XFLOW Options

This section describes the XFLOW command line options. These options can be used with any of the flow types described in the preceding section.

–active (Active Module)

–active active_module

The –active option specifies the active module for Modular Design; “active” refers to the module on which you are currently working.

–ed (Copy Files to Export Directory)

–ed export_directory

The –ed option copies files listed in the Export line of the flow file to the directory you specify. If you do not use the –ed option, the files are copied to the working directory. See "Flow Files" for a description of the Export line of the flow file.

If you use the –ed option with the –wd option and do not specify an absolute path name for the export directory, the export directory is placed underneath the working directory.

In the following example, the export3 directory is created underneath the sub3 directory:

xflow -implement balanced.opt -wd sub3 -ed export3 testclk.vhd

If you do not want the export directory to be a subdirectory of the working directory, enter an absolute path name as in the following example:

xflow -implement balanced.opt -wd sub3 -ed /usr/export3 testclk.vhd

–f (Execute Commands File)

–f command_file

The –f option executes the command line arguments in the specified command_file. For more information on the –f option, see "–f (Execute Commands File)" in Chapter 1.

–g (Specify a Global Variable)

–g variable:value

The –g option allows you to assign a value to a variable in a flow or option file. This value is applied globally. The following example shows how to specify a global variable at the command line:

xflow -implement balanced -g $simulation_output:time_sim calc

Note: If a global variable is specified both on the command line and in a flow file, the command line takes precedence over the flow file.

–log (Specify Log File)

The –log option allows you to specify a log filename at the command line. XFLOW writes the log file to the working directory after each run. By default, the log filename is xflow.log.

–norun (Creates a Script File Only)

By default, XFLOW runs the programs enabled in the flow file. Use the –norun option if you do not want to run the programs but instead want to create a script file (SCR, BAT, or TCL). XFLOW copies the appropriate flow and option files to your working directory and creates a script file based on these files. This is useful if you want to check the programs and options listed in the script file before executing them.

Following is an example:

xflow -implement balanced.opt -norun testclk.edf

In this example, XFLOW copies the balanced.opt and fpga.flw files to the current directory and creates the following script file:

###########################################

# Script file to run the flow

#

###########################################

#

# Command line for ngdbuild

#

ngdbuild -p xc2v250fg256-5 -nt timestamp /home/

xflow_test/testclk.edf testclk.ngd

#

# Command line for map

#

map -o testclk_map.ncd testclk.ngd testclk.pcf

#

# Command line for par

#

par -w -ol 2 -d 0 testclk_map.ncd testclk.ncd

testclk.pcf

#

# Command line for post_par_trce

#

trce -e 3 -o testclk.twr testclk.ncd testclk.pcf

–o (Change Output File Name)

–o output_filename

This option allows you to change the output file base name. If you do not specify this option, the output file name has the base name as the input file in most cases.

The following example shows how to use the –o option to change the base name of output files from “testclk” to “newname”:

xflow -implement balanced.opt -o newname testclk.edf

–p (Part Number)

–p part

By default (without the –p option), XFLOW searches for the part name in the input design file. If XFLOW finds a part number, it uses that number as the target device for the design. If XFLOW does not find a part number in the design input file, it prints an error message indicating that a part number is missing.

The –p option allows you to specify a device. For a list of valid ways to specify a part, see "–p (Part Number)" in Chapter 1.

For FPGA part types, you must designate a part name with a package name. If you do not, XFLOW halts at MAP and reports that a package needs to be specified. You can use the PARTGen –i option to obtain package names for installed devices. See "–i (Print a List of Devices, Packages, and Speeds)" in Chapter 6 for information.

For CPLD part types, either the part number or the family name can be specified.

The following example show how to use the –p option for a Virtex design:

xflow -p xc2vp4fg256-6 -implement high_effort.opt testclk.edf

Note: If you are running the Modular Design flow and are targeting a part different from the one specified in your source design, you must specify the part type using the –p option every time you run the –initial, –module, or –assemble flow type.

–pd (PIMs Directory)

–pd pim_directory

The –pd option is used to specify the PIMS directory. The PIMs directory stores implemented module files when using Modular Design.

–rd (Copy Report Files)

–rd report_directory

The –rd option copies the report files output during the XFLOW run from the working directory to the specified directory. The original report files are kept intact in the working directory.

You can create the report directory prior to using this option, or specify the name of the report directory and let XFLOW create it for you. If you do not specify an absolute path name for the report directory, XFLOW creates the specified report directory in your working directory. Following is an example in which the report directory (reportdir) is created in the working directory (workdir):

xflow -implement balanced.opt -wd workdir -rd reportdir testclk.edf

If you do not want the report directory to be a subdirectory of the working directory, enter an absolute path name, as shown in the following example:

xflow -implement balanced.opt -wd workdir -rd /usr/reportdir testclk.edf

–wd (Specify a Working Directory)

–wd working_directory

The default behavior of XFLOW (without the –wd option) is to use the directory from which you invoked XFLOW as the working directory. The –wd option allows you to specify a different directory as the working directory. XFLOW searches for all flow files, option files, and input files in the working directory. It also runs all subprograms and outputs files in this directory.

Note: If you use the –wd option and want to use a UCF file as one of your input files, you must copy the UCF file into the working directory.

Unless you specify a directory path, the working directory is created in the current directory. For example, if you enter the following command, the directory sub1 is created in the current directory:

xflow -fsim generic_verilog.opt -wd sub1 testclk.v

You can also enter an absolute path for a working directory as in the following example. You can specify an existing directory or specify a path for XFLOW to create.

xflow -fsim generic_verilog.opt -wd /usr/project1 testclk.v