ghdl - VHDL compiler/simulator

ghdl [mode] [options] files...

This manual page documents briefly the ghdl command. This manual page was written for the Debian distribution because the original program does not have a manual page.

Instead, users should consult the GHDL web site <http://ghdl.free.fr>.

This program follows the usual GNU command line syntax, with long options starting with two dashes (`-'). A summary of the main modes and options is included below. For a complete description, refer to the GHDL web site.

Basic modes:

-s

Syntax-check mode, i.e. ghdl -s file.vhdl

-a

Analysis mode, i.e. ghdl -a file.vhdl

-e

Elabortation mode, i.e. ghdl -e unit_name

--clean

Clean mode, i.e. ghdl --clean

-h, --help

Help mode, i.e. ghdl --help

--version

Version mode, i.e. ghdl --version

Basic options:

--work=NAME

Name of the WORK library, i.e. ghdl -a --work=foo foo.vhdl

--std=STD

Which VHDL standard (87|93|93c|00|02), i.e. ghdl -a --std=87 old.vhdl

--ieee=VER

Which IEEE library (none|standard|synopsys|mentor), i.e. ghdl -a --ieee=synopsys broken.vhdl

--no-vital-checks

Disable VITAL restriction checking, i.e. ghdl -a --no-vital-checks unsupported_vital.vhdl

There are many more modes and options; please consult the web doucmentation.

Executables created by GHDL have addition simulation options. The most important ones are listed below:

--help

Show options for simulation and execution.

--assert-level=LEVEL

Assert level at which to stop simulation (none|note|warning|error|failure), i.e. ./touchy_design --assert-level=note

--stop-time=TIME

Stop simuation after TIME, i.e. ./design --stop-time=50ns

--vcd=FILENAME

Dump VCD to FILENAME (a waveform dump, viewable with--for instance--gtkwave), i.e. ./design --vcd=design.vcd

Back annotate SDF onto design using TYPE (min|typ|max), instance PATH, and SDF file FILENAME, i.e. ./sdf_design --sdf=typ=top/inst=inst.sdf

gtkwave (1)

GHDL is fully documented at <http://ghdl.free.fr/ghdl/index.html>.

This manual page was written by Wesley J. Landaker <wjl@icecavern.net>, for the Debian project (but may be used by others). It is released under the same terms as GHDL, i.e. the GNU General Public License.