HDL Checker is a language server that wraps VHDL/Verilg/SystemVerilog tools that aims to reduce the boilerplate code needed to set things up. It supports Language Server Protocol or a custom HTTP interface; 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.
pip install hdl-checker --upgradeor
pip install hdl-checker --user --upgradeNote: Make sure you can run hdl_checker --version, especially if using PIP
with the --user option.
Install the HDL Checker VSCode client on VS Code.
Using dense-analysis/ale
ALE supports HDL Checker out of the box.
Using coc.nvim
Following coc.nvim custom language server setup, add this to your coc.nvim configuration file:
{
"languageserver": {
"hdlChecker": {
"command": "hdl_checker",
"args": [
"--lsp"
],
"filetypes": [
"vhdl",
"verilog",
"systemverilog"
]
}
}
}This requires nvim-lspconfig.
lua << EOF
local lspconfig = require'lspconfig'
-- Only define once
if not lspconfig.hdl_checker then
require'lspconfig/configs'.hdl_checker = {
default_config = {
cmd = {"hdl_checker", "--lsp", };
filetypes = {"vhdl", "verilog", "systemverilog"};
root_dir = function(fname)
-- will look for a parent directory with a .git directory. If none, just
-- use the current directory
return lspconfig.util.find_git_ancestor(fname) or lspconfig.util.path.dirname(fname)
-- or (not both)
-- Will look for the .hdl_checker.config file in a parent directory. If
-- none, will use the current directory
return lspconfig.util.root_pattern('.hdl_checker.config')(fname) or lspconfig.util.path.dirname(fname)
end;
settings = {};
};
}
end
lspconfig.hdl_checker.setup()
EOFAdd HDL Checker to the server commands:
let g:LanguageClient_serverCommands = {
\ 'vhdl': ['hdl_checker', '--lsp'],
\ 'verilog': ['hdl_checker', '--lsp'],
\ 'systemverilog': ['hdl_checker', '--lsp'],
\}Please note that this will start one server per language
Using emacs-lsp/lsp-mode
Add this to your Emacs config file
(require 'use-package)
(setq lsp-vhdl-server-path "~/.local/bin/hdl_checker") ; only needed if hdl_checker is not already on the PATH
(custom-set-variables
'(lsp-vhdl-server 'hdl-checker))
(use-package lsp-mode
:config (add-hook 'vhdl-mode-hook 'lsp))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] [--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
--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 exitHDL Checker supports
- Mentor ModelSim
- ModelSim Intel FPGA Edition
- GHDL
- Vivado Simulator (bundled with Xilinx Vivado)
See the Setting up a new project section on the wiki.
HDL Checker has beta support for Language Server Protocol. To start in LSP mode:
hdl_checker --lspOn 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.
As a language server, HDL Checker will provide
- Diagnostics
- Hover information
- Dependencies: will report which path and library have been assigned
- Design units: will report the compilation sequence and libraries
- Go to definition of dependencies
HDL Checker can be used in HTTP server mode also:
hdl_checkerPlease note that this mode does not use LSP over http to communicate. Request/response API is not yet available and is going to be deprecated in the future. A reference implementation can be found in vim-hdl
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.shThe container used for testing is suoto/hdl_checker_test
| System | CI | CI status |
|---|---|---|
| Linux | Yes | |
| Windows | Yes |
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);You can use the issue tracker for bugs, feature request and so on.
This software is licensed under the GPL v3 license.
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.