Configure Project

The following content has been imported from Legacy Help systems and is in the process of being checked for accuracy.

Parent process: EditVHDL:ConfigureProject

Applied parameters: None

Summary

This command is used to run the VHDL Project Options dialog, from where you can setup a number of options with respect to the source documents for the project and also options pertaining to simulation and synthesis of the project.

Details

After launching the command, the VHDL Project Options dialog will appear. The dialog is divided over the following five tabs:

Design Documents

This tab lists all of the source VHDL (*.vhd), schematic (*.SchDoc) and VHDL Testbench (*.vhdtst) documents, currently added to the project. Use the Add Document and Remove Document commands, available from the provided menu (right-click or press the Menu button), to add additional/remove existing documents, as required. The Projects panel will be updated accordingly, without having to close the dialog.

The order of the documents in this list is very important as the Compiler will compile documents from the bottom-up. It is therefore important to make sure that your testbench documents are at the top of this list. Use the Compile Later and Compile Sooner commands on the menu to change the position of a selected document in the list (moving it up or down respectively).

VHDL Project Libraries

This tab lists all VHDL Library documents (*.vhdlib) that are currently added to the project. Use the provided menu (right-click or press the Menu button) to access commands for adding additional libraries to the project or removing existing ones. The Projects panel will be updated in real-time. Commands on the menu also allow you to edit a selected library in the list or create a brand new library document. In the case of the latter command, once you have saved the new library with the chosen name (in the Save As dialog), the document will open as the active document in the main design window.

Again, libraries are compiled in the list starting from the bottom-up. Use the Build Later and Build Sooner commands on the menu to reposition a selected library as required (moving it up or down respectively).

VHDL Search Path

This tab lists all of the VHDL Library documents that have been found along the Library Search Paths for the project. These paths are defined in the Search Paths tab of the Options For Projects dialog. Clicking the Paths button will take you directly to this tab, from where you can define further search paths or modify existing ones as required.

Use the Refresh button to essentially re-interrogate the search paths and ensure that the library list is current. Double clicking on a library will open the Edit VHDL Library dialog, from where you can edit the VHDL documents added to the library and whether each document is for simulation, synthesis or both.

Libraries in this tab are compiled in the order they appear.

Simulation

This tab allows you to set various options with respect to simulation of the project. These include: selecting whether to use the '87 or '93 VHDL Standard; whether or not to exclude the IEEE Directory and which top-level entity/configuration (i.e. the testbench) to use when simulating. The latter is important if you have more than one testbench in your project, allowing you to specify which one gets used for simulation.

Synthesis

This tab allows you to set various options with respect to synthesis of the project. These include: selecting the Device Family to use; setting the top-level entity/configuration (i.e. the entity in the VHDL document translated from the top-level schematic) and options for inclusion of the built-in libraries IEEE numeric_std and Synopsys.

Notes

Use the dialog What's This Help ? to gain detailed information about each of the individual options available.

You can also drag and drop entries in either the Design Documents and VHDL Project Libraries tabs, when changing the compile order.

When VHDL Libraries are compiled, it is the project libraries that are compiled first and then the libraries found on the defined search paths.