docs/wiki/geda-icarus_vvp_runtime.html

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  15 <h1 class="sectionedit807"><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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  17 <pre class="code">vvp(1)                         $Date: 2005/01/29 06:28:19 $                   vvp(1)
  18
  19
  20
  21 NAME
  22        vvp - Icarus Verilog vvp runtime engine
  23
  24
  25 SYNOPSIS
  26        vvp  [-sv] [-Mpath] [-mmodule] [-llogfile] inputfile [extended-args...]
  27
  28
  29 DESCRIPTION
  30        vvp is the run time engine that executes the default compiled form gen-
  31        erated  by  Icarus Verilog. The output from the iverilog command is not
  32        by itself executable on any  platform.  Instead,  the  vvp  program  is
  33        invoked to execute the generated output file.
  34
  35
  36 OPTIONS
  37        vvp accepts the following options:
  38
  39        -llogfile
  40                This  flag  specifies  a  logfile where all MCI &lt;stdlog&gt; output
  41                goes.  Specify logfile as â€™-â€™ to send log output    to  &lt;stderr&gt;.
  42                $display  and  friends  send  their output both to &lt;stdout&gt; and
  43                &lt;stdlog&gt;.
  44
  45        -Mpath  This flag adds a directory to the path list used to locate  VPI
  46                modules.  The  default path includes only the install directory
  47                for the system.vpi module, but this flag can add other directo-
  48                ries.  Multiple paths are allowed, and modules will be searched
  49                in order.
  50
  51        -mmodule
  52                Tell the vvp run time to load the named module before executing
  53                the simulation. The system.vpi module is loaded by default, but
  54                additional  modules,  including  modules  that   you   compiled
  55                locally, can be specified with this flag. Any number of modules
  56                can be loaded, and they will be linked in the  order  they  are
  57                listed on the command line.
  58
  59                Normally,  you  only  need  to  specify the name of the module,
  60                without any directory path or .vpi suffix and the  search  path
  61                is scanned to find the module. However, if the name includes at
  62                least one directory character, then  the  search  path  is  not
  63                scanned and the name is assumed to be a complete file name.
  64
  65        -s      Stop.  This will cause the simulation to stop in the beginning,
  66                before any events are scheduled. This  allows  the  interactive
  67                user to get hold of the simulation just before it starts.
  68
  69        -v      Turn on verbose messages. This will cause information about run
  70                time progress to be printed to standard out.
  71
  72
  73 EXTENDED ARGUMENTS
  74        The vvp options described above must come before the design file  name.
  75        After the design file name, however, there may be any number of unspec-
  76        ified arguments. These arguments are not interpreted  by  vvp  but  are
  77        instead  passed  on  to  the executed design, and are available via the
  78        $test$plusargs and $value$plusargs system functions.
  79
  80        Arguments that do not start with the plus(+) character are  not  avail-
  81        able  to  the $plusargs system tasks, but can still be accessed via PLI
  82        code via the vpi_get_vlog_info function. This means  that  vpi  modules
  83        may  use arguments that do not start with + and be assured that they do
  84        not interfere with user defined plus-args.
  85
  86        There are a few extended arguments that are interpreted by the standard
  87        system.vpi module, which implements the standard system tasks and so is
  88        always included. These arguments are described here.
  89
  90        -vcd|-vcd-none
  91                This extended argument sets the wave dump format to  VCD.  This
  92                is  the  default in the absence of any IVERILOG_DUMPER environ-
  93                ment variable. The VCD dump files are large and ponderous,  but
  94                are  also maximally compatible with third party tools that read
  95                waveform dumps.
  96
  97        The -vcd-none variant actually suppresses all waveform output. This can
  98        make long simulations run faster.
  99
 100
 101        -lxt|-lxt-speed|-lxt-space|-lxt-none
 102                These  extended arguments set the wave dump format to lxt, pos-
 103                sibly with format optimizations. The -lxt-space flag  sets  the
 104                output format to lxt with full compression enabled. The result-
 105                ing files are quite small. The -lxt-speed chooses the lxt  com-
 106                pression  mode  that  leads  to the best execution time and the
 107                fastest read time, at the expense of some file size.
 108
 109        The -lxt-none variant actually suppresses all waveform output. This can
 110        make long simulations run faster.
 111
 112
 113        -lxt2   The  LXT2 format is slower then LXT (faster then VCD) but takes
 114                less space, and is written out  incrementally.  Thus,  you  can
 115                view lxt2 files while a simulation is still running (or paused)
 116                or if your simulation crashes or is killed, you  still  have  a
 117                useful dump.
 118
 119
 120 ENVIRONMENT
 121        The  vvp  command  also accepts some environment variables that control
 122        its behavior. These can be used to make semi-permanent changes.
 123
 124
 125        IVERILOG_DUMPER=lxt|lxt2|vcd|none
 126                This selects the output format for the  waveform  output.  Nor-
 127                mally,  waveforms  are  dumped in vcd format, but this variable
 128                can be used to select lxt format, which is  far  more  compact,
 129                though limited to gtkwave or compatible viewers. It can also be
 130                used to suppress VCD output, a time-saver for regression tests.
 131
 132
 133 INTERACTIVE MODE
 134        The simulation engine supports an interactive mode. The user may inter-
 135        rupt the simulation (typically by typing Ctrl-C) to get to the interac-
 136        tive  prompt. From that prompt, the help command prints a brief summary
 137        of the available commands.
 138
 139        The interactive mode may also be entered by a call to the $stop  system
 140        task  from  within  the simulation, or by a call to the vpi_control VPI
 141        function with the vpiStop control argument.  These  means  of  entering
 142        interactive mode are equivalent.
 143
 144
 145 AUTHOR
 146        Steve Williams (steve@icarus.com)
 147
 148
 149 SEE ALSO
 150        iverilog(1), iverilog-vpi(1), &lt;http://www.icarus.com/eda/verilog/&gt;
 151
 152
 153 COPYRIGHT
 154        Copyright Â©  2001-2003 Stephen Williams
 155
 156        This document can be freely redistributed according to the terms of the
 157        GNU General Public License version 2.0
 158
 159
 160
 161 Version                  $Date: 2005/01/29 06:28:19 $                   vvp(1)</pre>
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