
-- Wait for the results.
wait for 1 ns;
-- Check the outputs.

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assert s = patterns(i).s
report "bad sum value" severity error;
assert co = patterns(i).co
report "bad carry out value" severity error;
end loop;
assert false report "end of test" severity note;
-- Wait forever; this will finish the simulation.
wait;
end process;
end behav;

As usual, you should analyze the design, ghdl -a adder_tb.vhdl.

Hint: Then, if required, elaborate the testbench: ghdl -e adder_tb. You do not need to specify which
object files are required, since GHDL knows them and automatically adds them.

Now, it is time to run the testbench, ghdl -r adder_tb, and check the result on screen:

adder_tb.vhdl:52:7:(assertion note): end of test

If your design is rather complex, you’d like to inspect signals. Signal values can be dumped using multiple formats
(see section ‘Export waveforms’ for more information). The resulting file can be read with a wave viewer such as
GtkWave.
As explained in the manual, GtkWave ‘relies on a post-mortem approach through the use of dumpfiles’. There-
fore, you should first simulate your design and dump a waveform file, say VCD: ghdl -r adder_tb
--vcd=adder.vcd. Then, you can view the dump: gtkwave adder.vcd.
See section ‘Simulation options’, for more details on other runtime options.

4.4 Starting with a design

Unless you are only studying VHDL, you will work with larger designs than the ones of the previous examples.
Let’s see how to analyze and run a bigger design, such as the DLX model suite written by Peter Ashenden which
is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License. A copy is kept on ghdl.free.fr/dlx.tar.gz .
• First, untar the sources: tar zxvf dlx.tar.gz.

Hint: In order not to pollute the sources with the library, it is a good idea to create a work/ subdirectory for the
WORK library. To any GHDL commands, we will add the --workdir=work option, so that all files generated
by the compiler (except the executable) will be placed in this directory.

$ cd dlx
$ mkdir work

• Then, we will run the dlx_test_behaviour design. We need to analyze all the design units for the
design hierarchy, in the correct order. GHDL provides an easy way to do this, by importing the sources,
ghdl -i --workdir=work *.vhdl.
• GHDL knows all the design units of the DLX, but no one have been analyzed. Run the make option, ghdl
-m --workdir=work dlx_test_behaviour, which analyzes and elaborates a design. This creates
many files in the work/ directory, and (GCC/LLVM only) the dlx_test_behaviour executable in the
current directory.

Hint: The simulation needs to have a DLX program contained in the file dlx.out. This memory image will be

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loaded in the DLX memory. Just take one sample: cp test_loop.out dlx.out.

• Now, you can run the test suite: ghdl -r --workdir=work dlx_test_behaviour. The test
bench monitors the bus and displays each instruction executed. It finishes with an assertion of severity level
note:

dlx-behaviour.vhdl:395:11:(assertion note): TRAP instruction

encountered, execution halted

• Last, since the clock is still running, you have to manually stop the program with the C-c key sequence. This
behavior prevents you from running the test bench in batch mode. However, you may force the simulator
to stop when an assertion above or equal a certain severity level occurs. To do so, call run with this op-
tion instead: ghdl -r --workdir=work dlx_test_behaviour --assert-level=note`.
With this option, the program stops just after the previous message:

dlx-behaviour.vhdl:395:11:(assertion note): TRAP instruction

encountered, execution halted
error: assertion failed

Tip: If you want to make room on your hard drive, you can either:
• Clean the design library with the GHDL command ghdl --clean --workdir=work. This removes
the executable and all the object files. If you want to rebuild the design at this point, just do the make
command as shown above.
• Remove the design library with the GHDL command ghdl --remove --workdir=work. This re-
moves the executable, all the object files and the library file. If you want to rebuild the design, you have to
import the sources again, and to make the design.
• Remove the work/ directory: rm -rf work. Only the executable is kept. If you want to rebuild the
design, create the work/ directory, import the sources, and make the design.

Warning: Sometimes, a design does not fully follow the VHDL standards. For example it uses the badly
engineered std_logic_unsigned package. GHDL supports this VHDL dialect through some options:
--ieee=synopsys -fexplicit. See section ‘IEEE library pitfalls’, for more details.

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18 Chapter 4. Quick Start Guide

 CHAPTER 5

Invoking GHDL

The form of the ghdl command is ghdl command [options...]. There are multiple available commands,
but these general rules apply:
• The first argument selects the command. The options are used to slightly modify the action.
• No option is allowed before the command. Except for the run command, no option is allowed after a
filename or a unit name.

Hint: If the number of options is large and the command line length is beyond the system limit, you can use a
response file. An argument that starts with a @ is considered as a response file; it is replaced by arguments read
from the file (separated by blanks and end of line).

Hint: Only the most common commands and options are shown here. For most advanced and experimental
features see section Command Reference.

Warning: During analysis and elaboration GHDL may read the std and ieee files. The location of these
files is based on the prefix, which is (in priority order):
• the --PREFIX command line option
• the GHDL_PREFIX environment variable
• a built-in default path. It is a hard-coded path on GNU/Linux, and it corresponds to the value
of the HKLM\Software\Ghdl\Install_Dir registry entry on Windows.
You should use the --disp-config command to display and debug installation problems.

5.1 Design building commands

The mostly used commands of GHDL are those to analyze and elaborate a design.

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5.1.1 Analysis [-a]

-a <[options...] file...>
Analyzes/compiles one or more files, and creates an object file for each source file. Any argument starting with
a dash is an option, the others are filenames. No options are allowed after a filename argument. GHDL analyzes
each filename in the given order, and stops the analysis in case of error (remaining files are not analyzed).
See GHDL_options, for details on the GHDL options. For example, to produce debugging information such as
line numbers, use: ghdl -a -g my_design.vhdl.

5.1.2 Elaboration [-e]

-e <[options...] primary_unit [secondary_unit]>

Re-analyzes all the configurations, entities, architectures and package declarations, and creates the default con-
figurations and the default binding indications according to the LRM rules. It also generates the list of objects
files required for the executable. Then, it links all these files with the runtime library. The actual elaboration is
performed at runtime.
• The elaboration command, -e, must be followed by a name of either:
– a configuration unit
– an entity unit
– an entity unit followed by a name of an architecture unit
Name of the units must be a simple name, without any dot. You can select the name of the WORK library with the
--work=NAME option, as described in GHDL_options. See section ‘Top entity’, for the restrictions on the root
design of a hierarchy.
• If the GCC/LLVM backend was enabled during the compilation of GHDL, the elaboration command creates
an executable containing the code of the VHDL sources, the elaboration code and simulation code to execute
a design hierarchy. The executable is created in the current directory and the the filename is the name of the
primary unit, or for the later case, the concatenation of the name of the primary unit, a dash, and the name of
the secondary unit (or architecture). Option -o followed by a filename can override the default executable
filename.
• If mcode is used, this command elaborates the design but does not generate anything. Since the run com-
mand also elaborates the design, this con be skipped.

5.1.3 Run [-r]

-r <[options...] primary_unit [secondary_unit] [simulation_options...]>

Runs/simulates a design. The options and arguments are the same as for the elaboration command.
• GGC/LLVM: simply, the filename of the executable is determined and it is executed. Options are ignored.
You may also directly execute the program. The executable must be in the current directory.
• mcode: the design is elaborated and the simulation is launched. As a consequence, you must use the same
options used during analysis.
This command exists for three reasons:
• You are using GCC/LLVM, but you don’t need to create the executable program name.
• It is coherent with the -a and -e commands.
• It works with mcode implementation, where the executable code is generated in memory.
See section ‘Simulation and runtime’, for details on options.

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5.1.4 Elaborate and run [--elab-run]

--elab-run <[elab_options...] primary_unit [secondary_unit] [run_options...]>

Acts like the elaboration command (see -e) followed by the run command (see -r).

5.1.5 Check syntax [-s]

-s <[options] files>
Analyze files but do not generate code. This command may be used to check the syntax of files. It does not update
the library.

5.1.6 Analyze and elaborate [-c]

-c <[options] file... -<e|r> primary_unit [secondary_unit]>

Hint: With GCC/LLVM, -e should be used, and -r with mcode.

The files are first parsed, and then a elaboration is performed, which drives an analysis. Effectively, analysis and
elaboration are combined, but there is no explicit call to -a. With GCC/LLVM, code is generated during the
elaboration. With mcode, the simulation is launched after the elaboration.
All the units of the files are put into the work library. But, the work library is neither read from disk nor saved.
Therefore, you must give all the files of the work library your design needs.
The advantages over the traditional approach (analyze and then elaborate) are:
• The compilation cycle is achieved in one command.
• Since the files are only parsed once, the compilation cycle may be faster.
• You don’t need to know an analysis order.
• This command produces smaller executable, since unused units and subprograms do not generate code.

Hint: However, you should know that currently most of the time is spent in code generation and the analyze and
elaborate command generate code for all units needed, even units of std and ieee libraries. Therefore, according
to the design, the time for this command may be higher than the time for the analyze command followed by the
elaborate command.

Warning: This command is still under development. In case of problems, you should go back to the tradi-
tional way.

5.2 Design rebuilding commands

Analyzing and elaborating a design consisting in several files can be tricky, due to dependencies. GHDL has a few
commands to rebuild a design.

5.2.1 Import [-i]

-i <[options] file...>

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All the files specified in the command line are scanned, parsed and added in the libraries but as not yet analyzed.
No object files are created. It’s purpose is to localize design units in the design files. The make command will
then be able to recursively build a hierarchy from an entity name or a configuration name.

Hint:
• Note that all the files are added to the work library. If you have many libraries, you must use the command
for each library.
• Since the files are parsed, there must be correct files. However, since they are not analyzed, many errors are
tolerated by this command.

See -m, to actually build the design.

5.2.2 Make [-m]

-m <[options] primary [secondary]>

Analyze automatically outdated files and elaborate a design. The primary unit denoted by the primary argument
must already be known by the system, either because you have already analyzed it (even if you have modified it)
or because you have imported it. A file may be outdated because it has been modified (e.g. you just have edited it),
or because a design unit contained in the file depends on a unit which is outdated. This rule is of course recursive.
• With option --bind, GHDL will stop before the final linking step. This is useful when the main entry
point is not GHDL and you’re linking GHDL object files into a foreign program.
• With option -f (force), GHDL analyzes all the units of the work library needed to create the design hierar-
chy. Not outdated units are recompiled. This is useful if you want to compile a design hierarchy with new
compilation flags (for example, to add the -g debugging option).
The make command will only re-analyze design units in the work library. GHDL fails if it has to analyze an
outdated unit from another library.
The purpose of this command is to be able to compile a design without prior knowledge of file order. In the VHDL
model, some units must be analyzed before others (e.g. an entity before its architecture). It might be a nightmare
to analyze a full design of several files, if you don’t have the ordered list of file. This command computes an
analysis order.
The make command fails when a unit was not previously parsed. For example, if you split a file containing several
design units into several files, you must either import these new files or analyze them so that GHDL knows in
which file these units are.
The make command imports files which have been modified. Then, a design hierarchy is internally built as if no
units are outdated. Then, all outdated design units, using the dependencies of the design hierarchy, are analyzed.
If necessary, the design hierarchy is elaborated.
This is not perfect, since the default architecture (the most recently analyzed one) may change while outdated
design files are analyzed. In such a case, re-run the make command of GHDL.

5.2.3 Generate Makefile [--gen-makefile]

--gen-makefile <[options] primary [secondary]>

This command works like the make command (see -m), but only a makefile is generated on the standard output.

5.2.4 Generate dependency file command [--gen-depends]

--gen-depends <[options] primary [secondary]>

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Generate a Makefile containing only dependencies to build a design unit.

This command works like the make and gen-makefile commands (see -m), but instead of a full makefile only
dependencies without rules are generated on the standard output. Theses rules can then be integrated in another
Makefile.

5.3 Options

Hint: Besides the options described below, GHDL passes any debugging options (those that begin with -g) and
optimizations options (those that begin with -O or -f) to GCC. Refer to the GCC manual for details.

--work<=NAME>
Specify the name of the WORK library. Analyzed units are always placed in the library logically named
WORK. With this option, you can set its name. By default, the name is work.
GHDL checks whether WORK is a valid identifier. Although being more or less supported, the WORK identi-
fier should not be an extended identifier, since the filesystem may prevent it from correctly working (due to
case sensitivity or forbidden characters in filenames).
VHDL rules forbid you to add units to the std library. Furthermore, you should not put units in the ieee
library.
--workdir<=DIR>
Specify the directory where the WORK library is located. When this option is not present, the WORK library
is in the current directory. The object files created by the compiler are always placed in the same directory
as the WORK library.
Use option -P to specify where libraries other than WORK are placed.
--std<=STD>
Specify the standard to use. By default, the standard is 93c, which means VHDL-93 accepting VHDL-87
syntax. For details on STD values see section ‘VHDL standards’.
--ieee<=VER>
Select the IEEE library to use. VER must be one of:
none Do not supply an IEEE library. Any library clause with the IEEE identifier will fail, unless you have
created by your own a library with the IEEE name.
standard Supply an IEEE library containing only packages defined by ieee standards. Currently, there
are the multivalue logic system packages std_logic_1164 defined by IEEE 1164, the synthesis
packages , numeric_bit and numeric_std defined by IEEE 1076.3, and the vital packages
vital_timing and vital_primitives, defined by IEEE 1076.4. The version of these pack-
ages is defined by the VHDL standard used. See section ‘VITAL packages’, for more details.
synopsys Supply the former packages and the following additional packages: std_logic_arith,
std_logic_signed, std_logic_unsigned, std_logic_textio.
These packages were created by some companies, and are popular. However they are not standard
packages, and have been placed in the IEEE library without the permission from the ieee.
mentor Supply the standard packages and the following additional package: std_logic_arith. The
package is a slight variation of a definitely not standard but widely mis-used package.
To avoid errors, you must use the same IEEE library for all units of your design, and during elaboration.
-P<DIRECTORY>
Add DIRECTORY to the end of the list of directories to be searched for library files. A library is searched
in DIRECTORY and also in DIRECTORY/LIB/vVV (where LIB is the name of the library and VV the vhdl
standard).
The WORK library is always searched in the path specified by the --workdir option, or in the current
directory if the latter option is not specified.

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-fexplicit
When two operators are overloaded, give preference to the explicit declaration. This may be used to avoid
the most common pitfall of the std_logic_arith package. See section ‘IEEE library pitfalls’, for an
example.

Warning: This option is not set by default. I don’t think this option is a good feature, because it breaks the
encapsulation rule. When set, an operator can be silently overridden in another package. You’d better fix your
design and use the numeric_std package.

-frelaxed-rules
Within an object declaration, allow to reference the name (which references the hidden declaration). This
ignores the error in the following code:

package pkg1 is
type state is (state1, state2, state3);
end pkg1;

use work.pkg1.all;
package pkg2 is
constant state1 : state := state1;
end pkg2;

Some code (such as Xilinx packages) have such constructs, which are valid.
(The scope of the state1 constant start at the constant word. Because the constant state1 and the
enumeration literal state1 are homograph, the enumeration literal is hidden in the immediate scope of the
constant).
This option also relaxes the rules about pure functions. Violations result in warnings instead of errors.
-fpsl
Enable parsing of PSL assertions within comments. See section ‘PSL implementation’ for more details.
--no-vital-checks
--vital-checks
Disable or enable checks of restriction on VITAL units. Checks are enabled by default.
Checks are performed only when a design unit is decorated by a VITAL attribute. The VITAL attributes are
VITAL_Level0 and VITAL_Level1, both declared in the ieee.VITAL_Timing package.
Currently, VITAL checks are only partially implemented. See section ‘VHDL restrictions for VITAL’ for
more details.
--PREFIX<=PATH>
Use PATH as the prefix path to find commands and pre-installed (std and ieee) libraries.
-v
Be verbose. For example, for analysis, elaboration and make commands, GHDL displays the commands
executed.

5.4 Warnings

Some constructions are not erroneous but dubious. Warnings are diagnostic messages that report such construc-
tions. Some warnings are reported only during analysis, others during elaboration.

Hint: You could disable a warning by using the --warn-no-XXX or -Wno-XX instead of --warn-XXX or
-WXXX.

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--warn-reserved
Emit a warning if an identifier is a reserved word in a later VHDL standard.
--warn-default-binding
During analyze, warns if a component instantiation has neither configuration specification nor default bind-
ing. This may be useful if you want to detect during analyze possibly unbound component if you don’t use
configuration. See section ‘VHDL standards’ for more details about default binding rules.
--warn-binding
During elaboration, warns if a component instantiation is not bound (and not explicitly left unbound). Also
warns if a port of an entity is not bound in a configuration specification or in a component configuration.
This warning is enabled by default, since default binding rules are somewhat complex and an unbound
component is most often unexpected.
However, warnings are even emitted if a component instantiation is inside a generate statement. As a conse-
quence, if you use the conditional generate statement to select a component according to the implementation,
you will certainly get warnings.
--warn-library
Warns if a design unit replaces another design unit with the same name.
--warn-vital-generic
Warns if a generic name of a vital entity is not a vital generic name. This is set by default.
--warn-delayed-checks
Warns for checks that cannot be done during analysis time and are postponed to elaboration time. This is
because not all procedure bodies are available during analysis (either because a package body has not yet
been analysed or because GHDL doesn’t read not required package bodies).
These are checks for no wait statement in a procedure called in a sensitized process and checks for pure
rules of a function.
--warn-body
Emit a warning if a package body which is not required is analyzed. If a package does not declare a
subprogram or a deferred constant, the package does not require a body.
--warn-specs
Emit a warning if an all or others specification does not apply.
--warn-unused
Emit a warning when a subprogram is never used.
--warn-error
When this option is set, warnings are considered as errors.
--warn-nested-comment
Emit a warning if a /* appears within a block comment (vhdl 2008).
--warn-parenthesis
Emit a warning in case of weird use of parenthesis
--warn-runtime-error
Emit a warning in case of runtime error that is detected during analysis.

5.5 Diagnostics Control

-fcolor-diagnostics
-fno-color-diagnostics
Control whether diagnostic messages are displayed in color. The default is on when the standard output is a
terminal.
-fdiagnostics-show-option

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-fno-diagnostics-show-option
Control whether the warning option is displayed at the end of warning messages, so that user can easily
know how to disable it.

5.6 Library commands

A new library is created implicitly, by compiling entities (packages etc.) into it: ghdl -a
--work=my_custom_lib my_file.vhd.
A library’s source code is usually stored and compiled into its own directory, that you specify with
the --workdir option: ghdl -a --work=my_custom_lib --workdir=my_custom_libdir
my_custom_lib_srcdir/my_file.vhd. See also the -P command line option.
Furthermore, GHDL provides a few commands which act on a library:

5.6.1 Directory [--dir]

--dir <[options] [libs]>

Displays the content of the design libraries (by default the work library). All options are allowed, but only a few
are meaningful: --work, --workdir and --std.

5.6.2 Clean [--clean]

--clean <[options]>
Try to remove any object, executable or temporary file it could have created. Source files are not removed. The
library is kept.

5.6.3 Remove [--remove]

--remove <[options]>
Do like the clean command but remove the library too. Note that after removing a design library, the files are not
known anymore by GHDL.

5.6.4 Copy [--copy]

--copy <--work=name [options]>

Make a local copy of an existing library. This is very useful if you want to add unit to the ieee library:

ghdl --copy --work=ieee --ieee=synopsys

ghdl -a --work=ieee numeric_unsigned.vhd

5.7 VPI build commands

These commands simplify the compile and the link of a user vpi module. They are all wrapper: the arguments
are in fact a whole command line that is executed with additional switches. Currently a unix-like compiler (like
cc, gcc or clang) is expected: the additional switches use their syntax. The only option is -v which displays the
command before its execution.

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5.7.1 compile [--vpi-compile]

--vpi-compile <command>
Add include path to the command and execute it:

ghdl --vpi-compile command

This will execute:

command -Ixxx/include

For example:

ghdl --vpi-compile gcc -c vpi1.c

executes:

gcc -c vpi1.c -fPIC -Ixxx/include

5.7.2 link [--vpi-link]

--vpi-link <command>
Add library path and name to the command and execute it:

ghdl --vpi-link command

This will execute:

command -Lxxx/lib -lghdlvpi

For example:

ghdl --vpi-link gcc -o vpi1.vpi vpi1.o

executes:

gcc -o vpi1.vpi vpi1.o --shared -Lxxx/lib -lghdlvpi

5.7.3 cflags [--vpi-cflags]

--vpi-cflags
Display flags added by --vpi-compile.

5.7.4 ldflags [--vpi-ldflags]

--vpi-ldflags
Display flags added by --vpi-link.

5.7.5 include dir [--vpi-include-dir]

--vpi-include-dir
Display the include directory added by the compile flags.

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5.7.6 library dir [--vpi-library-dir]

--vpi-library-dir
Display the library directory added by the link flags.

5.8 IEEE library pitfalls

When you use options --ieee=synopsys or --ieee=mentor, the ieee library contains non standard
packages such as std_logic_arith. These packages are not standard because there are not described by an
IEEE standard, even if they have been put in the IEEE library. Furthermore, they are not really de-facto standard,
because there are slight differences between the packages of Mentor and those of Synopsys. Furthermore, since
they are not well-thought, their use has pitfalls. For example, this description has error during compilation:

library ieee;
use ieee.std_logic_1164.all;

-- A counter from 0 to 10.

entity counter is
port (val : out std_logic_vector (3 downto 0);
ck : std_logic;
rst : std_logic);
end counter;

library ieee;
use ieee.std_logic_unsigned.all;

architecture bad of counter

is
signal v : std_logic_vector (3 downto 0);
begin
process (ck, rst)
begin
if rst = '1' then
v <= x"0";
elsif rising_edge (ck) then
if v = "1010" then -- Error
v <= x"0";
else
v <= v + 1;
end if;
end if;
end process;

val <= v;
end bad;

When you analyze this design, GHDL does not accept it (too long lines have been split for readability):

ghdl -a --ieee=synopsys bad_counter.vhdl

bad_counter.vhdl:13:14: operator "=" is overloaded
bad_counter.vhdl:13:14: possible interpretations are:
../../libraries/ieee/std_logic_1164.v93:69:5: implicit function "="
[std_logic_vector, std_logic_vector return boolean]
../../libraries/synopsys/std_logic_unsigned.vhdl:64:5: function "="
[std_logic_vector, std_logic_vector return boolean]
../translate/ghdldrv/ghdl: compilation error

Indeed, the “=” operator is defined in both packages, and both are visible at the place it is used. The first
declaration is an implicit one, which occurs when the std_logic_vector type is declared and is an element to
element comparison, the second one is an explicit declared function, with the semantic of an unsigned comparison.

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With some analyser, the explicit declaration has priority over the implicit declaration, and this design can be
analyzed without error. However, this is not the rule given by the VHDL LRM, and since GHDL follows these
rules, it emits an error.
You can force GHDL to use this rule with the -fexplicit option (see GHDL_options for further details). However
it is easy to fix this error, by using a selected name:

library ieee;
use ieee.std_logic_unsigned.all;

architecture fixed_bad of counter

is
signal v : std_logic_vector (3 downto 0);
begin
process (ck, rst)
begin
if rst = '1' then
v <= x"0";
elsif rising_edge (ck) then
if ieee.std_logic_unsigned."=" (v, "1010") then
v <= x"0";
else
v <= v + 1;
end if;
end if;
end process;

val <= v;
end fixed_bad;

It is better to only use the standard packages defined by IEEE, which provides the same functionalities:

library ieee;
use ieee.numeric_std.all;

architecture good of counter

is
signal v : unsigned (3 downto 0);
begin
process (ck, rst)
begin
if rst = '1' then
v <= x"0";
elsif rising_edge (ck) then
if v = "1010" then
v <= x"0";
else
v <= v + 1;
end if;
end if;
end process;

val <= std_logic_vector (v);

end good;

Hint: The ieee math packages (math_real and math_complex) provided with GHDL are fully compliant
with the IEEE standard.

5.8. IEEE library pitfalls 29

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30 Chapter 5. Invoking GHDL

 CHAPTER 6

Simulation and runtime

6.1 Simulation options

In most system environments, it is possible to pass options while invoking a program. Contrary to most program-
ming languages, there is no standard method in VHDL to obtain the arguments or to set the exit status.
In GHDL, it is impossible to pass parameters to your design. A later version could do it through the generics
interfaces of the top entity.
However, the GHDL runtime behaviour can be modified with some options; for example, it is possible to stop
simulation after a certain time.
The exit status of the simulation is EXIT_SUCCESS (0) if the simulation completes, or EXIT_FAILURE (1) in
case of error (assertion failure, overflow or any constraint error).
Here is the list of the most useful options. Some debugging options are also available, but not described here. The
--help options lists all options available, including the debugging one.
--assert-level<=LEVEL>
Select the assertion level at which an assertion violation stops the simulation. LEVEL is the name from the
severity_level enumerated type defined in the standard package or the none name.
By default, only assertion violation of severity level failure stops the simulation.
For example, if LEVEL was warning, any assertion violation with severity level warning, error or
failure would stop simulation, but the assertion violation at the note severity level would only display
a message.
Option --assert-level=none prevents any assertion violation to stop simulation.
--ieee-asserts<=POLICY>
Select how the assertions from ieee units are handled. POLICY can be enable (the default), disable
which disables all assertion from ieee packages and disable-at-0 which disables only at start of
simulation.
This option can be useful to avoid assertion message from ieee.numeric_std (and other ieee pack-
ages).
--stop-time<=TIME>
Stop the simulation after TIME. TIME is expressed as a time value, without any space. The time is the
simulation time, not the real clock time.

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For example:
$ ./my_design --stop-time=10ns
$ ./my_design --stop-time=ps

--stop-delta<=N>
Stop the simulation after N delta cycles in the same current time.
--disp-time
Display the time and delta cycle number as simulation advances.
--unbuffered
Disable buffering on stdout, stderr and files opened in write or append mode (TEXTIO).
--sdf<=PATH=FILENAME>
Do VITAL annotation on PATH with SDF file FILENAME.
PATH is a path of instances, separated with . or /. Any separator can be used. Instances are component
instantiation labels, generate labels or block labels. Currently, you cannot use an indexed name.
Specifying a delay:
--sdf=min=PATH=FILENAME
--sdf=typ=PATH=FILENAME
--sdf=max=PATH=FILENAME

If the option contains a type of delay, that is min=, typ= or max=, the annotator use respectively minimum,
typical or maximum values. If the option does not contain a type of delay, the annotator use the typical delay.
See section ‘Backannotation’, for more details.
--vpi<=FILENAME>
Load VPI module.
--vpi-trace<=FILE>
Trace vpi calls to FILE.
--help
Display a short description of the options accepted by the runtime library.

6.2 Export waveforms

--read-wave-opt=<FILENAME>
Filter signals to be dumped to the wave file according to the wave option file provided.
Here is a description of the wave option file format currently supported
$ version = 1.1 # Optional

# Path format for signals in packages :

my_pkg.global_signal_a

# Path format for signals in entities :

/top/sub/clk

# Dumps every signals named reset in first level sub entities of top
/top/*/reset

# Dumps every signals named reset in recursive sub entities of top

/top/**/reset

# Dump every signals of sub2 which could be anywhere in design except on

# top level

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 GHDL Documentation, Release 0.36-dev

/**/sub2/*

# Dump every signals of sub3 which must be a first level sub entity of the
# top level
/*/sub3/*

# Dump every signals of the first level sub entities of sub3 (but not
# those of sub3)
/**/sub3/*/*

--write-wave-opt=<FILENAME>
If the wave option file doesn’t exist, creates it with all the signals of the design. Otherwise throws an error,
because it won’t erase an existing file.
--vcd<=FILENAME>
--vcdgz<=FILENAME>
Option --vcd dumps into the VCD file FILENAME the signal values before each non-delta cycle. If
FILENAME is -, then the standard output is used, otherwise a file is created or overwritten.
The --vcdgz option is the same as the –vcd option, but the output is compressed using the zlib (gzip
compression). However, you can’t use the - filename. Furthermore, only one VCD file can be written.
VCD (value change dump) is a file format defined by the verilog standard and used by virtually any wave
viewer.
Since it comes from verilog, only a few VHDL types can be dumped. GHDL dumps only signals whose
base type is of the following:
• types defined in the std.standard package:
• bit
• bit_vector
• types defined in the ieee.std_logic_1164 package:
• std_ulogic
• std_logic (because it is a subtype of std_ulogic)
• std_ulogic_vector
• std_logic_vector
• any integer type
I have successfully used gtkwave to view VCD files.
Currently, there is no way to select signals to be dumped: all signals are dumped, which can generate big
files.
It is very unfortunate there is no standard or well-known wave file format supporting VHDL types. If you
are aware of such a free format, please mail me (Reporting bugs).
--vcd-nodate
Do not write date in VCD file
--fst<=FILENAME>
Write the waveforms into a fst, that can be displayed by gtkwave. The fst files are much smaller than VCD
or GHW files, but it handles only the same signals as the VCD format.
--wave<=FILENAME>
Write the waveforms into a ghw (GHdl Waveform) file. Currently, all the signals are dumped into the
waveform file, you cannot select a hierarchy of signals to be dumped.
The format of this file was defined by myself and is not yet completely fixed. It may change slightly. The
gtkwave tool can read the GHW files.

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Contrary to VCD files, any VHDL type can be dumped into a GHW file.

6.3 Export hierarchy and references

--disp-tree<[=KIND]>
Display the design hierarchy as a tree of instantiated design entities. This may be useful to understand the
structure of a complex design. KIND is optional, but if set must be one of:
• none Do not display hierarchy. Same as if the option was not present.
• inst Display entities, architectures, instances, blocks and generates statements.
• proc Like inst but also display processes.
• port Like proc but display ports and signals too. If KIND is not specified, the hierarchy is displayed
with the port mode.
--no-run
Stop the simulation before the first cycle. This may be used with --disp-tree to display the tree without
simulating the whole design. This option actually elaborates the design, so it will catch any bound error in
port maps.
--xref-html <[options] file...>
To easily navigate through your sources, you may generate cross-references. This command generates an html file
for each file given in the command line, with syntax highlighting and full cross-reference: every identifier is a
link to its declaration. Besides, an index of the files is created too.
The set of file are analyzed, and then, if the analysis is successful, html files are generated in the directory
specified by the -o option, or html/ directory by default.
• If the option --format=html2 is specified, then the generated html files follow the HTML 2.0 standard,
and colours are specified with <FONT> tags. However, colours are hard-coded.
• If the option --format=css is specified, then the generated html files follow the HTML 4.0 standard,
and use the CSS-1 file ghdl.css to specify colours. This file is generated only if it does not already exist
(it is never overwritten) and can be customized by the user to change colours or appearance. Refer to a
generated file and its comments for more information.
--psl-report<=FILENAME>
Write a report for PSL at the end of simulation. For each PSL cover and assert statements, the name, source
location and whether it passed or failed is reported. The file is written using the JSON format, but still being
human readable.
--file-to-xml
Outputs an XML representation of the decorated syntax tree for the input file and its dependencies. It can be
used for VHDL tooling using semantic information, like style checkers, documentation extraction, complexity
estimation. . .

Warning:
• The AST slightly changes from time to time (particularly when new nodes are added for new language
features), so be liberal in what is allowed by your tool. Also, the XML can be quite large so consider it
only during prototyping.
• Note that at this time there is no XML dump of the elaborated design.

34 Chapter 6. Simulation and runtime

 GHDL Documentation, Release 0.36-dev

6.4 Debugging

--trace-signals
Display signals after each cycle.
--trace-processes
Display process name before each cycle.
--stats
Display run-time statistics.
--disp-order
Display signals order.
--disp-sources
Display sources while displaying signals.
--disp-sig-types
Display signal types.
--disp-signals-map
Display map bw declared signals and internal signals.
--disp-signals-table
Display internal signals.
--checks
Do internal checks after each process run.
--activity<=LEVEL>
Watch activity of LEVEL signals: LEVEL is all, min (default) or none (unsafe).
--dump-rti
Dump Run Time Information (RTI).
--bootstrap
Allow --work=std

6.4.1 GNU Debugger (GDB)

Warning: Debugging VHDL programs using GDB is possible only with GCC/LLVM.

GDB is a general purpose debugger for programs compiled by GCC. Currently, there is no VHDL support for
GDB. It may be difficult to inspect variables or signals in GDB. However, it is still able to display the stack frame
in case of error or to set a breakpoint at a specified line.
GDB can be useful to precisely catch a runtime error, such as indexing an array beyond its bounds. All error check
subprograms call the __ghdl_fatal procedure. Therefore, to catch runtime error, set a breakpoint like this:

(gdb) break __ghdl_fatal

When the breakpoint is hit, use the where or bt command to display the stack frames.

6.4. Debugging 35
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36 Chapter 6. Simulation and runtime

 Part II

Getting GHDL

37
 CHAPTER 7

Releases and sources

Contents of this Page

• Downloading pre-built packages

• Downloading Source Files
– Downloading from GitHub
– Downloading via git clone

* On Linux
* On OS X
* On Windows

7.1 Downloading pre-built packages

OS Backend Filesize Downloads

Debian 9 (Stretch) GPL mcode 2.61 MB
Debian 9 (Stretch) mcode 2.93 MB
Ubuntu 14 (Trusty) mcode 3.15 MB
Ubuntu 14 (Trusty) LLVM 14.11MB
Fedora 26 mcode 2.83 MB
Windows x86 (MinGW32) mcode 3.05 MB
Windows x86 (MinGW64) LLVM 12.7 MB
Mac OS X mcode 2.26 MB
Sum:

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7.2 Downloading Source Files

7.2.1 Downloading from GitHub

GHDL can be downloaded as a zip-file from GitHub. See the following table, to choose your desired git branch.

7.2.2 Downloading via git clone

GHDL can be downloaded (cloned) with git clone from GitHub. GitHub offers the transfer protocols HTTPS
and SSH. You should use SSH if you have a GitHub account and have already uploaded an OpenSSH public key
to GitHub, otherwise use HTTPS if you have no account or you want to use login credentials.
The created folder <GitRoot>\ghdl is used as <GHDLRoot> in later instructions or on other pages in this
documentation.

On Linux

Command line instructions to clone GHDL onto a Linux machine with HTTPS protocol:

cd GitRoot
git clone "https://github.com/ghdl/ghdl.git" ghdl
cd ghdl
git remote rename origin github

Command line instructions to clone GHDL onto a Linux machine machine with SSH protocol:

cd GitRoot
git clone "ssh://[email protected]:ghdl/ghdl.git" ghdl
cd ghdl
git remote rename origin github

On OS X

Please see the Linux instructions.

On Windows

Note: All Windows command line instructions are intended for Windows PowerShell, if not marked other-
wise. So executing the following instructions in Windows Command Prompt (cmd.exe) won’t function or result
in errors! See the Requirements section on where to download or update PowerShell.

Command line instructions to clone GHDL onto a Windows machine with HTTPS protocol:

cd GitRoot
git clone "https://github.com/ghdl/ghdl.git" ghdl
cd ghdl
git remote rename origin github

Command line instructions to clone GHDL onto a Windows machine with SSH protocol:

cd GitRoot
git clone "ssh://[email protected]:ghdl/ghdl.git" ghdl
cd ghdl
git remote rename origin github

40 Chapter 7. Releases and sources

 CHAPTER 8

Building GHDL from Sources

Download

GHDL can be downloaded as a zip-file (latest ‘master’ branch) or cloned with git clone from GitHub. GitHub
offers HTTPS and SSH as transfer protocols. See the Downloading Source Files page for further details. The
installation directory is referred to as GHDLRoot.

Available back-ends

GHDL currently supports three different back-ends (code generators):

• mcode - built-in x86(or x86_64) code generator,
• GCC - Gnu Compiler Collection, and
• LLVM - Low-Level Virtual Machine .
Here is a short comparison, so that you can choose the one you want to use:

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GHDL Documentation, Release 0.36-dev

Back-end Pros Cons

mcode
• Very easy to build • Simulation is slower
• Very quick analysis • x86_64/i386 only
• Can handle very large de-
signs

LLVM
• Generated code is faster • Build is more complex
• Generated code can be de-
bugged (with -g)
• Easier to build than GCC

GCC
• Generated code is faster • Build is even more complex
(particularly with -O or • Analysis can take time (par-
-O2) ticularly for large units)
• Generated code can be de- • Code coverage collection
bugged (with -g) (gcov) is unique to GCC
• Ported to many platforms
(x86, x86_64, PowerPC,
SPARC)

8.1 Directory Structure

• src: sources of GHDL, all of them in Ada.

• libraries: mostly third party libraries such as, ieee, mentor, std, synopsys and vital. Except a few shell
and Python scripts, all the content is written in VHDL.
– Vendors like Altera, Lattice and Xilinx have their own simulation libraries, especially for FPGA prim-
itives, soft and hard macros. These libraries can not be shipped with GHDL, but we offer prepared
compile scripts to pre-compile the vendor libraries, if the vendor tool is present on the computer. These
are located in libraries/vendor. See Precompile Vendor Primitives for information on how to
use them.
• dist: scripts and auxiliar files to build GHDL in different environments:
– gcc: header and configuration files to build GHDL with GCC (all the platforms).
– linux: build and test script written in shell, and other auxiliary files used to i) launch docker con-
tainers and ii) automate multiple builds in Travis CI.
– windows:

* mcode:
* appveyor:
• doc: Markdown and reStructuredText sources and auxiliary files to build the documentation with Sphinx.
Indeed, Read the docs (RTD) is used to automatically build and deploy this site and/or PDF you are reading.
• testsuite: see section test_suites.
• .yml configuration files for CI environments (readthedocs, travis and appveyor) and ignore files
for source control management tools (git and .hg).
• Files for building GHDL: configure and Makefile.in.
• Auxiliar files for development: .gdbinit and ghdl.gpr.in (GNAT project file).
• Text files: COPYING.md, NEWS.md and README.md.

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 GHDL Documentation, Release 0.36-dev

8.2 mcode Backend

The mcode backend is available for all supported platforms and is also the most simplest procedure, because it
requires the least dependencies and configuration options.

Requirements

• GCC (Gnu Compiler Collection)

• GNAT (Ada compiler for GCC)

Supported platforms

• mcode Backend on GNU/Linux with GCC/GNAT

• mcode Backend on Windows with GNAT GPL
• mcode Backend on Windows with GCC/GNAT (MinGW)

8.2.1 mcode Backend on GNU/Linux with GCC/GNAT

On Linux, GHDL is configured by configure and build by make.

• First, GHDL needs to be configured. It is common to specify a PREFIX (installation directory like /usr/
local or /opt/ghdl). Without any other option, configure select mcode as backend.
• Next, make starts the compilation process.
• Finally, make install installs GHDL into the installation directory specified by PREFIX. You may
need super user privileges (sudo ...).

Example:

$ cd <ghdl>
$ mkdir build
$ cd build
$ ../configure --prefix=PREFIX
$ make
$ make install

8.2.2 mcode Backend on Windows with GNAT GPL

Requirements

• GNAT GPL from http://libre.adacore.com

• PowerShell 4
• PowerShell Community Extensions (PSCX)

8.2. mcode Backend 43

GHDL Documentation, Release 0.36-dev

Scripts and Parameters

compile.ps1

Commands Description
--------------------------------------------------------------------
-Help Display the integrated help pages
-Clean Clean up all files and directories
-Compile Compile GHDL
-Install Install all files into a directory (xcopy deployment)
-Uninstall Uninstall all files from a directory
-Update Update files in the installation directory
-CreatePackage create an installer package

Install options:
-InstallPath Installation directory

CreatePackage options:
-Zip Create a zip-file for xcopy deployment

8.2.3 mcode Backend on Windows with GCC/GNAT (MinGW)

On Windows with MinGW, GHDL is configured by configure and build by make.

• First, GHDL needs to be configured. It is common to specify a PREFIX (installation directory like /usr/
local or /opt/ghdl). Without any other option, configure select mcode as backend.
• Next, make starts the compilation process.
• Finally, make install installs GHDL into the installation directory specified by PREFIX.

Example:

$ cd <ghdl>
$ mkdir build
$ cd build
$ ../configure --prefix=PREFIX
$ make
$ make install

8.3 LLVM Backend

Requirements

• GCC (Gnu Compiler Collection)

• GNAT (Ada compiler for GCC)
• LLVM (Low-Level-Virtual Machine) and CLANG (Compiler front-end for LLVM)
– 3.5
– 3.8
– 3.9
– 4.0
– 5.0

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 GHDL Documentation, Release 0.36-dev

Supported platforms

• LLVM Backend on GNU/Linux with GCC/GNAT

• LLVM Backend on Windows with GCC/GNAT (MinGW)
• Mac OS

8.3.1 LLVM Backend on GNU/Linux with GCC/GNAT

Hint: You need to install LLVM (usually depends on libedit, see #29). The supported versions are 3.5 till
5.0, but debugging is only supported with LLVM 3.5.

• First configure GHDL with the proper arg ./configure --with-llvm-config. If llvm-config
is not in your path, you can specify it: ./configure --with-llvm-config=LLVM_INSTALL/
bin/llvm-config.
• Then, build with make and install with make install.

Example:

$ cd <ghdl>
$ mkdir build
$ cd build
$ ../configure --with-llvm-config --prefix=PREFIX
$ make
$ make install

Hint: If you want to have stack backtraces on errors (like assert failure or index of out bounds), you need
to configure and build libbacktrace from GCC (you don’t need to configure GCC). Then add the fol-
lowing arg to configure: --with-backtrace-lib=/path-to-gcc-build/libbacktrace/.libs/
libbacktrace.a

8.3.2 LLVM Backend on Windows with GCC/GNAT (MinGW)

On Windows with MinGW, GHDL is configured by configure and build by make.

• First, GHDL needs to be configured. It is common to specify a PREFIX (installation directory like /usr/
local or /opt/ghdl). Without any other option, configure select mcode as backend.
• Next, make starts the compilation process.
• Finally, make install installs GHDL into the installation directory specified by PREFIX.

Example:

$ cd <ghdl>
$ mkdir build
$ cd build
$ ../configure --prefix=PREFIX
$ make
$ make install

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8.4 GCC Backend

Requirements

• GCC (Gnu Compiler Collection)

• GNAT (Ada compiler for GCC)
• GCC source files. Download and untar the sources of version 4.9.x, 5.x, 6.x or 7.x

Supported platforms

• GCC Backend on GNU/Linux with GCC/GNAT

• GCC Backend on Windows with GCC/GNAT (MinGW)

Hint: Once GCC (with GHDL) has been built once, it is possible to work on the GHDL source tree without
copying it in the GCC tree. Commands are:
$ make ghdl1-gcc # Build the compiler
$ make ghdl_gcc # Build the driver
$ make libs.vhdl.local_gcc # Compile the vhdl libraries
$ make grt-all # Build the GHDL runtime
$ make install.vpi.local # Locally install vpi files

In src/ortho/gcc, create a Makefile.conf file that sets the following variables:

AGCC_GCCSRC_DIR=/path/to/gcc/sources
AGCC_GCCOBJ_DIR=/path/to/gcc/build

Hint: For ppc64 (and AIX ?) platform, the object file format contains an identifier for the source language.
Because gcc doesn’t know about the VHDL, gcc crashes very early. This could be fixed with a very simple change
in gcc/config/rs6000/rs6000.c, function rs6000_output_function_epilogue (as of gcc
4.8):
else if (! strcmp (language_string, "GNU Objective-C"))
i = 14;
else
- gcc_unreachable ();
+ i = 0;
fprintf (file, "%d,", i);

/* 8 single bit fields: global linkage (not set for C extern linkage),

8.4.1 GCC Backend on GNU/Linux with GCC/GNAT

Hint: There are some dependencies for building GCC (gmp, mpfr and mpc). If you have not them in-
stalled on your system, you can either build them manually or use the download_prerequisites script
provided in the GCC source tree (recommended): cd /path/to/gcc/source/dir && ./contrib/
download_prerequisites.

• First configure GHDL, specify GCC source directory and installation prefix
(like /usr/local or /opt/ghdl).

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 GHDL Documentation, Release 0.36-dev

• Next, invoke make copy-sources to copy GHDL sources in the source

directory.
• Then, configure GCC. The list of --disable configure options can be
adjusted to your needs. GHDL does not require all these optional libraries and disabling them will
speed-up the build.
• Now, build and install GCC with make.
• Last, build and install GHDL libraries.

Example:

$ cd <ghdl>
$ mkdir build
$ cd build
$ ../configure --with-gcc=/path/to/gcc/source/dir --prefix=/usr/local
$ make copy-sources
$ mkdir gcc-objs; cd gcc-objs
$ /path/to/gcc/source/dir/configure --prefix=/usr/local --enable-languages=c,vhdl \
--disable-bootstrap --disable-lto --disable-multilib --disable-libssp \
--disable-libgomp --disable-libquadmath
$ make -j2 && make install
$ cd /path/to/ghdl/source/dir
$ make ghdllib
$ make install

Hint: Note that the prefix directory to configure gcc must be the same as the one used to configure GHDL. If
you have manually built gmp/mpfr/mpc (without using the script in contrib) and if you have installed them in
a non-standard directory, you may need to add --with-gmp=GMP_INSTALL_DIR.

Hint: If your system gcc was configured with --enable-default-pie (check if that option appears in the
output of gcc -v), you should also add it.

Hint: If you don’t want to install makeinfo, do make install MAKEINFO=true instead.

8.4.2 GCC Backend on Windows with GCC/GNAT (MinGW)

Todo: Under investigation on how to build that beast.

Hint: The output of both GCC and LLVM is an executable file, but mcode does not generate any. Therefore,
if using GCC/LLVM, the call with argument -r can be replaced with direct execution of the binary. See section
Quick Start Guide.

After making your choice, you can jump to the corresponding section. However, we suggest you to read Directory
Structure before, so that you know where the content is placed and which temporal files are expected to be created.

Hint: Since GHDL is written in Ada, independently of the code generator you use, the GNU Ada compiler,
GNAT GPL, is required, 2014 (or later) for x86 (32 or 64 bits). GNAT GPL can be downloaded anonymously from

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GHDL Documentation, Release 0.36-dev

libre.adacore.com. Then, untar and run the doinstall script. Alternatively, most GNU/Linux provide a package
named gcc-ada or gcc-gnat.

Hint: In these instructions, the configure script is executed in the source directory; but you can execute in a
different directory too, like this:

$ mkdir ghdl-objs
$ cd ghdl-objs
$ ../path/to/ghdl/configure ...

48 Chapter 8. Building GHDL from Sources

 CHAPTER 9

Precompile Vendor Primitives

Vendors like Altera, Lattice and Xilinx have their own simulation libraries, especially for FPGA primitives, soft
and hard macros. These libraries can not be shipped with GHDL, but we offer prepared compile scripts to pre-
compile the vendor libraries, if the vendor tool is present on the computer. There are also popular simulation and
verification libraries like OSVVM1 , VUnit2 or UVVM3 , which can be pre-compiled, too.
The compilation scripts are writen in the shell languages: PowerShell for Windows ™ and Bash for GNU/Linux.
The compile scripts can colorize the GHDL warning and error lines with the help of grc/grcat4 .

9.1 Supported Vendors Libraries

• Altera/Intel Quartus (13.0 or later):

– lpm, sgate
– altera, altera_mf, altera_lnsim
– arriaii, arriaii_pcie_hip, arriaiigz
– arriav, arriavgz, arriavgz_pcie_hip
– cycloneiv, cycloneiv_pcie_hip, cycloneive
– cyclonev
– max, maxii, maxv
– stratixiv, stratixiv_pcie_hip
– stratixv, stratixv_pcie_hip
– fiftyfivenm, twentynm
• Lattice (3.6 or later):
– ec
– ecp, ecp2, ecp3, ecp5u
1 OSVVM http://github.com/OSVVM/OSVVM
2 VUnit https://github.com/VUnit/vunit
3 UVVM https://github.com/UVVM/UVVM_All
4 Generic Colourizer http://kassiopeia.juls.savba.sk/~garabik/software/grc.html

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– lptm, lptm2
– machxo, machxo2, machxo3l
– sc, scm
– xp, xp2
• Xilinx ISE (14.0 or later):
– unisim (incl. secureip)
– unimacro
– simprim (incl. secureip)
– xilinxcorelib
• Xilinx Vivado (2014.1 or later):
– unisim (incl. secureip)
– unimacro

9.2 Supported Simulation and Verification Libraries

• OSVVM (for VHDL-2008)

– osvvm
• VUnit (for VHDL-2008)
– vunit_lib
• UVVM (for VHDL-2008)
–

9.3 Script Configuration

The vendor library compile scripts need to know where the used / latest vendor tool chain is installed. Therefore,
the script implement a default installation directory search as well as environment variable checks. If a vendor tool
could not be detected or the script choses the wrong vendor library source directory, then it’s possible to provide
the path via –source or -Source.
The generated output is stored relative to the current working directory. The scripts create a sub-directory for each
vendor. The default output directory can be overwritten by the parameter –output or -Output.
To compile all source files with GHDL, the simulator executable is searched in PATH. The found default GHDL
executable can be overwritten by setting the environment variable GHDL or by passing the parameter –ghdl or
-GHDL to the scripts.
If the vendor library compilation is used very often, we recommend to configure these parameters in config.sh or
config.psm1, so the command line can be shortened to the essential parts.

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 GHDL Documentation, Release 0.36-dev

9.4 Compiling on Linux

• Step 0 - Configure the scripts (optional) See next section for how to configure config.sh.
• Step 1 - Browse to your simulation working directory

$ cd <MySimulationFolder>
```

• Step 2 - Start the compilation script(s)

$ /usr/local/lib/ghdl/vendors/compile-altera.sh --all
$ /usr/local/lib/ghdl/vendors/compile-lattice.sh --all
$ /usr/local/lib/ghdl/vendors/compile-xilinx-ise.sh --all
$ /usr/local/lib/ghdl/vendors/compile-xilinx-vivado.sh --all
$ /usr/local/lib/ghdl/vendors/compile-osvvm.sh --all
$ /usr/local/lib/ghdl/vendors/compile-vunit.sh --all
```

In most cases GHDL is installed into `/usr/local/`. The scripts are

installed into the `lib` directory.

• Step 3 - Viewing the result This creates vendor directories in your current working directory and compiles
the vendor files into them.

$ ls -ahl
...
drwxr-xr-x 2 <user> <group> 56K Nov 30 17:41 altera
drwxr-xr-x 2 <user> <group> 56K Nov 30 17:42 lattice
drwxr-xr-x 2 <user> <group> 56K Nov 30 17:48 osvvm
drwxr-xr-x 2 <user> <group> 56K Nov 30 17:58 vunit
drwxr-xr-x 2 <user> <group> 56K Nov 30 17:58 xilinx-ise
drwxr-xr-x 2 <user> <group> 56K Nov 30 17:48 xilinx-vivado
```

9.5 Compiling on Windows

• Step 0 - Configure the scripts (optional)

See next section for how to configure config.psm1.
• Step 1 - Browse to your simulation working directory

PS> cd <MySimulationFolder>

• Step 2 - Start the compilation script(s)

PS> <GHDL>\libraries\vendors\compile-altera.ps1 -All

PS> <GHDL>\libraries\vendors\compile-lattice.ps1 -All
PS> <GHDL>\libraries\vendors\compile-xilinx-ise.ps1 -All
PS> <GHDL>\libraries\vendors\compile-xilinx-vivado.ps1 -All
PS> <GHDL>\libraries\vendors\compile-osvvm.ps1 -All
PS> <GHDL>\libraries\vendors\compile-vunit.ps1 -All

• Step 3 - Viewing the result This creates vendor directories in your current working directory and compiles
the vendor files into them.

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GHDL Documentation, Release 0.36-dev

PS> dir
Directory: D:\temp\ghdl

Mode LastWriteTime Length Name

---- ------------- ------ ----
d---- 20.11.2015 19:33 <DIR> altera
d---- 20.11.2015 19:38 <DIR> lattice
d---- 20.11.2015 19:38 <DIR> osvvm
d---- 20.11.2015 19:45 <DIR> vunit_lib
d---- 20.11.2015 19:06 <DIR> xilinx-ise
d---- 20.11.2015 19:40 <DIR> xilinx-vivado

9.6 Configuration Files

9.6.1 For Linux: config.sh

Please open the config.sh file and set the dictionary entries for the installed vendor tools to the appropriate directory
to your tool’s installation directories. Use an empty string “” for not installed tools.
config.sh:

declare -A InstallationDirectory
InstallationDirectory[AlteraQuartus]="/opt/Altera/16.0"
InstallationDirectory[LatticeDiamond]="/opt/Diamond/3.8_x64"
InstallationDirectory[OSVVM]="/home/<user>/git/GitHub/osvvm"
InstallationDirectory[VUnit]="/home/<user>/git/GitHub/vunit"
InstallationDirectory[XilinxISE]="/opt/Xilinx/14.7"
InstallationDirectory[XilinxVivado]="/opt/Xilinx/Vivado/2016.3"

9.6.2 For Windows: config.psm1

Please open the config.psm1 file and set the dictionary entries for the installed vendor tools to the appropriate
directory to your tool’s installation folder. Use an empty string “” for not installed tools.
config.psm1:

$InstallationDirectory = @{
"AlteraQuartus" = "C:\Altera\16.0";
"LatticeDiamond" = "C:\Lattice\Diamond\3.8_x64";
"XilinxISE" = "C:\Xilinx\14.7\ISE_DS";
"XilinxVivado" = "C:\Xilinx\Vivado\2016.3";
"OSVVM" = "D:\git\GitHub\osvvm";
"VUnit" = "D:\git\GitHub\vunit"
}

9.6.3 Selectable Options for the Bash Scripts:

First I should translate the scripts before writing the docu. . .

• Common parameters to most scripts:

-h --help Print the embedded help page(s).

-c --clean Cleanup directory before analyzing.
-n --no-warnings Don't show warnings. Report errors only.
-s --skip-existing Skip already compiled files (an *.o file exists).

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-S --skip-largefiles Don't compile large entities like DSP and PCIe primitives.
-H --halt-on-error Stop compiling if an error occured.

• compile-altera.sh
Selectable libraries:

-a --all Compile all libraries, including common libraries, packages and devic
--altera Compile base libraries like 'altera' and 'altera_mf'
--max Compile device libraries for Max CPLDs
--arria Compile device libraries for Arria FPGAs
--cyclone Compile device libraries for Cyclone FPGAs
--stratix Compile device libraries for Stratix FPGAs

Compile options:

.. code-block:: raw

--vhdl93 Compile selected libraries with VHDL-93 (default).

--vhdl2008 Compile selected libraries with VHDL-2008.

• compile-xilinx-ise.sh
Selectable libraries:

-a --all Compile all libraries, including common libraries, packages and device
--unisim Compile the unisim primitives
--unimacro Compile the unimacro macros
--simprim Compile the simprim primitives
--corelib Compile the xilinxcorelib macros
--secureip Compile the secureip primitives

Compile options:

--vhdl93 Compile selected libraries with VHDL-93 (default).

--vhdl2008 Compile selected libraries with VHDL-2008.

• compile-xilinx-vivado.sh
Selectable libraries:

-a --all Compile all libraries, including common libraries, packages and device
--unisim Compile the unisim primitives
--unimacro Compile the unimacro macros
--secureip Compile the secureip primitives

Compile options:

--vhdl93 Compile selected libraries with VHDL-93 (default).

--vhdl2008 Compile selected libraries with VHDL-2008.

• compile-osvvm.sh
Selectable libraries:

-a --all Compile all.

--osvvm Compile the OSVVM library.

• compile-vunit.sh
Selectable libraries:

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GHDL Documentation, Release 0.36-dev

-a --all Compile all.

--osvvm Compile the VUnit library.

• compile-uvvm.sh
Selectable libraries:

-a --all Compile all.

--uvvm Compile the VUnit library.

9.6.4 Selectable Options for the PowerShell Scripts:

• Common parameters to all scripts:

-Help Print the embedded help page(s).

-Clean Cleanup directory before analyzing.
-SuppressWarnings Don't show warnings. Report errors only.

• compile-altera.ps1
Selectable libraries:

-All Compile all libraries, including common libraries, packages and device
-Altera Compile base libraries like 'altera' and 'altera_mf'
-Max Compile device libraries for Max CPLDs
-Arria Compile device libraries for Arria FPGAs
-Cyclone Compile device libraries for Cyclone FPGAs
-Stratix Compile device libraries for Stratix FPGAs

Compile options:

-VHDL93 Compile selected libraries with VHDL-93 (default).

-VHDL2008 Compile selected libraries with VHDL-2008.

• compile-xilinx-ise.ps1
Selectable libraries:

-All Compile all libraries, including common libraries, packages and device
-Unisim Compile the unisim primitives
-Unimacro Compile the unimacro macros
-Simprim Compile the simprim primitives
-CoreLib Compile the xilinxcorelib macros
-Secureip Compile the secureip primitives

Compile options:

-VHDL93 Compile selected libraries with VHDL-93 (default).

-VHDL2008 Compile selected libraries with VHDL-2008.

• compile-xilinx-vivado.ps1
Selectable libraries:

-All Compile all libraries, including common libraries, packages and device
-Unisim Compile the unisim primitives
-Unimacro Compile the unimacro macros
-Secureip Compile the secureip primitives

Compile options:

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-VHDL93 Compile selected libraries with VHDL-93 (default).

-VHDL2008 Compile selected libraries with VHDL-2008.

• compile-osvvm.ps1
Selectable libraries:

-All Compile all.

-OSVVM Compile the OSVVM library.

• compile-vunit.ps1
Selectable libraries:

-All Compile all.

-VUnit Compile the VUnit library.

• compile-uvvm.ps1
Selectable libraries:

-All Compile all.

-UVVM Compile the UVVM libraries.

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56 Chapter 9. Precompile Vendor Primitives

 Part III

References

57
 CHAPTER 10

Command Reference

Hint: The most common commands and options are shown in section Invoking GHDL. Here the advanced and
experimental features are described.

10.1 Environment variables

GHDL_PREFIX

10.2 Misc commands

There are a few GHDL commands which are seldom useful.

10.2.1 Help [-h]

--help, -h
Display (on the standard output) a short description of the all the commands available. If the help switch is
followed by a command switch, then options for this later command are displayed:

ghdl --help
ghdl -h
ghdl -h command

10.2.2 Display config [--disp-config]

--disp-config <[options]>
Display the program paths and options used by GHDL. This may be useful to track installation errors.

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10.2.3 Display standard [--disp-standard]

--disp-standard <[options]>
Display the std.standard package.

10.2.4 Version [--version]

--version, -v
Display the GHDL version and exit.

10.3 File commands

The following commands act on one or several files. These are not analyzed, therefore, they work even if a file
has semantic errors.

10.3.1 Pretty print [--pp-html]

--pp-html <[options] file...>

The files are just scanned and an html file, with syntax highlighting is generated on standard output. Since the files
are not even parsed, erroneous files or incomplete designs can be pretty printed.
The style of the html file can be modified with the --format= option:
• By default or when the --format=html2 option is specified, the output is an HTML 2.0 file, with colours
set through <FONT> tags.
• When the --format=css option is specified, the output is an HTML 4.0 file, with colours set through a
CSS file, whose name is ghdl.css. See Cross-reference_command, for more details about this CSS file.

10.3.2 Find [-f]

-f <file...>
The files are scanned, parsed and the names of design units are displayed. Design units marked with two stars are
candidate to be at the apex of a design hierarchy.

10.3.3 Chop [--chop]

--chop <files...>
The provided files are read, and a file is written in the current directory for every design unit. Each filename is
build according to the type:
• For an entity declaration, a package declaration or a configuration the file name is NAME.vhdl, where
NAME is the name of the design unit.
• For a package body, the filename is NAME-body.vhdl.
• Finally, for an architecture ARCH of an entity ENTITY, the filename is ENTITY-ARCH.vhdl.
Since the input files are parsed, this command aborts in case of syntax error. The command aborts too if a file to
be written already exists.
Comments between design units are stored into the most adequate files.
This command may be useful to split big files, if your computer has not enough memory to compile such files.
The size of the executable is reduced too.

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10.3.4 Lines [--lines]

--lines <files...>
Display on the standard output lines of files preceded by line number.

10.4 GCC/LLVM only commands

10.4.1 Bind [--bind]

--bind <[options] primary_unit [secondary_unit]>

Performs only the first stage of the elaboration command; the list of objects files is created but the executable is
not built. This command should be used only when the main entry point is not GHDL.

10.4.2 Link [--link]

--link <[options] primary_unit [secondary_unit]>

Performs only the second stage of the elaboration command: the executable is created by linking the files of the
object files list. This command is available only for completeness. The elaboration command is equivalent to the
bind command followed by the link command.

10.4.3 List link [--list-link]

--list-link <primary_unit [secondary_unit]>

This command may be used only after a bind command. GHDL displays all the files which will be linked to create
an executable. This command is intended to add object files in a link of a foreign program.

10.5 Options
--mb-comments, -C
Allow multi-bytes chars in a comment
--syn-binding
Use synthesizer rules for component binding. During elaboration, if a component is not bound to an entity using
VHDL LRM rules, try to find in any known library an entity whose name is the same as the component name.
This rule is known as synthesizer rule.
There are two key points: normal VHDL LRM rules are tried first and entities are searched only in known library.
A known library is a library which has been named in your design.
This option is only useful during elaboration.
--GHDL1<=COMMAND>
Use COMMAND as the command name for the compiler. If COMMAND is not a path, then it is searched in the path.
--AS<=COMMAND>
Use COMMAND as the command name for the assembler. If COMMAND is not a path, then it is searched in the path.
The default is as.
--LINK<=COMMAND>
Use COMMAND as the linker driver. If COMMAND is not a path, then it is searched in the path. The default is gcc.

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10.6 Passing options to other programs

Warning: These options are only available with GCC/LLVM.

For many commands, GHDL acts as a driver: it invokes programs to perform the command. You can pass arbitrary
options to these programs.
Both the compiler and the linker are in fact GCC programs. See the GCC manual for details on GCC options.
-Wc,<OPTION>
Pass OPTION as an option to the compiler.
-Wa,<OPTION>
Pass OPTION as an option to the assembler.
-Wl,<OPTION>
Pass OPTION as an option to the linker.

62 Chapter 10. Command Reference

 CHAPTER 11

Coding Style

Ada subset: use only a simple (VHDL like) subset of Ada: no tasking, no controlled types. . . VHDL users should
easily understand that subset. Allowed Ada95 features: the standard library, child packages. Use assertions.
We try to follow the ‘GNU Coding Standards’ when possible: comments before declarations, two spaces at end of
sentences, finish sentences with a dot. But: 3 spaces for indentation.
No trailing spaces, not TAB (HT).
Subprograms must have a comment before to describe it, like:

-- Analyze the concurrent statements of PARENT.

procedure Sem_Concurrent_Statement_Chain (Parent : Iir);

The line before the comment must be a blank line (unless this is the first declaration). Don’t repeat the comment
before the subprogram body.
• For subprograms:
1. Declare on one line when possible:

function Translate_Static_Aggregate (Aggr : Iir) return O_Cnode

2. If not possible, put the return on the next line:

function Translate_Static_String (Str_Type : Iir; Str_Ident : Name_Id)

return O_Cnode

3. If not possible, put parameters and return on the next line:

function Create_String_Literal_Var_Inner
(Str : Iir; Element_Type : Iir; Str_Type : O_Tnode) return Var_Type

4. If not possible, return on the next line:

function Translate_Shortcut_Operator
(Imp : Iir_Implicit_Function_Declaration; Left, Right : Iir)
return O_Enode

5. If not possible, one parameter per line, just after subprogram name:

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GHDL Documentation, Release 0.36-dev

procedure Translate_Static_Aggregate_1 (List : in out O_Array_Aggr_List;

Aggr : Iir;
Info : Iir;
El_Type : Iir)

6. If not possible, add a return after subprogram name:

function Translate_Predefined_TF_Array_Element
(Op : Predefined_Boolean_Logical;
Left, Right : Iir;
Res_Type : Iir;
Loc : Iir)
return O_Enode

7. If not possible, ask yourself what is wrong! Shorten a name.

• Rule for the ‘is’: one a new line only if the declarative part is not empty:

procedure Translate_Assign (Target : Mnode; Expr : Iir; Target_Type :

˓→Iir)

is
Val : O_Enode;
begin

vs.

function Translate_Static_Range_Dir (Expr : Iir) return O_Cnode is

begin

If the parametere line is too long with the ‘is’, put in on a separate line:

procedure Predeclare_Scope_Type
(Scope : in out Var_Scope_Type; Name : O_Ident) is

• Generic instantiation: put the generic actual part on a new line:

procedure Free is new Ada.Unchecked_Deallocation

(Action_List, Action_List_Acc);

• For if/then statement:

1. ‘then’ on the same line:

if Get_Expr_Staticness (Decl) = Locally then

2. If not possible, ‘then’ is alone on its line aligned with the ‘if’:

if Expr = Null_Iir
or else Get_Kind (Expr) = Iir_Kind_Overflow_Literal
then

3. For a multiline condition, ‘or else’ and ‘and then’ should start lines.
• ‘Local’ variable declaration: Do not initialize variables, constants must be declared before variables:

is
N_Info : constant Iir := Get_Sub_Aggregate_Info (Info);
Assoc : Iir;
Sub : Iir;
begin

If the initialization expression has a side effect (such as allocation), do not use a constant.

64 Chapter 11. Coding Style

 CHAPTER 12

Implementation of VHDL

This chapter describes several implementation defined aspect of VHDL in GHDL.

12.1 VHDL standards

This is very unfortunate, but there are many versions of the VHDL language, and they aren’t backward compatible.
The VHDL language was first standardized in 1987 by IEEE as IEEE 1076-1987, and is commonly referred as
VHDL-87. This is certainly the most important version, since most of the VHDL tools are still based on this
standard.
Various problems of this first standard have been analyzed by experts groups to give reasonable ways of interpret-
ing the unclear portions of the standard.
VHDL was revised in 1993 by IEEE as IEEE 1076-1993. This revision is still well-known.
Unfortunately, VHDL-93 is not fully compatible with VHDL-87, i.e. some perfectly valid VHDL-87 programs
are invalid VHDL-93 programs. Here are some of the reasons:
• the syntax of file declaration has changed (this is the most visible source of incompatibility),
• new keywords were introduced (group, impure, inertial, literal, postponed, pure, reject, rol, ror, shared, sla,
sll, sra, srl, unaffected, xnor),
• some dynamic behaviours have changed (the concatenation is one of them),
• rules have been added.
Shared variables were replaced by protected types in the 2000 revision of the VHDL standard. This modification
is also known as 1076a. Note that this standard is not fully backward compatible with VHDL-93, since the type
of a shared variable must now be a protected type (there was no such restriction before).
Minors corrections were added by the 2002 revision of the VHDL standard. This revision is not fully backward
compatible with VHDL-00 since, for example, the value of the ‘instance_name attribute has slightly changed.
The latest version is 2008. Many features have been added, and GHDL doesn’t implement all of them.
You can select the VHDL standard expected by GHDL with the --std=VER option, where VER is one of the left
column of the table below:
87 Select VHDL-87 standard as defined by IEEE 1076-1987. LRM bugs corrected by later revisions are taken
into account.

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93 Select VHDL-93; VHDL-87 file declarations are not accepted.

93c Select VHDL-93 standard with relaxed rules:
• VHDL-87 file declarations are accepted;
• default binding indication rules of VHDL-02 are used. Default binding rules are often used, but they
are particularly obscure before VHDL-02.
00 Select VHDL-2000 standard, which adds protected types.
02 Select VHDL-2002 standard
08 Select VHDL-2008 standard (partially implemented).
The 93, 93c, 00 and 02 standards are considered as compatible: you can elaborate a design mixing these standards.
However, 87, 93 and 08 are not compatible.

12.2 PSL implementation

GHDL understands embedded PSL annotations in VHDL files, but not in separate files.
As PSL annotations are embedded within comments, you must analyze and elaborate your design with option -fpsl
to enable PSL annotations.
A PSL assertion statement must appear within a comment that starts with the psl keyword. The keyword must be
followed (on the same line) by a PSL keyword such as assert or default. To continue a PSL statement on the next
line, just start a new comment.
A PSL statement is considered as a process. So it is not allowed within a process.
All PSL assertions must be clocked (GHDL doesn’t support unclocked assertion). Furthermore only one clock per
assertion is allowed.
You can either use a default clock like this:

-- psl default clock is rising_edge (CLK);

-- psl assert always
-- a -> eventually! b;

or use a clocked expression (note the use of parenthesis):

-- psl assert (always a -> next[3](b)) @rising_edge (clk);

Of course only the simple subset of PSL is allowed.

Currently the built-in functions are not implemented.

12.3 Source representation

According to the VHDL standard, design units (i.e. entities, architectures, packages, package bodies and configu-
rations) may be independently analyzed.
Several design units may be grouped into a design file.
In GHDL, a system file represents a design file. That is, a file compiled by GHDL may contain one or more design
units.
It is common to have several design units in a design file.
GHDL does not impose any restriction on the name of a design file (except that the filename may not contain any
control character or spaces).

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GHDL do not keep a binary representation of the design units analyzed like other VHDL analyzers. The sources
of the design units are re-read when needed (for example, an entity is re-read when one of its architecture is
analyzed). Therefore, if you delete or modify a source file of a unit analyzed, GHDL will refuse to use it.

12.4 Library database

Each design unit analyzed is placed into a design library. By default, the name of this design library is work;
however, this can be changed with the --work=NAME option of GHDL.
To keep the list of design units in a design library, GHDL creates library files. The name of these files is
NAME-objVER.cf, where NAME is the name of the library, and VER the VHDL version (87, 93 or 08) used to
analyze the design units.
You don’t have to know how to read a library file. You can display it using the -d of ghdl. The file contains the
name of the design units, as well as the location and the dependencies.
The format may change with the next version of GHDL.

12.5 Top entity

There are some restrictions on the entity being at the apex of a design hierarchy:
• The generic must have a default value, and the value of a generic is its default value;
• The ports type must be constrained.

12.6 Using vendor libraries

Many vendors libraries have been analyzed with GHDL. There are usually no problems. Be sure to use the
--work= option. However, some problems have been encountered.
GHDL follows the VHDL LRM (the manual which defines VHDL) more strictly than other VHDL tools.
You could try to relax the restrictions by using the --std=93c, -fexplicit, -frelaxed-rules and
--warn-no-vital-generic.

12.7 Interfacing to other languages

Interfacing with foreign languages is possible only on GNU/Linux systems.

You can define a subprogram in a foreign language (such as C or Ada) and import it in a VHDL design.

12.7.1 Foreign declarations

Only subprograms (functions or procedures) can be imported, using the foreign attribute. In this example, the sin
function is imported:
package math is
function sin (v : real) return real;
attribute foreign of sin : function is "VHPIDIRECT sin";
end math;

package body math is

function sin (v : real) return real is
begin
assert false severity failure;

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end sin;
end math;

A subprogram is made foreign if the foreign attribute decorates it. This attribute is declared in the 1993 revision
of the std.standard package. Therefore, you cannot use this feature in VHDL 1987.
The decoration is achieved through an attribute specification. The attribute specification must be in the same
declarative part as the subprogram and must be after it. This is a general rule for specifications. The value of the
specification must be a locally static string.
Even when a subprogram is foreign, its body must be present. However, since it won’t be called, you can made it
empty or simply but an assertion.
The value of the attribute must start with VHPIDIRECT (an upper-case keyword followed by one or more blanks).
The linkage name of the subprogram follows.

12.7.2 Restrictions on foreign declarations

Any subprogram can be imported. GHDL puts no restrictions on foreign subprograms. However, the represen-
tation of a type or of an interface in a foreign language may be obscure. Most of non-composite types are easily
imported:
integer types They are represented on a 32 bits word. This generally corresponds to int for C or Integer for Ada.
physical types They are represented on a 64 bits word. This generally corresponds to the long long for C or
Long_Long_Integer for Ada.
floating point types They are represented on a 64 bits floating point word. This generally corresponds to double
for C or Long_Float for Ada.
enumeration types They are represented on 8 bits or 32 bits word, if the number of literals is greater than 256.
There is no corresponding C types, since arguments are not promoted.
Non-composite types are passed by value. For the in mode, this corresponds to the C or Ada mechanism. The
out and inout interfaces of non-composite types are gathered in a record and this record is passed by reference
as the first argument to the subprogram. As a consequence, you shouldn’t use in and inout modes in foreign
subprograms, since they are not portable.
Records are represented like a C structure and are passed by reference to subprograms.
Arrays with static bounds are represented like a C array, whose length is the number of elements, and are passed
by reference to subprograms.
Unconstrained array are represented by a fat pointer. Do not use unconstrained arrays in foreign subprograms.
Accesses to an unconstrained array is a fat pointer. Other accesses correspond to an address and are passed to a
subprogram like other non-composite types.
Files are represented by a 32 bits word, which corresponds to an index in a table.

12.7.3 Linking with foreign object files

You may add additional files or options during the link using the -Wl, of GHDL, as described in Elabora-
tion_command. For example:

ghdl -e -Wl,-lm math_tb

will create the math_tb executable with the lm (mathematical) library.

Note the c library is always linked with an executable.

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12.7.4 Starting a simulation from a foreign program

You may run your design from an external program. You just have to call the ghdl_main function which can be
defined:
in C:

extern int ghdl_main (int argc, char **argv);

in Ada:

with System;
...
function Ghdl_Main (Argc : Integer; Argv : System.Address)
return Integer;
pragma import (C, Ghdl_Main, "ghdl_main");

This function must be called once, and returns 0 at the end of the simulation. In case of failure, this function does
not return. This has to be fixed.

12.7.5 Linking with Ada

As explained previously in Starting a simulation from a foreign program, you can start a simulation from an Ada
program. However the build process is not trivial: you have to elaborate your Ada program and your VHDL design.
First, you have to analyze all your design files. In this example, we suppose there is only one design file, design.
vhdl.

$ ghdl -a design.vhdl

Then, bind your design. In this example, we suppose the entity at the design apex is design.

$ ghdl --bind design

Finally, compile, bind your Ada program at link it with your VHDL design:

$ gnatmake my_prog -largs `ghdl --list-link design`

12.7.6 Using GRT from Ada

Warning: This topic is only for advanced users knowing how to use Ada and GNAT. This is provided only
for reference, I have tested this once before releasing GHDL 0.19 but this is not checked at each release.

The simulator kernel of GHDL named GRT is written in Ada95 and contains a very light and slightly adapted
version of VHPI. Since it is an Ada implementation it is called AVHPI. Although being tough, you may interface
to AVHPI.
For using AVHPI, you need the sources of GHDL and to recompile them (at least the GRT library). This library is
usually compiled with a No_Run_Time pragma, so that the user does not need to install the GNAT runtime library.
However, you certainly want to use the usual runtime library and want to avoid this pragma. For this, reset the
GRT_PRAGMA_FLAG variable.

$ make GRT_PRAGMA_FLAG= grt-all

Since GRT is a self-contained library, you don’t want gnatlink to fetch individual object files (furthermore this
doesn’t always work due to tricks used in GRT). For this, remove all the object files and make the .ali files
read-only.

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GHDL Documentation, Release 0.36-dev

$ rm *.o
$ chmod -w *.ali

You may then install the sources files and the .ali files. I have never tested this step.
You are now ready to use it.
For example, here is an example, test_grt.adb which displays the top level design name.

with System; use System;

with Grt.Avhpi; use Grt.Avhpi;
with Ada.Text_IO; use Ada.Text_IO;
with Ghdl_Main;

procedure Test_Grt is
-- VHPI handle.
H : VhpiHandleT;
Status : Integer;

-- Name.
Name : String (1 .. 64);
Name_Len : Integer;
begin
-- Elaborate and run the design.
Status := Ghdl_Main (0, Null_Address);

-- Display the status of the simulation.

Put_Line ("Status is " & Integer'Image (Status));

-- Get the root instance.

Get_Root_Inst(H);

-- Disp its name using vhpi API.

Vhpi_Get_Str (VhpiNameP, H, Name, Name_Len);
Put_Line ("Root instance name: " & Name (1 .. Name_Len));
end Test_Grt;

First, analyze and bind your design:

$ ghdl -a counter.vhdl
$ ghdl --bind counter

Then build the whole:

$ gnatmake test_grt -aL`grt_ali_path` -aI`grt_src_path` -largs

`ghdl --list-link counter`

Finally, run your design:

$ ./test_grt
Status is 0
Root instance name: counter

70 Chapter 12. Implementation of VHDL

 CHAPTER 13

Implementation of VITAL

This chapter describes how VITAL is implemented in GHDL. Support of VITAL is really in a preliminary stage.
Do not expect too much of it as now.

13.1 VITAL packages

The VITAL standard or IEEE 1076.4 was first published in 1995, and revised in 2000.
The version of the VITAL packages depends on the VHDL standard. VITAL 1995 packages are used with the
VHDL 1987 standard, while VITAL 2000 packages are used with other standards. This choice is based on the
requirements of VITAL: VITAL 1995 requires the models follow the VHDL 1987 standard, while VITAL 2000
requires the models follow VHDL 1993.
The VITAL 2000 packages were slightly modified so that they conform to the VHDL 1993 standard (a few
functions are made pure and a few one impure).

13.2 VHDL restrictions for VITAL

The VITAL standard (partially) implemented is the IEEE 1076.4 standard published in 1995.
This standard defines restriction of the VHDL language usage on VITAL model. A VITAL model is a design unit
(entity or architecture) decorated by the VITAL_Level0 or VITAL_Level1 attribute. These attributes are defined in
the ieee.VITAL_Timing package.
Currently, only VITAL level 0 checks are implemented. VITAL level 1 models can be analyzed, but GHDL
doesn’t check they comply with the VITAL standard.
Moreover, GHDL doesn’t check (yet) that timing generics are not read inside a VITAL level 0 model prior the
VITAL annotation.
The analysis of a non-conformant VITAL model fails. You can disable the checks of VITAL restrictions with the
–no-vital-checks. Even when restrictions are not checked, SDF annotation can be performed.

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13.3 Backannotation

Backannotation is the process of setting VITAL generics with timing information provided by an external files.
The external files must be SDF (Standard Delay Format) files. GHDL supports a tiny subset of SDF version 2.1,
other version number can be used, provided no features added by the next version are used.
Hierarchical instance names are not supported. However you can use a list of instances. If there is no instance, the
top entity will be annotated and the celltype must be the name of the top entity. If there is at least one instance, the
last instance name must be a component instantiation label, and the celltype must be the name of the component
declaration instantiated.
Instances being annotated are not required to be VITAL compliant. However generics being annotated must follow
rules of VITAL (e.g., type must be a suitable vital delay type).
Currently, only timing constraints applying on a timing generic of type VitalDelayType01 has been implemented.
This SDF annotator is just a proof of concept. Features will be added with the following GHDL release.

13.4 Negative constraint calculation

Negative constraint delay adjustment are necessary to handle negative constraint such as a negative setup time.
This step is defined in the VITAL standard and should occur after backannotation.
GHDL does not do negative constraint calculation. It fails to handle models with negative constraint. I hope to be
able to add this phase soon.

72 Chapter 13. Implementation of VITAL

 Part IV

Appendix

73
 CHAPTER 14

Roadmap | Future Improvements

I have several axes for GHDL improvements:

• Documentation.
• Better diagnostics messages (warning and error).
• Full support of VHDL-2008.
• Optimization (simulation speed).
• Graphical tools (to see waves and to debug)
• Style checks
• VITAL acceleration

Todo: Under investigation on how to build that beast.

original entry

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76 Chapter 14. Roadmap | Future Improvements

 CHAPTER 15

Meta

15.1 General guidelines to edit the documentation

1. It’s better for version control systems and diff tools to break lines at a sensible number of characters. Long
lines appear as one diff. Also merging is more complex because merges are line based. Long unbreakable
items may be longer (links, refs, . . . ). We chose to use 160 chars.
2. Please indent all directive content by 3 spaces (not 2, and no tabs).
3. Please use * as an itemize character, since - and + are supported by docutils, but not officially supported
by Sphinx‘.
4. Please underline all headlines with at least as many characters as the headline is long. Following the Python
pattern for headline the levels are:

############
************ (sometimes skipped in small documents)
============
-------------------
‘”””””””””””’

5. It’s not required to write

:samp:`code`

The default role for

``...``

is samp. :samp: is only required when you want to write italic text in code text.

print 1+variable
Now, variable becomes italic.
Please simplify all usages of ...`to `. . . ‘‘ for readability. Here are the regular expressions for an editor
like Notepad++:
• Search pattern:: (.+?)

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GHDL Documentation, Release 0.36-dev

• Replace pattern:: \1
6. Each backend has one folder and each platform/compiler has one file. Please note that page headlines are
different from ToC headline:

.. toctree::
:hidden:

ToC entry <file1>

file2

7. A documentation should not use “you”, “we”, . . . , because it’s not an interactive conversation or informal
letter. It’s like a thesis, everything is structured and formal. However, to make it more friendly to newcomers,
we agree to allow informal language in section ‘Quick Start Guide’.
8. Please keep errors low.

15.2 Guidelines to edit section ‘Building’

I prefer a text block, which explains how a compilation works, what I can configure for that backend, etc. After
that, I prefer a code block with e.g. bash instructions on how to compile a backend. A list of instructions with
embedded bash lines is not helpful. An experienced, as well as novice user, would like to copy a set of instructions
into the shell. But it should be stated what these instructions will do. Complex flows like for GCC, can be split
into multiple shell code blocks. Moreover, I find it essential, to demonstrate when and where to change directories.
We would like to see a list like
• gcc (Gnu Compiler Collection)
• gcc-gnat (Ada compiler for GCC)
• llvm-del (LLVM development package)
• ...
The goal is to also explain what a user is installing and what the few lines in the build description do. Now
they know the name, can search for similar names if the have another package manager or distro or can ask
Google/Wikipedia. We often find many build receipts with cryptic shell code and to execute this unknown stuff
with sudo is not comfortable. We would like to know what it does before hiting enter.

15.3 Documentation configuration

• Python snippet for Sphinx’s conf.py to extract the current version number from Git (latest tag name). [#200,
#221]
• Reference genindex.html from the navigation bar. [#200]
• Create “parts” (LaTeX terminology / chapter headlines) in navigation bar. [#200]
• Intersphinx files [#200]
– To decompress the inventory file: curl -s http://ghdl.readthedocs.io/en/latest/objects.inv | tail -
n+5 | openssl zlib -d. From how-to-uncompress-zlib-data-in-unix.
– External ref and link to section:

:ref:`GHDL Roadmap <ghdl:CHANGE:Roadmap>`

– External ref to option (no link):

:ghdl:option:`--ieee`
:option:`ghdl:--ieee`

78 Chapter 15. Meta

 GHDL Documentation, Release 0.36-dev

15.4 CSS

• The indentation of the elements in the side menu have been modified. They are fixed por levels 1, 2 and 3
(#294) and 4 (later).
• The RTD menu (bottom-left) has been modified (#294):
– No headlines are shown. It is not possible to remove only one of them with CSS only (JS would be
required). However, because the content in most of the lines is self-explained, it is preferred not to
show any.
– The Search box is removed.

15.5 Dist

• Ubuntu uses dash instead of bash when a shell script is run. As a result, some functionalities, such as arrays
like array[1], are not supported. Therefore, build scripts in dist/linux should not use those functionalities
unless they are sourced in a bash shell. That is, tavis-ci.sh uses arrays, since it is sourced in the Travis
CI machine. But docker-buildtest.sh and buildtest.sh do not use any. The same applies to
the scripts in testsuite.

15.4. CSS 79
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80 Chapter 15. Meta

CHAPTER 16

Index

81
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82 Chapter 16. Index

 Index

Symbols –disp-tree<[=KIND]>
–AS<=COMMAND> ghdl command line option, 34
ghdl command line option, 61 –dump-rti
–GHDL1<=COMMAND> ghdl command line option, 35
ghdl command line option, 61 –elab-run <[elab_options...] primary_unit [sec-
–LINK<=COMMAND> ondary_unit] [run_options...]>
ghdl command line option, 61 ghdl command line option, 21
–PREFIX<=PATH> –file-to-xml
ghdl command line option, 24 ghdl command line option, 34
–activity<=LEVEL> –fst<=FILENAME>
ghdl command line option, 35 ghdl command line option, 33
–assert-level<=LEVEL> –gen-depends <[options] primary [secondary]>
ghdl command line option, 31 ghdl command line option, 22
–bind <[options] primary_unit [secondary_unit]> –gen-depends command, 22
ghdl command line option, 61 –gen-makefile <[options] primary [secondary]>
–bootstrap ghdl command line option, 22
ghdl command line option, 35 –help
–checks ghdl command line option, 32
ghdl command line option, 35 –help, -h
–chop <files...> ghdl command line option, 59
ghdl command line option, 60 –ieee-asserts<=POLICY>
–clean <[options]> ghdl command line option, 31
ghdl command line option, 26 –ieee<=VER>
–copy <–work=name [options]> ghdl command line option, 23
ghdl command line option, 26 –lines <files...>
–dir <[options] [libs]> ghdl command line option, 61
ghdl command line option, 26 –link <[options] primary_unit [secondary_unit]>
–disp-config <[options]> ghdl command line option, 61
ghdl command line option, 59 –list-link <primary_unit [secondary_unit]>
–disp-order ghdl command line option, 61
ghdl command line option, 35 –mb-comments, -C
–disp-sig-types ghdl command line option, 61
ghdl command line option, 35 –no-run
–disp-signals-map ghdl command line option, 34
ghdl command line option, 35 –no-vital-checks
–disp-signals-table ghdl command line option, 24
ghdl command line option, 35 –pp-html <[options] file...>
–disp-sources ghdl command line option, 60
ghdl command line option, 35 –psl-report<=FILENAME>
–disp-standard <[options]> ghdl command line option, 34
ghdl command line option, 60 –read-wave-opt=<FILENAME>
–disp-time ghdl command line option, 32
ghdl command line option, 32 –remove <[options]>
ghdl command line option, 26

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–sdf<=PATH=FILENAME> –warn-parenthesis
ghdl command line option, 32 ghdl command line option, 25
–stats –warn-reserved
ghdl command line option, 35 ghdl command line option, 24
–std<=STD> –warn-runtime-error
ghdl command line option, 23 ghdl command line option, 25
–stop-delta<=N> –warn-specs
ghdl command line option, 32 ghdl command line option, 25
–stop-time<=TIME> –warn-unused
ghdl command line option, 31 ghdl command line option, 25
–syn-binding –warn-vital-generic
ghdl command line option, 61 ghdl command line option, 25
–trace-processes –wave<=FILENAME>
ghdl command line option, 35 ghdl command line option, 33
–trace-signals –work<=NAME>
ghdl command line option, 35 ghdl command line option, 23
–unbuffered –workdir<=DIR>
ghdl command line option, 32 ghdl command line option, 23
–vcd-nodate –write-wave-opt=<FILENAME>
ghdl command line option, 33 ghdl command line option, 33
–vcd<=FILENAME> –xref-html <[options] file...>
ghdl command line option, 33 ghdl command line option, 34
–vcdgz<=FILENAME> -P<DIRECTORY>
ghdl command line option, 33 ghdl command line option, 23
–version, -v -Wa,<OPTION>
ghdl command line option, 60 ghdl command line option, 62
–vital-checks -Wc,<OPTION>
ghdl command line option, 24 ghdl command line option, 62
–vpi-cflags -Wl,<OPTION>
ghdl command line option, 27 ghdl command line option, 62
–vpi-compile <command> -a <[options...] file...>
ghdl command line option, 27 ghdl command line option, 20
–vpi-include-dir -c <[options] file... -<e|r> primary_unit [sec-
ghdl command line option, 27 ondary_unit]>
–vpi-ldflags ghdl command line option, 21
ghdl command line option, 27 -e <[options...] primary_unit [secondary_unit]>
–vpi-library-dir ghdl command line option, 20
ghdl command line option, 28 -f <file...>
–vpi-link <command> ghdl command line option, 60
ghdl command line option, 27 -fcolor-diagnostics
–vpi-trace<=FILE> ghdl command line option, 25
ghdl command line option, 32 -fdiagnostics-show-option
–vpi<=FILENAME> ghdl command line option, 25
ghdl command line option, 32 -fexplicit
–warn-binding ghdl command line option, 24
ghdl command line option, 25 -fno-color-diagnostics
–warn-body ghdl command line option, 25
ghdl command line option, 25 -fno-diagnostics-show-option
–warn-default-binding ghdl command line option, 25
ghdl command line option, 25 -fpsl
–warn-delayed-checks ghdl command line option, 24
ghdl command line option, 25 -frelaxed-rules
–warn-error ghdl command line option, 24
ghdl command line option, 25 -i <[options] file...>
–warn-library ghdl command line option, 21
ghdl command line option, 25 -m <[options] primary [secondary]>
–warn-nested-comment ghdl command line option, 22
ghdl command line option, 25

84 Index
 GHDL Documentation, Release 0.36-dev

-r <[options...] primary_unit [secondary_unit] [simula- GHDL_PREFIX, 19, 59

tion_options...]>
ghdl command line option, 20 F
-s <[options] files> foreign, 67
ghdl command line option, 21
-v G
ghdl command line option, 24 ghdl command line option
‘__ghdl_fatal‘, 35 –AS<=COMMAND>, 61
1076.3, 23 –GHDL1<=COMMAND>, 61
1076.4, 71 –LINK<=COMMAND>, 61
1076a, 65 –PREFIX<=PATH>, 24
–activity<=LEVEL>, 35
Numbers –assert-level<=LEVEL>, 31
1076, 65 –bind <[options] primary_unit [secondary_unit]>,
1164, 23 61
–bootstrap, 35
C –checks, 35
cmd analysis, 19 –chop <files...>, 60
cmd analyze and elaborate, 21 –clean <[options]>, 26
cmd checking syntax, 21 –copy <–work=name [options]>, 26
cmd display configuration, 59 –dir <[options] [libs]>, 26
cmd display standard, 59 –disp-config <[options]>, 59
cmd elaborate and run, 20 –disp-order, 35
cmd elaboration, 20 –disp-sig-types, 35
cmd file chop, 60 –disp-signals-map, 35
cmd file find, 60 –disp-signals-table, 35
cmd file lines, 60 –disp-sources, 35
cmd file pretty printing, 60 –disp-standard <[options]>, 60
cmd GCC/LLVM binding, 61 –disp-time, 32
cmd GCC/LLVM linking, 61 –disp-tree<[=KIND]>, 34
cmd GCC/LLVM list link, 61 –dump-rti, 35
cmd generate makefile, 22 –elab-run <[elab_options...] primary_unit [sec-
cmd help, 59 ondary_unit] [run_options...]>, 21
cmd importing files, 21 –file-to-xml, 34
cmd library clean, 26 –fst<=FILENAME>, 33
cmd library copy, 26 –gen-depends <[options] primary [secondary]>,
cmd library directory, 26 22
cmd library remove, 26 –gen-makefile <[options] primary [secondary]>,
cmd make, 22 22
cmd run, 20 –help, 32
cmd version, 60 –help, -h, 59
cmd VPI cflags, 27 –ieee-asserts<=POLICY>, 31
cmd VPI compile, 26 –ieee<=VER>, 23
cmd VPI include dir, 27 –lines <files...>, 61
cmd VPI ldflags, 27 –link <[options] primary_unit [secondary_unit]>,
cmd VPI library dir, 27 61
cmd VPI link, 27 –list-link <primary_unit [secondary_unit]>, 61
create your own library, 26 –mb-comments, -C, 61
–no-run, 34
D –no-vital-checks, 24
debugging, 34 –pp-html <[options] file...>, 60
display design hierarchy, 34 –psl-report<=FILENAME>, 34
display time, 32 –read-wave-opt=<FILENAME>, 32
display ‘‘std.standard‘‘, 59 –remove <[options]>, 26
dump of signals, 33 –sdf<=PATH=FILENAME>, 32
–stats, 35
E –std<=STD>, 23
environment variable –stop-delta<=N>, 32

Index 85
GHDL Documentation, Release 0.36-dev

–stop-time<=TIME>, 31 -v, 24
–syn-binding, 61 GHDL_PREFIX, 19
–trace-processes, 35
–trace-signals, 35 I
–unbuffered, 32 IEEE 1076, 65
–vcd-nodate, 33 IEEE 1076.3, 23
–vcd<=FILENAME>, 33 IEEE 1076.4, 71
–vcdgz<=FILENAME>, 33 IEEE 1076a, 65
–version, -v, 60 IEEE 1164, 23
–vital-checks, 24 ieee library, 23
–vpi-cflags, 27 interfacing, 67
–vpi-compile <command>, 27
–vpi-include-dir, 27 M
–vpi-ldflags, 27 Math_Complex, 29
–vpi-library-dir, 28 Math_Real, 29
–vpi-link <command>, 27 mentor library, 23
–vpi-trace<=FILE>, 32
–vpi<=FILENAME>, 32 O
–warn-binding, 25
other languages, 67
–warn-body, 25
–warn-default-binding, 25
–warn-delayed-checks, 25
S
–warn-error, 25 SDF, 72
–warn-library, 25 synopsys library, 23
–warn-nested-comment, 25
–warn-parenthesis, 25 V
–warn-reserved, 24 v00, 65
–warn-runtime-error, 25 v02, 65
–warn-specs, 25 v08, 65
–warn-unused, 25 v87, 65
–warn-vital-generic, 25 v93, 65
–wave<=FILENAME>, 33 v93c, 65
–work<=NAME>, 23 value change dump, 33
–workdir<=DIR>, 23 vcd, 33
–write-wave-opt=<FILENAME>, 33 VHDL standards, 65
–xref-html <[options] file...>, 34 vhdl to html, 60
-P<DIRECTORY>, 23 VHPI, 67
-Wa,<OPTION>, 62 VHPIDIRECT, 67
-Wc,<OPTION>, 62 VITAL, 71
-Wl,<OPTION>, 62
-a <[options...] file...>, 20 W
-c <[options] file... -<e|r> primary_unit [sec- WORK library, 23
ondary_unit]>, 21
-e <[options...] primary_unit [secondary_unit]>,
20
-f <file...>, 60
-fcolor-diagnostics, 25
-fdiagnostics-show-option, 25
-fexplicit, 24
-fno-color-diagnostics, 25
-fno-diagnostics-show-option, 25
-fpsl, 24
-frelaxed-rules, 24
-i <[options] file...>, 21
-m <[options] primary [secondary]>, 22
-r <[options...] primary_unit [secondary_unit]
[simulation_options...]>, 20
-s <[options] files>, 21

86 Index