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Add --waves argument to generate waveforms for GHDL and NVC#1101

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oscargus:waves
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Add --waves argument to generate waveforms for GHDL and NVC#1101
oscargus wants to merge 1 commit intoVUnit:masterfrom
oscargus:waves

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@oscargus
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@oscargus oscargus commented Mar 5, 2025

Closes #1099
Closes #1042

The approach here is to pass --waves if a waveform file should be generated. That is clearer than the "passing --gtkwave-fmt "-approach earlier used.

There is a deprecation warning when passing only --viewer-fmt/--gtkwave-fmt for GHDL, but it still generates the file.

I also added a new alias --waves-fmt for consistency.

(I guess that one can also support other simulators generating waveform files. At least for ModelSim/Questa it is possible to generate VCD-files with a few .do-file commands and I guess the same holds for many other simulators.)

@JHertz5
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JHertz5 commented Jan 15, 2026

I see that this PR has been open for quite a while. I just want to chip in and say that I think this is a great addition, and it would be very useful to me if merged.

@creiter64
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creiter64 commented Feb 13, 2026

I also agree that this is a great addition as it allows to reload the waveform in GTKWave for different test runs.
@LarsAsplund could you also please take a look at this proposal? I think it makes sense to separate generating the waveforms from opening a waveform viewer. This would also integrate well with fusesoc in my workflow.

@LarsAsplund
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LarsAsplund commented Feb 17, 2026

@oscargus I like this but have two comments:

  1. I prefer --wave over --waves to indicate a feature rather than what we physically produce considering that we produce a single file which may also contain a single wave. Also, "waves format" sounds weird.
  2. If I use -g, I will see a waveform but if I use --wave(s), I don't get a file unless I specify the format. I think we should use the same default for both cases.

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nvc: Waveform files are only generated with --gui option

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