hdl-checker 0.6

HDL code checker

HDL Checker

HDL Checker provides a Python API that uses HDL compilers to build a project and return info that can be used to populate syntax checkers. It can infer library VHDL files likely belong to, besides working out mixed language dependencies, compilation order, interpreting some compilers messages and providing some (limited) static checks.

---

• Installation
• Usage
  • Third-party tools
  • Configuration file
  • LSP server
  • HTTP server
• Testing
• Supported systems
• Editor support
• Style checking
• Issues
• License

Installation

pip install hdl_checker

Usage

HDL Checker server can be started via hdl_checker command. Use hdl_checker --help for more info on how to use it.

$ hdl_checker -h
usage: hdl_checker [-h] [--host HOST] [--port PORT] [--lsp]
             [--attach-to-pid ATTACH_TO_PID] [--log-level LOG_LEVEL]
             [--log-stream LOG_STREAM] [--nocolor] [--stdout STDOUT]
             [--stderr STDERR] [--version]

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  --host HOST           [HTTP] Host to serve
  --port PORT           [HTTP] Port to serve
  --lsp                 Starts the server in LSP mode. Defaults to false
  --attach-to-pid ATTACH_TO_PID
                        [HTTP, LSP] Stops the server if given PID is not
                        active
  --log-level LOG_LEVEL
                        [HTTP, LSP] Logging level
  --log-stream LOG_STREAM
                        [HTTP, LSP] Log file, defaults to stdout when in HTTP
                        or a temporary file named hdl_checker_log_pid<PID>.log when
                        in LSP mode
  --nocolor             [HTTP, LSP] Enables colored logging (defaults to
                        false)
  --stdout STDOUT       [HTTP] File to redirect stdout to. Defaults to a
                        temporary file named hdl_checker_stdout_pid<PID>.log
  --stderr STDERR       [HTTP] File to redirect stdout to. Defaults to a
                        temporary file named hdl_checker_stderr_pid<PID>.log
  --version, -V         Prints hdl_checker version and exit

Third-party tools

HDL Checker supports

• Mentor ModelSim
• ModelSim Intel FPGA Edition
• GHDL
• Vivado Simulator (bundled with Xilinx Vivado)

Configuring HDL Checker

HDL Checker can work with or without a configuration file. When not using a configuration file and LSP mode, HDL Checker will search for files on the root of the workspace and try to work out libraries.

Because automatic library discovery might be incorrect, one can use a JSON configuration file to list files or to hint those which libraries were guessed incorrectly.

Using JSON file

JSON format is as show below:

{
    "include": [ "/path/to/another/json/file" ],
    "sources": [
        "/path/to/file_0",
        "/path/to/file_1",
        [ "/path/with/library/and/flags", { "library": "foo", "flags": "-2008" } ],
        [ "/path/with/library",           { "library": "foo" } ],
        [ "/path/with/flags",             { "flags": "-2008" } ]
    ],

    "vhdl": {
      "flags": {
        "single": [],
        "dependencies": [],
        "global": []
      }
    },

    "verilog": {
      "flags": {
        "single": [],
        "dependencies": [],
        "global": []
      }
    },
    "systemverilog": {
      "flags": {
        "single": [],
        "dependencies": [],
        "global": []
      }
    }
}

Compilation flags can be specified per language and per scope. The scopes can be

• single: flags used to build the file being checked
• dependencies: flags used to build the dependencies of the file being checked
• global: flags used on both target and its dependencies

Using legacy prj file

Old style project file syntax is as follows:

# This is a comment

[ builder = (msim|ghdl|xvhdl) ] # This is being deprecated

[ global_build_flags[ (vhdl|verilog|systemverilog) ] = <language specific flags> ]

# Specifying sources
(vhdl|verilog|systemverilog) <library name> <path/to/source> [file specific flags]

An example project file could be:

# Specifying builder
# HDL Checker will try to use ModelSim, GHDL and XVHDL in this order, so
# only add this if you want to force to a particular one
builder = msim

global_build_flags[vhdl] = -rangecheck
global_build_flags[verilog] = -lint
global_build_flags[systemverilog] = -lint

# Relative paths (relative to the project file if using HTTP mode or the project
# root if using LSP mode)
vhdl          my_library foo.vhd                               -check_synthesis
vhdl          my_library foo_tb.vhd                            -2008
verilog       my_library verilog/a_verilog_file.v              -pedanticerrors
# Absolute paths are handled as such
systemverilog my_library /home/user/some_systemverilog_file.sv -pedanticerrors
# Wildcards are supported
vhdl          my_library library/*.vhd
vhdl          my_library library/*/*.vhd

Setting specific flags can be done per language or per file:

global_build_flags[vhdl] = <flags passed to the compiler when building VHDL files>
global_build_flags[verilog] = <flags passed to the compiler when building Verilog files>
global_build_flags[systemverilog] = <flags passed to the compiler when building SystemVerilog files>

When unset, HDL Checker sets the following default values depending on the compiler being used:

• ModelSim

Compiler	ModelSim
VHDL	-lint -pedanticerrors -check_synthesis -rangecheck -explicit
Verilog	-lint -pedanticerrors -hazards
SystemVerilog	-lint -pedanticerrors -hazards

• GHDL

Language	Flags
VHDL	-fexplicit -frelaxed-rules
Verilog	N/A
SystemVerilog	N/A

LSP server

HDL Checker has beta support for Language Server Protocol. To start in LSP mode:

hdl_checker --lsp

On a Linux system, log file will be at /tmp/hdl_checker_log_pid<PID_NUMBER>.log and /tmp/hdl_checker_stderr_pid<PID_NUMBER>.log.

HTTP server

HDL Checker can be used in HTTP server mode also:

hdl_checker

Please note that this mode does not use LSP to communicate. Request/response API is not yet available, but a reference implementation can be found in vim-hdl

Testing

HDL Checker uses a docker container to run tests. If you wish to run them, clone this repository and on the root folder run

./run_tests.sh

The container used for testing is suoto/hdl_checker

Supported systems

System	CI	CI status
Linux	Yes
Windows	Yes

Editor support

• Vim: vim-hdl

---

Style checking

Style checks are independent of a third-party compiler. Checking includes:

• Unused signals, constants, generics, shared variables, libraries, types and attributes
• Comment tags (FIXME, TODO, XXX)

Notice that currently the unused reports has caveats, namely declarations with the same name inherited from a component, function, procedure, etc. In the following example, the signal rdy won't be reported as unused in spite of the fact it is not used.

signal rdy, refclk, rst : std_logic;
...

idelay_ctrl_u : idelay_ctrl
    port map (rdy    => open,
              refclk => refclk,
              rst    => rst);

---

Issues

You can use the issue tracker for bugs, feature request and so on.

License

This software is licensed under the GPL v3 license.

Notice

Mentor Graphics®, ModelSim® and their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Mentor Graphics, Inc.

Intel® and its logo is a trademark or registered trademark of Intel Corporation.

Xilinx® and its logo is a trademark or registered trademark of Xilinx, Inc.

HDL Checker's author has no connection or affiliation to any of the trademarks mentioned or used by this software.