Traditional Text Editors General purpose editors that can be configured for editing VHDL code. Many of the most popular general purpose editors (Vi, Emacs) have been around for decades and have gathered a cult following. VHDL for Sublime Text: provides better syntax highlighting than Quartus or ModelSim.Also provides good code snippets. Sublime Text Linter package: Shows errors when you save the file.No need to compile a file fully to find out errors. GHDL: Open source VHDL compiler.We use this to check for errors.
So in class we used the Vivado IDE on Windows to write Verilog code. I don't really like working in Vivado though, and I primarily work on a Mac (I use Vivado on Parallels+Windows 8 since it doesn't have a Mac version), so I was wondering if there's an alternative.
I don't need an editor that acts like an IDE, i.e. that compiles the files or writes the bitstream or anything. Right now I use sublime text to write my Verilog source and when I need to simulate I switch to ModelSim and when I need to load the bitstream I switch to Vivado (both user projects that are set up to simply reference my source files).
While Sublime is good, it's kinda basic. I was wondering if you guys know how to set up a slightly more powerful editor like Visual Studio Code or something to do basic Verilog work. This is for a personal hobby, not for any industry-type work, so it doesn't need to be mega-powerful or anything. It should definitely be free though (I'm just a college student)!
EDIT: I should add that an editor that works on Mac is preferable, but if it's Windows only like Notepad++ then that's fine since in order to compile/simulate my code I'll have Windows open as well anyways.
Basic Text Editor For Mac
Also it doesn't need to compile the files, but if it could detect errors and warnings while writing that would be convenient!
I suddenly realized that there is no Altera Quartus or Xilins ISE or ModelSim on Mac OS X.
Text Editor For Mac Os X
What do people use to at least simulate VHDL and schematic designs on Macs?
Vladimir KeleshevVladimir Keleshev3 Answers
Try GHDL (alternate link: at ghdl.free.fr).
From the site:
GHDL is an open-source simulator for the VHDL language. GHDL allows you to compile and execute your VHDL code directly in your PC. Combined with a GUI-based wave viewer and a good VHDL text editor, GHDL is a very powerful tool for writing, testing and simulating your VHDL code.
GHDL is based on the very popular GNU compiler GCC and runs on Linux, Windows and Apple OS X. You can freely download a binary distribution for your OS or try to compile GHDL on your own machine.
sinelawsinelawI use aquamacs for design entry. For verilog I use icarus and gtkwave.
I have not tried GHDL, I have been running a headless linux server via VirtualBox and running modelsim via ssh with X11 forwarding. That also works for ISE and Quartus.
Note that for X11 forwarding on the Mac, you have to turn on trusted in your config
or on the command line
Let me know how you get on.
What most people use is Parallels (or another virtualisation tool), so that they can use a ModelSim on Parallels, on their Mac. Some people just SSH to a company Linux server that runs the simulator.
Another interesting way to go is www.plunify.com. This is a service that runs your simulations in the cloud and emails you the results.
Finally, I hear there is a commercial VHDL simulator that runs on natively on Mac OS X: DirectVHDL. It has limitations, but it might be good enough to get started.