NAME

       iverilog-vpi - Compile front end for VPI modules

SYNOPSIS

       iverilog-vpi [options] sourcefile...

DESCRIPTION

       iverilog-vpi  is  a  tool  to  simplify the compilation of VPI modules for use with Icarus
       Verilog. It takes on the command line a list of C or C++ source files,  and  generates  as
       output  a  linked  VPI module. See the vvp(1) man page for a description of how the linked
       module is loaded by a simulation.

       By default the output is named after the first source file.  For  example,  if  the  first
       source file is named foo.c, the output becomes foo.vpi.

OPTIONS

       iverilog-vpi accepts the following options:

       -llibrary
               Include  the  named library in the link of the VPI module. This allows VPI modules
               to further reference external libraries.

       -Idirectory
               Add directory to the list of directories that will be searched for header files.

       -Ddefine
               Define a macro named define.

       --name=name
               Normally, the output VPI module will be named after the first source  file  passed
               to  the  command.  This flag sets the name (without the .vpi suffix) of the output
               vpi module.

PC-ONLY OPTIONS

       When  built  as  a  native  Windows  program  (using  the  MinGW  toolchain),  by  default
       iverilog-vpi  will attempt to locate the MinGW tools needed to compile a VPI module on the
       system path (as set by the PATH environment variable). As an  alternative,  the  user  may
       specify the location of the MinGW tools via the following option.

       -mingw=path
               Tell  the  program  the  root of the MinGW compiler tool suite. The vvp runtime is
               compiled with this compiler, and this is the compiler that iverilog-vpi expects to
               use  to  compile  your source code. If this option accompanies a list of files, it
               will apply to the current build only. If this  option  is  provided  on  its  own,
               iverilog-vpi will save the path in the registry and use that path in preference to
               the system path for subsequent operations, avoiding the need to specify it on  the
               command line every time.

INFORMATIONAL OPTIONS

       iverilog-vpi  includes additional flags to let Makefile gurus peek at the configuration of
       the iverilog installation.  This way, Makefiles can be written  that  handle  complex  VPI
       builds   natively,   and  without  hard-coding  values  that  depend  on  the  system  and
       installation.  If used at all, these options must be used one at a time, and  without  any
       other options or directives.

       --install-dir
               Print the install directory for VPI modules.

       --cflags
               Print  the  compiler  flags  (CFLAGS  or  CXXFLAGS)  needed to compile source code
               destined for a VPI module.

       --ldflags
               Print the linker flags (LDFLAGS) needed to link a VPI module.

       --ldlibs
               Print the libraries (LDLIBS) needed to link a VPI module.

       Example GNU makefile that takes advantage of these flags:

           CFLAGS = -Wall -O $(CFLAGS_$@)
           VPI_CFLAGS := $(shell iverilog-vpi --cflags)
           CFLAGS_messagev.o = $(VPI_CFLAGS)
           CFLAGS_fifo.o = $(VPI_CFLAGS)
           messagev.o fifo.o: transport.h
           messagev.vpi: messagev.o fifo.o
                iverilog-vpi $^

AUTHOR

       Steve Williams (steve@icarus.com)

SEE ALSO

       iverilog(1), vvp(1), <http://iverilog.icarus.com/>, <http://mingw-w64.yaxm.org/>,

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright ©  2002-2015 Stephen Williams

       This document can be freely redistributed according to the terms of the
       GNU General Public License version 2.0

                                          May 10th, 2015                          iverilog-vpi(1)