ghdl - VHDL compiler/simulator
Contents
Description
This manual page documents briefly the ghdl command. This manual page was written for user of man, but
is not as complete as the reference documentation.
Instead, users should read the GHDL texinfo manual
The Debian package supports installing multiple GHDL backends at the same time. The GHDL executable ghdl
is actually a wrapper that will execute the first installed backend it finds in the order mcode, gcc,
llvm. If you want to run GHDL with a specific backend you can directly run their executable, named ghdl-mcode, ghdl-gcc and ghdl-llvm respectively. Alternatively, you can run ghdl with the GHDL_BACKEND
environment variable set to mcode, gcc or llvm to select a backend. If the backend in GHDL_BACKEND is
not installed or invalid, the wrapper will silently revert to selecting the first installed backend it
finds.
Name
ghdl - VHDL compiler/simulator
Options
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
texinfo manual.
Basic commands:
-a Analysis, i.e. ghdl-afile.vhdl-e Elabortation, i.e. ghdl-eunit_name-r Run: run the simulation, i.e. ghdl-runit_name-s Syntax-check, i.e. ghdl-sfile.vhdl--clean
Clean: remove generated files, i.e. ghdl--clean-h,--help
Help, i.e. ghdl--help--version
Version, i.e. ghdl--version
Basic options:
--work=NAME
Name of the WORK library, i.e. ghdl-a--work=foofoo.vhdl--std=STD
Which VHDL standard (87|93|93c|00|02), i.e. ghdl-a--std=87old.vhdl--ieee=VER
Which IEEE library (none|standard|synopsys|mentor), i.e. ghdl-a--ieee=synopsysbroken.vhdl--no-vital-checks
Disable VITAL restriction checking, i.e. ghdl-a--no-vital-checksunsupported_vital.vhdl
There are many more modes and options; please consult the documentation.
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--sdf=[TYPE=]PATH=FILENAME
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.sdfSee Also
gtkwave(1)
The texinfo manual fully documents GHDL. You may also browse it at <https://ghdl.github.io/ghdl/>.
Synopsis
ghdl [command] [options] files...
ghdl-gcc [command] [options] files...
ghdl-llvm [command] [options] files...
ghdl-mcode [command] [options] files...
