What is VUnit?
==============

VUnit is an open source unit testing framework for VHDL released under
the terms of Mozilla Public License, v. 2.0. It features the
functionality needed to realize continuous and automated testing of your
VHDL code. VUnit doesn't replace but rather complements traditional
testing methodologies by supporting a "test early and often" approach
through automation.

Project Mission
===============

The VUnit project mission is to apply best SW testing practises to the
world of VHDL by providing the tools missing to adapt to such practises.
The major missing piece is the unit testing framework, hence the name
V(HDL)Unit. However, VUnit also provides supporting functionality not
normally considered as a part of an unit testing framework.

Main Features
=============

-  Builds on the commonly used `xUnit`_ architecture.
-  Python test runner that enables powerful test administration, can
   handle VHDL fatal run-time errors (e.g. division by zero), and
   ensures test case independence.
-  Scanners for identifying files, tests, file dependencies, and file
   changes enable for automatic (re)compilation and execution of test
   suites.
-  Can run test cases in parallel to take advantage of multi-core
   machines.
-  Scripting as well as command line support.
-  Support for running same test suite with different generics.
-  VHDL test runner which enables test execution for not fully supported
   simulators.
-  Assertion checker library that extends VHDL built-in support
   (assert).
-  Logging framework supporting display and file output, different log
   levels, filtering on level and design hierarchy, output formatting
   and multiple loggers. Spreadsheet tool integration.
-  Location preprocessor that traces log and check calls back to file
   and line number.
-  JUnit report files for better `Jenkins`_ integration.

Requirements
============

VUnit depends on a number of components as listed below. Full VUnit
functionality requires Python and a simulator supported by the VUnit
Python test runner. However, VUnit can run with limited functionality
entirely within VHDL which means that unsupported simulators can be used
as well. Prototype work has been done to fully support other simulators
but this work is yet to be completed and released.

VHDL
----

-  VHDL-93
-  VHDL-2002
-  VHDL-2008

Operating systems
-----------------

-  Windows
-  Linux
-  Mac OS X

Python
------

-  Python 2.7
-  Python 3.3 or higher

Simulators
----------

-  `Aldec Riviera-PRO`_

   -  Tested with Riviera-PRO-2015.06 (x64/x86).
   -  Only VHDL 2008
-  `Aldec Active-HDL`_

   -  Tested with Active-HDL-10.2 (x64/x86)
   -  Only VHDL 2008
-  `Mentor Graphics ModelSim/Questa`_

   -  Tested with 10.1 - 10.3
-  `GHDL`_

   -  Only VHDL 2008
   -  Only versions >= 0.33 dev (There is no official release yet, must be
      built from source)
   -  Tested with LLVM and mcode backends, gcc backend might work aswell.
   -  Integrated support for using `GTKWave`_ to view waveforms.

Getting Started
===============

There are a number of ways to get started.

-  The `VUnit User Guide`_ will guide users on how to use start using
   the basic features of VUnit but also provides information about more
   specific and advanced usage.
-  The `Check User Guide`_ presents the check package.
-  The `Log User Guide`_ presents the log package.
-  Have a look at the examples under `examples`_. The examples in
   `logging`_ and `check`_ are tutorials that should be single-stepped
   in your simulator.
-  There are also various presentations of VUnit on `YouTube`_. For
   example `an introduction to unit testing (6 min)`_ and a `short
   introduction to VUnit (12 min)`_.

Contributing
============

Contributing in the form of code, feedback, ideas or bug reports are
welcome. Before contributing code read our `Development document`_.

Support
=======

Any bug reports, feature requests or questions about the usage of VUnit
can be made by creating a `new issue`_. The issue should be labeled
accordingly using the built-in labels; *bug*, *enhancement* or
*question*.

Main Contributors
=================

-  Lars Asplund
-  Olof Kraigher

License
=======

.. |copy|   unicode:: U+000A9 .. COPYRIGHT SIGN

VUnit
-----

VUnit except for OSVVM (see below) is released under the terms of
`Mozilla Public License, v. 2.0`_.

|copy| 2014-2015 Lars Asplund, lars.anders.asplund@gmail.com.

OSVVM
-----

OSVVM 2015.03 is `redistributed`_ with VUnit for your convenience. Minor
`modifications`_ have been made to enable GHDL support. Derivative work
is also located under `examples/vhdl/osvvm\_integration/src`_. These
files are licensed under the terms of `ARTISTIC License`_.

|copy| 2010 - 2015 by SynthWorks Design Inc. All rights reserved.

.. _xUnit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XUnit
.. _Jenkins: http://jenkins-ci.org/
.. _Aldec Riviera-PRO: https://www.aldec.com/en/products/functional_verification/riviera-pro%5D
.. _Aldec Active-HDL: https://www.aldec.com/en/products/fpga_simulation/active-hdl
.. _Mentor Graphics ModelSim/Questa: http://www.mentor.com/products/fv/modelsim/
.. _GHDL: https://sourceforge.net/projects/ghdl-updates/
.. _GTKWave: http://gtkwave.sourceforge.net/
.. _VUnit User Guide: https://github.com/LarsAsplund/vunit/blob/master/user_guide.md
.. _Check User Guide: https://github.com/LarsAsplund/vunit/blob/master/vunit/vhdl/check/user_guide.md
.. _Log User Guide: https://github.com/LarsAsplund/vunit/blob/master/vunit/vhdl/logging/user_guide.md
.. _examples: https://github.com/LarsAsplund/vunit/blob/master/examples
.. _logging: https://github.com/LarsAsplund/vunit/blob/master/examples/vhdl/logging
.. _check: https://github.com/LarsAsplund/vunit/blob/master/examples/vhdl/check
.. _YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCPVCaeWkz6C95aRUTbIwdg
.. _an introduction to unit testing (6 min): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZuBqcxS8t4
.. _short introduction to VUnit (12 min): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8s_VLD91tw
.. _Development document: https://github.com/LarsAsplund/vunit/blob/master/developing.md
.. _new issue: https://github.com/LarsAsplund/vunit/issues/new
.. _Mozilla Public License, v. 2.0: http://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/
.. _redistributed: https://github.com/LarsAsplund/vunit/blob/master/vunit/vhdl/osvvm
.. _modifications: https://github.com/LarsAsplund/vunit/commit/25fce1b3700e746c3fa23bd7157777dd4f20f0d6
.. _examples/vhdl/osvvm\_integration/src: https://github.com/LarsAsplund/vunit/blob/master/examples/vhdl/osvvm_integration/src
.. _ARTISTIC License: http://www.perlfoundation.org/artistic_license_2_0
