docs/wiki/geda-icarus_vvp_runtime.html

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  17 <h1><a name="icarus_verilog_vvp_runtime_engine_man-page" id="icarus_verilog_vvp_runtime_engine_man-page">Icarus Verilog vvp runtime engine man-page</a></h1>
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  19 <pre class="code">vvp(1)                         $Date: 2005/01/29 06:28:19 $                   vvp(1)
  20
  21
  22
  23 NAME
  24        vvp - Icarus Verilog vvp runtime engine
  25
  26
  27 SYNOPSIS
  28        vvp  [-sv] [-Mpath] [-mmodule] [-llogfile] inputfile [extended-args...]
  29
  30
  31 DESCRIPTION
  32        vvp is the run time engine that executes the default compiled form gen-
  33        erated  by  Icarus Verilog. The output from the iverilog command is not
  34        by itself executable on any  platform.  Instead,  the  vvp  program  is
  35        invoked to execute the generated output file.
  36
  37
  38 OPTIONS
  39        vvp accepts the following options:
  40
  41        -llogfile
  42                This  flag  specifies  a  logfile where all MCI &lt;stdlog&gt; output
  43                goes.  Specify logfile as â€™-â€™ to send log output    to  &lt;stderr&gt;.
  44                $display  and  friends  send  their output both to &lt;stdout&gt; and
  45                &lt;stdlog&gt;.
  46
  47        -Mpath  This flag adds a directory to the path list used to locate  VPI
  48                modules.  The  default path includes only the install directory
  49                for the system.vpi module, but this flag can add other directo-
  50                ries.  Multiple paths are allowed, and modules will be searched
  51                in order.
  52
  53        -mmodule
  54                Tell the vvp run time to load the named module before executing
  55                the simulation. The system.vpi module is loaded by default, but
  56                additional  modules,  including  modules  that   you   compiled
  57                locally, can be specified with this flag. Any number of modules
  58                can be loaded, and they will be linked in the  order  they  are
  59                listed on the command line.
  60
  61                Normally,  you  only  need  to  specify the name of the module,
  62                without any directory path or .vpi suffix and the  search  path
  63                is scanned to find the module. However, if the name includes at
  64                least one directory character, then  the  search  path  is  not
  65                scanned and the name is assumed to be a complete file name.
  66
  67        -s      Stop.  This will cause the simulation to stop in the beginning,
  68                before any events are scheduled. This  allows  the  interactive
  69                user to get hold of the simulation just before it starts.
  70
  71        -v      Turn on verbose messages. This will cause information about run
  72                time progress to be printed to standard out.
  73
  74
  75 EXTENDED ARGUMENTS
  76        The vvp options described above must come before the design file  name.
  77        After the design file name, however, there may be any number of unspec-
  78        ified arguments. These arguments are not interpreted  by  vvp  but  are
  79        instead  passed  on  to  the executed design, and are available via the
  80        $test$plusargs and $value$plusargs system functions.
  81
  82        Arguments that do not start with the plus(+) character are  not  avail-
  83        able  to  the $plusargs system tasks, but can still be accessed via PLI
  84        code via the vpi_get_vlog_info function. This means  that  vpi  modules
  85        may  use arguments that do not start with + and be assured that they do
  86        not interfere with user defined plus-args.
  87
  88        There are a few extended arguments that are interpreted by the standard
  89        system.vpi module, which implements the standard system tasks and so is
  90        always included. These arguments are described here.
  91
  92        -vcd|-vcd-none
  93                This extended argument sets the wave dump format to  VCD.  This
  94                is  the  default in the absence of any IVERILOG_DUMPER environ-
  95                ment variable. The VCD dump files are large and ponderous,  but
  96                are  also maximally compatible with third party tools that read
  97                waveform dumps.
  98
  99        The -vcd-none variant actually suppresses all waveform output. This can
 100        make long simulations run faster.
 101
 102
 103        -lxt|-lxt-speed|-lxt-space|-lxt-none
 104                These  extended arguments set the wave dump format to lxt, pos-
 105                sibly with format optimizations. The -lxt-space flag  sets  the
 106                output format to lxt with full compression enabled. The result-
 107                ing files are quite small. The -lxt-speed chooses the lxt  com-
 108                pression  mode  that  leads  to the best execution time and the
 109                fastest read time, at the expense of some file size.
 110
 111        The -lxt-none variant actually suppresses all waveform output. This can
 112        make long simulations run faster.
 113
 114
 115        -lxt2   The  LXT2 format is slower then LXT (faster then VCD) but takes
 116                less space, and is written out  incrementally.  Thus,  you  can
 117                view lxt2 files while a simulation is still running (or paused)
 118                or if your simulation crashes or is killed, you  still  have  a
 119                useful dump.
 120
 121
 122 ENVIRONMENT
 123        The  vvp  command  also accepts some environment variables that control
 124        its behavior. These can be used to make semi-permanent changes.
 125
 126
 127        IVERILOG_DUMPER=lxt|lxt2|vcd|none
 128                This selects the output format for the  waveform  output.  Nor-
 129                mally,  waveforms  are  dumped in vcd format, but this variable
 130                can be used to select lxt format, which is  far  more  compact,
 131                though limited to gtkwave or compatible viewers. It can also be
 132                used to suppress VCD output, a time-saver for regression tests.
 133
 134
 135 INTERACTIVE MODE
 136        The simulation engine supports an interactive mode. The user may inter-
 137        rupt the simulation (typically by typing Ctrl-C) to get to the interac-
 138        tive  prompt. From that prompt, the help command prints a brief summary
 139        of the available commands.
 140
 141        The interactive mode may also be entered by a call to the $stop  system
 142        task  from  within  the simulation, or by a call to the vpi_control VPI
 143        function with the vpiStop control argument.  These  means  of  entering
 144        interactive mode are equivalent.
 145
 146
 147 AUTHOR
 148        Steve Williams (steve@icarus.com)
 149
 150
 151 SEE ALSO
 152        iverilog(1), iverilog-vpi(1), &lt;http://www.icarus.com/eda/verilog/&gt;
 153
 154
 155 COPYRIGHT
 156        Copyright Â©  2001-2003 Stephen Williams
 157
 158        This document can be freely redistributed according to the terms of the
 159        GNU General Public License version 2.0
 160
 161
 162
 163 Version                  $Date: 2005/01/29 06:28:19 $                   vvp(1)</pre>
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