CODEWITHSUNDEEP
verilogmodelsim
Shafeey
Shafeey

Reputation: 55

How to set the value of a macro using environment variable or command line in verilog?

I want to define a macro during runtime in Verilog using environment variable.

For example, I want to print some text to a file only when the DEBUG macro is defined as 1.

`define DEBUG 0
...
if(DEBUG) $fwrite(file,"Debug message");

How can I override the definition of DEBUG to 1 when running the simulation from command line or using environment variable?

Alternatively, I could keep the macro undefined and use ifdef

`ifdef(DEBUG) $fwrite(file,"Debug message");

In this case I would have to define the macro DEBUG when running the simulation. Is this possible?

I am using Modelsim. Thanks.

EDIT: The accepted answer is sufficient. But I will add this information too for anyone who stumbles upon here.

The value of a parameter can be set/overriden by using -g<parameter> or -G<parameter> argument to vsim. -g sets the parameter value only if it hasn't been set already and -G set the value even if it's defined. I found this convenient when I control simulation length using parameter. Recompilation isn't necessary.

vsim -c work.top -gSIM_END_TIME // Sets value in all scope
vsim -c work.top -g/top/dut/SIM_END_TIME // Sets value only in the defined scope

Upvotes: 2

Views: 8201

Answers (1)

dave_59
dave_59

Reputation: 42673

You can override a macro definition with the vlog command line option +define+<macro_name>[=<macro_text>]

The better option is to leave the macro undefined and use the `ifdef statement to test if you have defined it on the command line.

Note that using a macro requires you to recompile your source code every time you want to change the macro value. Verilog provides $test$plusargs and $value$plusargs to test command line options at runtime so you do not need to recompile.

Upvotes: 6

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